Firstly I would like to thank you for all the great stories and the hours of entertainment you have provided for me over the last ten or so years. I began with Sharpe and have been hooked ever since. I have recently been re-reading your Starbuck chronicles and I am currently half way through Copperhead. I had a question regarding a character called Patrick Lassan, a French Cavalry Colonel who befriends Starbuck. Lassan claims his father was an Englishman and his mother French. Lassan was named after his father’s best friend, Patrick. Upon entering the army, Lassan’s father wanted him to become a British rifleman, “the best of the best”. Is Patrick Lassan the son of Richard Sharpe? Mathew Smart

Mr. Cornwell, I’m only 16, but I already read all the Sharpe books and am excited about the next one. Meanwhile, I picked up the Starbuck series, and I’m wondering, is Colonel Lassan the French observer, son of Lucille Lassan from Sharpe’s Revenge ? Jonathan