I lament the inevitable unoriginality of this message. However, I console myself in the knowledge that an author as renowned as you must be presented with dozens of such photofit messages every day and it would take a fan of unusual eloquence to stand out from the crowd.

The first of your books I read were the Sharpe novels. Then, I think, the Starbuck chronicles (having married a girl from Tennessee and honeymooned in Charlestown they seemed particularly insightful). Azincourt was another, and at one point I found a readers digest condensed version of Redcoat in my parent’s attic – I’ve subsequently read the unabridged version which I enjoyed thoroughly.

The reason I now feel compelled to write to you however is that I’ve just read the lines, “and so my Lord was gone, and no one has seen him since”.

Not since I read of Jack Aubrey setting a course for Cape Pilar and for home have I had so profound a sense of satisfaction at finishing a series of novels, and I wanted to congratulate you on crafting so absorbing and so believable a story as you have with your Arthur trilogy.

I hope that this fawning message of thanks adds, in some small way, to the satisfaction that you derive from your work and I remain, most respectfully yours,

Gary Gillies