Excalibur: A Novel of Arthur [NOOK Book]

Interviews & Essays

On Thursday, July 23rd, barnesandnoble.com welcomed Bernard Cornwell to discuss EXCALIBUR.

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Moderator: Good evening, Bernard Cornwell, and welcome to the Auditorium! How are you this evening?

Bernard Cornwell: Hot -- we have a power outage and we're sweating, but we are here.

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lmhoskins from Canada: How would you compare your book to others written on Excaliber?

Bernard Cornwell: I'd say mine was better, but then I would, wouldn't I? On the whole I would suggest mine is more rooted in a fairly horrid reality -- that of fifth and sixth century Britain, rather than in a fantasy world where the sword has magical powers.

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Paul from Canada: How long did it take you to complete this book?

Bernard Cornwell: I can't remember -- the book was published in Britain well over a year ago, so was finished a year before that, but I don't recall it as being a long time. Some books come easily, others hard, and the whole Arthur trilogy almost wrote itself. I always think that's a good sign -- but to answer your question, I'd be surprised if it took longer than five months.

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Carol Ann from Wilmington, DE: I'm wondering if you got a chance to catch the miniseries "Merlin" on NBC. What were your opinions of it? To me, it seemed all glam and no substance...

Bernard Cornwell: I didn't. I haven't watched any television, except the World Cup, for 15 years and I'm a much better person because of it.

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George Parks from Cape Hatteras: Will you be doing any sailing this summer?

Bernard Cornwell: I wish I was out there now -- I've had the boat in since May, but it's been an odd season. May was good, there was no wind in July, and this week it's been all thunderstorms. I went out yesterday and it was hairy, but with any luck I'll finish the book I'm now writing at the end of July and spend the whole of August sailing. It's a tough life.

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Barrington S. from Peekskill, NY: Is Derfel a character from another telling of the King Arthur legend, or did you invent him for your story? What made you decide to have the story narrated through his eyes?

Bernard Cornwell: Derfel is one of the oldest characters in the Arthur story, but over the years he dropped out of sight and was replaced by newcomers like Lancelot. In the oldest versions of the stories, mostly Welsh, Derfel is an important character, though we know nothing about him except that he became a monk. So I picked him up from the old stories and used him. I do like him, but I got a letter from a nutcase in England who claimed to be Derfel reincarnated and telling me I'd got it all wrong. Oh well.

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J. Poroit from Newton: What version or which portrayal of the characters in your Warlord Chronicles do you most disagree with?

Bernard Cornwell: It has to be Sansum. I resent what the Christian church did to the Arthur cycle of stories -- replacing the classic Celtic cauldron quest with the Holy Grail search -- so my depiction of Sansum is my revenge.

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Janine Markson from Louisville, KY: I think Guinevere is such an intriguing character, and everyone seems to have a different take on her role in the Arthur stories. Could you give us a little taste of how you see her character?

Bernard Cornwell: I adore her. Even now, in Welsh-speaking Wales, a woman who is "no better than she ought to be" is described as a "regular Guinevere." She's a powerful, politically frustrated woman, and hugely sexy.

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Jane Milton from San Diego, CA: I am interested in what you said in your Q&A about the REAL King Arthur. What do we know about who he most likely was?

Bernard Cornwell: We know nothing -- or almost nothing. The earliest source we have was written at least 200 years after Arthur might have lived and describes him as a dux bellorum, leader of battles. He was a warlord, his enemies were the Saxons (the sais, the English) and he made a great name for himself -- that's about it -- and some historians, academics, and bores insist he did not live at all, but, as usual, they're wrong.

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Joe from Sparta, NJ: Will there be other books in the series? Perhaps focusing on other characters?

Bernard Cornwell: Alas no, it's finished, but I'm planning a similar sort of series, but set later. No details will be given yet.

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Paul from NJ: How has your idea of the legend of Arthur evolved, having spent so much time with the characters and the story?

Bernard Cornwell: That's a hugely good question, and I'm not sure the answer can be given very quickly, but I'll try. I suspect that we all have Arthur wrong -- that he was a ghastly fifth century warlord, just as the early Welsh saints' lives (that don't like him) suggest -- or as an early manuscript says in a marginal gloss -- "he was cuel from childhood." But we now want him to be magical, so I kept that charisma. I think he was a great Welsh hero who gave the English a deal of grief.

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Millie from Athens, OH: How has writing The Warlord Chronicles compared to writing your other books?

Bernard Cornwell: It was much more fun. I really enjoyed Derfel and Ceinwyn, and was sorry to see the trilogy end.

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Mary from Bucyrus, Ohio: I love your series. How much research did you do for your Arthurian books?

Bernard Cornwell: A huge amount! I slaved for years. Actually there isn't that much you can do once you've read the usual sources (Nennius, Gildas, etc.), but what I did do was to immerse myself in a great deal of early Welsh poetry (and some prose), much of which I had translated by a friend in Powys, and some of which I translated myself with the help of a grammmar and dictionary, and that made Arthur's world magically alive.

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Craig Milton from Illinois: I am a big fan of your series, and I can't wait to read this latest. But I am worried about what to read next! What is your favorite King Arthur book or series, other than your own?

Bernard Cornwell: T. H. White -- THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING. Read it, it's terrific!

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James from Queens, NY: How does it feel to end the series? I know I will miss the books, but how does it feel for you? It must be very rewarding...

Bernard Cornwell: It's horrible -- I really liked those characters, and I miss them.

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Joe from Sparta: Do you think that you might want to take on any other topics of British history, such as William the Conqueror or other great figures?

Bernard Cornwell: I've got some ideas -- but not William the Conqueror. I'm pretty busy with Richard Sharpe, am supposed to be writing a novel of Stonehenge next, and then want to do my trilogy that will have a similar feel to the Arthur trilogy, but I ain't saying what it is because I don't want anyone else to pinch what is a good idea.

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Mary from Bucyrus, Ohio: Now that you're done with Arthur, what's your next project going to be, and when will it be published?

Bernard Cornwell: Hello again -- I sort of answered you in the last answer, but I'm presently finishing off the books about Richard Sharpe in early 19th-century India and then, I think, I'm going to write a novel about Stonehenge -- my construction novel -- which will offer a similar mix of magic, religion, and politics (and romance) as the Arthur trilogy.

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Andy from Allentown, PA: My mother and I really enjoyed "Sharpe's Soldiers," the series that ran on PBS. Were you involved in that in any way? What did you think?

Bernard Cornwell: My wife's relatives all come from Allentown. No, I didn't really have anything to do with the TV series, other than give it my blessing. It differs from the books, of course, because it has to. But Sean Bean was terrific.

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Joe from Sparta, NJ: Do you think that Merlin had any real mystical powers, or was he just a wise, cunning old priest/druid?

Bernard Cornwell: The latter, I'm sure. In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

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Regina from Bennington, VT: Could you tell us a bit about your history as a writer? How did you get your start?

Bernard Cornwell: It was all a dreadful, romantic mistake. I was a perfectly happy television producer in Northern Ireland when I met this American woman and fell hopelessly in love. She couldn't live in Belfast (she was, and is, lumbered with an inconvenient family, some of whom are doubtless reading this) so I had to come to the States. Trouble was I couldn't get a green card, so I had to do a job that did not need the U.S. government's permission -- so I said, airily, "I'll write a book." I did, it was published, and I've been doing it for 18 years - and am still married to the lady with the inconvenient family, thank God.

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Matt S. from South Carolina: Do you think writing the Warlord series has caused a change in your writing style? Did you adapt your voice to the time and characters and place you were writing about? What's it going to be like to write about something else, now?

Bernard Cornwell: I suspect the change in writing style emerges from the subject -- I wasn't aware of trying to change, but was very aware that the voice was different. I couldn't really write Arthur and Guinevere like Sharpe!

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Bob from Hartford, CT: Mr. Cornwell, do you have any sage advice for a young writer?

Bernard Cornwell: Remember, as the great Dr. Johnson said, only a blockhead doesn't write for money. There is no such thing as writer's block. It's a great life, go for it. Look for a gap on the bookshelf and fill it -- i.e., don't imitate what someone else is doing well, but find your own specialty.

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Maura from Hicksville, NY: What did you think of the musical "Camelot"? How does the plot of that movie compare with your books?

Bernard Cornwell: Dear Maura, I loved it, I can say no less as I am married to the greatest lover of musicals in North America, but it has about as much to do with my books as, say, Braveheart had to do with Scottish history. I.e., nothing.

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Mark from Chapel Hill, NC: As a British-born author living in America, do you feel a stronger inclination to write about British history or American history?

Bernard Cornwell: British, I guess because it's in the bone. And because I hear British voices more easily than American ones (in my head).

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Jennifer from Georgetown: Do you think you will ever write any contemporary novels?

Bernard Cornwell: Dear Jennifer, what a treat is in store for you. I already have, five of them, and all bestsellers in Britain, from whence they may be bought. Their titles are WILDTRACK, SEA LORD, CRACKDOWN, STORMCHILD, and SCOUNDREL. They're all sailing novels, and OK.

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Vic from Victor99@yahoo.com: I have heard that you are a fan of Bill Bryson. Have you read A WALK IN THE WOODS?

Bernard Cornwell: I am a huge fan of Bill Bryson and I have read A WALK IN THE WOODS -- I'll read everything and anything he writes. I envy him!

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Valerie from Portsmouth, ME: Any plans to make a film from The Warlord Chronicles? I think it would make a great epic...

Bernard Cornwell: There are supposedly plans from Scottish Television, but I suspect they are coming to nothing. A pity, but such is life.

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Mike from Malvern, PA: What are the pluses and minuses of writing about events and persons that don't have as much verifiable historical detail as, for example, the Sharpe and Starbuck books, for which there exists plenty of contemporary documentation?

Bernard Cornwell: The great plus, of course, is that you can make things up with merry abandon and no boring academic/expert can tell you you've got it wrong. The minus is that you have to make everything up, which makes the work harder. But fun.

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John from Cape Cod: Any ideas on why the Starbuck series has not done well?

Bernard Cornwell: It did remarkably well in Britain, where they all made the bestseller lists -- it was my fellow Americans who didn't buy it. Which is their privilege.

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Joe from Sparta, NJ: Did you consider wrapping up the series by documenting the end of Derfel's or Sansum's days? I suspect Sansum came to a discomforting end!!!

Bernard Cornwell: I was never tempted to round it off like that, but I suspect Sansum died very painfully.

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Stan from Farmville, NC: When will your next Sharpe novel be published here in the U.S.? Will it be paperback or hardback?

Bernard Cornwell: I think it will be published later this month -- it's called SHARPE'S TRIUMPH and is currently the number one bestseller in Britain, but here it will leak into the bookshops in a paperback.

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Jack from Riverside, RI: Your battle scenes are very realistic. What do you draw on?

Bernard Cornwell: A malformed imagination.

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Greg from Cape Cod, MA: I, too, love to sail -- and I love all your books. Can you recommend any great reads for people interested in sailing (other than your book in England, which I will definitely look up!)

Bernard Cornwell: Sam Llewellyn's thrillers (lots of them) are terrific -- he is also an avid sailor, and sails the same kind of boat as do I -- a Cornish Crabber. You've read "The Riddle of the Sands" by Erskine Childers? It's the great classic sailing novel.

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Terrence from Massapequa, NY: Do you plan to write any historical novels about sailing?

Bernard Cornwell: I thought Sharpe might get tangled up in the battle of Trafalgar on his way home from India -- the dates fit -- but other than that I haven't anything planned.

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Rissa from Rissa: I read that you grew up in one of the places described in your books -- first off, how do the geographical places you describe in your books differ from what they look like now? Any examples? In other words, if we were to visit England and were interested in Arthur, are there any places to visit that will give us a sense of the legend and times?

Bernard Cornwell: South Cadbury in Wiltshire -- which was probably the real Camelot; other than that there are very few -- though I suspect Little Solsbury Hill near Bath was the site of the Battle of Mount Badon.

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Moderator: Thank you for joining us again, Bernard Cornwell, and enduring the heat at home... This was truly a pleasure. We wish you the best of luck with EXCALIBUR, and we hope you will join us yet again when your new book is released! Before you go, any last words for your online audience?

Bernard Cornwell: Thank you very much for some very good questions, and I hugely enjoyed the experience. Be well.

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