Sharpe's Christmas

Richard Sharpe in war and peace, at Christmastime

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A pair of interesting short stories, Sharpe's Christmas and Sharpe's Ransom, originally written to be published serially, at Christmastime, in the London paper The Daily Mail. This collected, re-written, and printed copy is another of the labors of love worked on by The Sharpe Appreciation Society. A slender volume of 95 pages total, this was a quick read.

Timeline-wise, the first tale, Sharpe's Christmas, naturally follows the novel Sharpe's Regiment (so it was perfectly slotted into my reading order). The French are almost totally evicted from Spain. Just a few bypassed forts contain lonely soldiers. The inhabitants of one of those forts are preparing to make a break for it, and run for the frontier, cross the Pyrenees and get back home. Hogan wants Sharpe to guard a road the fleeing troops might use. "But sir! It's bloody Christmas!" "Don't worry, Sharpe, they probably won't come that way." Wrong. A two front skirmish and meeting an old friend/enemy. A Christmas miracle!

Sharpe's Ransom is set after retirement, timeline-wise after the novel Sharpe's Waterloo. Of course I read it well out of order, but that's OK. I got a few hints about upcoming events in Richard's life. He's now a farmer. How quaint.

Always fun to spend some time with my favorite gutter rat/alley cat turned soldier extraordinaire. Don't get on Sharpe's bad side. You won't like him when he's angry.