Dear Mr. Cornwell,
You are my favorite author and have brought untold hours of enjoyment through your adventurous novels. I suspect that many of us are excited to see the return of Sharpe for your next book. I wanted to confirm with you that this vision I had for the next book isn’t exactly what will be on the book spine, although it will aid with a public regret you have shared of killing off a character:
“It is the distant future. Society, long having dispensed with the need for soldiers, finds itself beset by a new and overwhelming intergalactic alien invasion. Seeking the blueprint for a perfect soldier, the government clones a prototype from exhumed remains of a mythical soldier of the Napoleonic era, Richard Sharpe. They find that the man displays unsurpassed aptitude in space age marksmanship, instinct, tenacity, and a roguish charm. Approval is given for mass production, but in a tragic mishap, trace DNA from another is used, an Obadiah Hakeswill. Sharpe, finding himself as a stranger in a strange land, is faced with a galaxy filled with billions of sneering clones of his old enemy. With nothing else to do, he steels himself for the fight of his life. Staring down the sights of his new plasma rifle, he cannot help but turn his head at the echoing cries of “mother!” and “Sharpie!” across the void.”
I hope this may have brought a laugh,
Sean