SKP:  I have to confess that I began to read War Lord with some degree of trepidation.  I have loved your Saxon series about Uhtred of Bebbanburg and I was not sure I was ready to see his story end.  I was also nervous that you might kill off a character I’d come to care about, for while we know that Uhtred himself survived, I could not be sure my other favorites would be as lucky.  I need not have worried.  You have done right by Uhtred—spectacularly so–bringing his last book to a highly satisfactory conclusion.   Writers know how challenging it is to end a series beloved by fans.  Fictional graveyards are filled with the bones of books and television shows that failed to meet the expectations of readers and viewers; we need only think of the controversy swirling around the finales of Game of Thrones, The Sopranos, Seinfeld and Lost.  (For the record, I only had problems with the ending of Lost.)   So, I am happy to be able to assure readers that War Lord will not disappoint.  It contains all of the elements we’ve come to value in an Uhtred novel—plot twists, suspense, lots of gallows humor, and a compelling depiction of Uhtred’s world.  War Lord is a very fitting way to bring Uhtred’s history to a close, leaving him to live on in the memories of millions of readers.