Post B #1

Dear Bernard Cornwell,

You are definitely my favorite author ever! I have read at least twenty five of your novels, and I am planning on reading many more. No matter what other people have said, whenever I read your novels, I find it difficult to think of others that even come close to comparing. In this novel, the fourth and latest in this series, many events have occurred that I believe were incredibly conceived, such as when Haesten and his men try to break out with AEthelflaed. I had never even considered that such a thing would happen, but you have passed it off as if it were expected all along. I had always thought that Uhtred would possibly kill Eric and take the princess back to her husband, but most likely, I had thought that Eric's plot would end up successful and Ragnar would just have to keep a few more sentries alert at night.

Now, I would like to talk to you about the tactics of this era. I understand the shield wall, how men rely on their neighbor to protect them, and the two shield walls push at each other and stab with short swords. But, I had never thought about something such as the tactic Sigfried used during the fight for Ludd Gate. Those long spears were ingenious, and if it hadn't been for Father Pyrlig, this saga would be over right now. I have always wondered why archers came into use when shield walls were so popular at this time. I suppose that arrows really would pierce a wooden shield, and that after many shots, would start to take their toll. However, either the underuse of archers is because of the difficulty and length of the training required to wield a bow accurately and correctly, or because of the difficulty in making thousands of arrows because it shouldn't have taken England five hundred years to realize the effectiveness of the longbow.