Dear Mr Cornwell I was wondering whether you’d read the Temeraire historical fantasy series by Naomi Novik about the British Aerial Corps – dragons and their riders in the early Napoleonic era? I’ve read all 3 of the existing books (1805-1807) and really enjoyed them. I think the Aerial Corps owes more to the army than the navy of the period but Novik’s semi-fantasical word is fascinating. Napoleon has a dragon in book 3 and I can hardly wait to see whether Wellington gets one if the story proceeds to the Peninsular campaign. In response to a comment already posted on this group I have read the novel ‘The Lady Soldier’ by Jennifer Lindsay, actually written by 2 women by emailing chapters backwards and forwards. There are similarities with Sharpe, notably that the heroine is a rifleman before she gets commission (they are the best kind of soldiers!) and the fact that there’s a villain called Loup but one of the two writers is a Sharpe fan so I think that’s why. I really enjoyed the book though I did wish there was more the heroine’s Peninsular adventures – half the book was about what happened when she and her husband returned to England. I’d recommend it to anyone who likes adventure novels with a strong thread of romance and vice versa but it’s probably not for people interested purely in the historical side of things.
Marie