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A review by usbsticky
Sharpe's Eagle by Bernard Cornwell
4.0
Spoilers ahead:
Basically a retelling of the Battle of Talavera from Sharpe's POV. I love Cornwell's writing because he does two things really well: he does battle scenes and character vignettes really well. Two things I don't like are elements of conflict and Sharpe's sexcapades, both of which seem to be mandatory. (Edit: I later found out this was the first book written in the Sharpe series.)
Sexcapades, why bother with this? Was this a mandatory plot device in 1981 when these books were written or does Cornwell thinks readers crave them? At this point they are rather tedious as in plot flow chart goes kill some French --> sleep with woman.
The romance angle here is Josefina, a Portuguese wife who was abandoned by her husband who fled to Brazil with his mistress and other aristocrats and the Royals. She wanted to live a good life with parties so she became the mistress of the nephew of Sharpe's commanding colonel. She was later abused by him and saved by Sharpe and hung out with him for a time. After the nephew and his buddy raped her Sharpe and his sergeant killed them during the battle. She later on got together with a rich British light dragoon cavalry officer because Sharpe could not provide her with the life she wanted.
Element of conflict: Getting tiresome too. I guess in real life azzes like these do exist, which is another reason I don't want to read about them in my escapist books. In this case it's the martinet colonel of the South Essex and his nephew and his buddy. Sharpe is attached to the light infantry company of this battalion. They make life miserable for Sharpe and everyone in the ranks but eventually the command is forcibly removed by the colonel by Wellington due to his ineptness in battle.
Overall, the battle scene and contemporary setting is very well written and accurate.
Basically a retelling of the Battle of Talavera from Sharpe's POV. I love Cornwell's writing because he does two things really well: he does battle scenes and character vignettes really well. Two things I don't like are elements of conflict and Sharpe's sexcapades, both of which seem to be mandatory. (Edit: I later found out this was the first book written in the Sharpe series.)
Sexcapades, why bother with this? Was this a mandatory plot device in 1981 when these books were written or does Cornwell thinks readers crave them? At this point they are rather tedious as in plot flow chart goes kill some French --> sleep with woman.
The romance angle here is Josefina, a Portuguese wife who was abandoned by her husband who fled to Brazil with his mistress and other aristocrats and the Royals. She wanted to live a good life with parties so she became the mistress of the nephew of Sharpe's commanding colonel. She was later abused by him and saved by Sharpe and hung out with him for a time. After the nephew and his buddy raped her Sharpe and his sergeant killed them during the battle. She later on got together with a rich British light dragoon cavalry officer because Sharpe could not provide her with the life she wanted.
Element of conflict: Getting tiresome too. I guess in real life azzes like these do exist, which is another reason I don't want to read about them in my escapist books. In this case it's the martinet colonel of the South Essex and his nephew and his buddy. Sharpe is attached to the light infantry company of this battalion. They make life miserable for Sharpe and everyone in the ranks but eventually the command is forcibly removed by the colonel by Wellington due to his ineptness in battle.
Overall, the battle scene and contemporary setting is very well written and accurate.