he felt tired, achingly tired; he wanted to begin the fight; he wanted the Eagle out of his dreams.

( Notes on Sharpe's Eagle, book version. No real spoilers. )

In short: clunky writing in beginning gets much, much better and turns positively lovely once we get into the battles and know where we're going. I adore Wellesley, and Lawford is such a wonderful creature, and I desperately want slash involving some combination of Wellesley, Lawford the Elegant, and Sharpe. Please, someone, tell me that there is good satisfying shit out there.