Dear Mr Cornwell,
It goes without saying that I am a huge admirer of your work, and have been since I was introduced to Sharpe at the age of about 12. You have more than earned the loyalty of your readership and you deserve every word of praise that is written about you. Eighteen years ago you made a promise to your readers when, at the end of The Bloody Ground you wrote “Starbuck will march again”.
Since that time you have continued to produce work of unsurpassed brilliance. The Sharpe canon has expanded to such an extent that I am reliably informed that the finest bibliographers in the land are unable to agree on its exact number (I have heard, though I do not believe, that Mr Evan Trump, librarian of Porthcurno Municipal Library actually went mad trying to count them and gave up at 807 volumes). Your standalone novels such as Stonehenge and the Gallows Thief really do stand alone, leagues ahead of your nearest competitors, and The Fort is a finer work of historical fiction than anything produced by Philippa Gregory, Jean M. Auel, or David Irving. Yet still no Starbuck.
I call upon you now, on behalf of millions of others (at least me and my mate Rich) to fulfil your promise, please, and let us know how Starbuck and Truslow are getting on.
I remain, sir, your loyal and faithful servant,
Dr E. T. Fox.