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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
For thoughts on the series, see "Sharpe's Eagle."
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Enjoyed tremendously. I think it was the right thing to read the early India books first.
didn't care for narration, got bored with series
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
One of the drawbacks of novels written out of order is errors in continuity and inconsistent characterization. (Still bored by the Love Interest of the Week thing.)
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was an engaging Sharpe book like all the rest, but it was the first time I went back in time in terms of publication date, and I sensed a step down in the overall quality of the writing from bks 1-5 which Cornwell started publishing with Sharpe's Tiger almost 10 years after this one. That's a good thing to see how the author grew, but it made this one a bit awkward of an experience since I was used to a more mature writer who had fully come into his powers.
Cornwell later found a groove that he didn't have yet in this one with a few things, like how he later wrote Sharpe as a more hard-edged but lovable rogue type of main character (so for Sharpe to feel less mature in this one, where he is a bit older, was a little jarring). The dialogue felt a little more wooden and less lively here than in the later ones, and we had few memorably odious villains like I had come to expect. The plotting also didn't offer much in the way of suspenseful intrigue.
What it did offer though was a very important moment in Sharpe's development as a character and as a soldier with this being the moment he had to truly assume leadership of soldiers as an officer in the field after his superiors got gunned down in the opening battle. The rocky start to his relationship with his Rifles regiment in this one and the way he had to earn his soldiers' respect was really well done. The Spaniard Vivar was a lively new character, and I enjoyed how he played a religious foil to Sharpe's pragmatism in this one. As always we got visceral and suspenseful battle, and while it won't go down as one of my favorite Sharpe books, for the first of the bunch I've read that was published in the 1980s, it was a solid and important addition to the series.
Cornwell later found a groove that he didn't have yet in this one with a few things, like how he later wrote Sharpe as a more hard-edged but lovable rogue type of main character (so for Sharpe to feel less mature in this one, where he is a bit older, was a little jarring). The dialogue felt a little more wooden and less lively here than in the later ones, and we had few memorably odious villains like I had come to expect. The plotting also didn't offer much in the way of suspenseful intrigue.
What it did offer though was a very important moment in Sharpe's development as a character and as a soldier with this being the moment he had to truly assume leadership of soldiers as an officer in the field after his superiors got gunned down in the opening battle. The rocky start to his relationship with his Rifles regiment in this one and the way he had to earn his soldiers' respect was really well done. The Spaniard Vivar was a lively new character, and I enjoyed how he played a religious foil to Sharpe's pragmatism in this one. As always we got visceral and suspenseful battle, and while it won't go down as one of my favorite Sharpe books, for the first of the bunch I've read that was published in the 1980s, it was a solid and important addition to the series.
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
Really excellent. It was a great follow-up to The Count of Monte Cristo, as it's very nearly contemporary in its setting, but with much more disdain--dare I say hatred--for the "bloody French!"
You can read my review here: http://ravereader.wordpress.com/2010/05/12/the-sharpe-series-by-bernard-cornwell/
You can read my review here: http://ravereader.wordpress.com/2010/05/12/the-sharpe-series-by-bernard-cornwell/