An avid history buff, I was not a fan of historical fiction until a few years ago. After seeing Peter Weir’s “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World,” with my Godson, I found the first volume in the Patrick O’Brien series and became hooked. As a retired member of the U.S. sea services – and lover of language – I was drawn to the vivid, accurate rendering of naval jargon and early 19th century English. I read the entire series.
I encouraged my Godson to begin the O’Brien books, yet he struggled with the vernacular. Instead, he recommended to me the Sharpe series. I started with Sharpe’s Tiger hoping to read them all in chronological order. My local library has most of the titles, yet when I came to a gap in the series, I picked up “The Archer’s Tale” and later “The Last Kingdom”. I finished the “Grail series” (less “1356”) and will begin “The Pagan Lord” soon – all the while continuing to read tales of Richard Sharpe. Ah yes, and I convinced the librarians to fill in the remaining Sharpe’s titles by providing them a ‘want list’ of books.
Suffice it to say I’ve enjoyed reading your work immensely and appreciate the opportunity to express my admiration of your work.
Sincerely,
Dale W Bain
LtCol, USMCR (retired)