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beejai 's review for:
Sharpe's Escape: The Bussaco Campaign, 1810
by Bernard Cornwell
"Did he seriously just do that?" It is a rare thing for a book to bring forth such side splitting laughter from me. As this question rang through my mind, laughter could not help bursting forth as I read the lines depicting our hero, Richard Sharpe, and this book's love interest having their first romantic encounter. You could not have possibly contrived a more unlikely place for it to have happened. Trust me, though, I am laughing at the author, not with him. It could not have happened in a less likely setting.
I have seen the typical Sharpe formula so many times that these books hold more intrigue for me to see how he will put the pieces together than straight enjoyment of the plot. The Sharpe series follows the military career of Lord Arthur Wellesly from his early days in India all the way through his defeat of Napolean through the eyes of one Richard Sharpe, currently a Captain of the South Essex Regiment's skirmishers.
With the exception of the last book (Sharpe's Gold) and his novellas each one weaves the story around one of the battles of that time. With regard to the historical events themselves Cornwell is unmatched. Where the fictional plot is concerned... yawn. You will have a villainous big bad, a love interest, and some military beadledom. Sharpe will be stymied by but eventually overcome the bureaucracy as he leads his troops, have a dramatic one to one encounter with the bad guy, and win the girl.
Honestly, that last paragraph could be my review of every single one of these books. They are a fun, easy read, but only if you keep your expectations low... very low.
I have seen the typical Sharpe formula so many times that these books hold more intrigue for me to see how he will put the pieces together than straight enjoyment of the plot. The Sharpe series follows the military career of Lord Arthur Wellesly from his early days in India all the way through his defeat of Napolean through the eyes of one Richard Sharpe, currently a Captain of the South Essex Regiment's skirmishers.
With the exception of the last book (Sharpe's Gold) and his novellas each one weaves the story around one of the battles of that time. With regard to the historical events themselves Cornwell is unmatched. Where the fictional plot is concerned... yawn. You will have a villainous big bad, a love interest, and some military beadledom. Sharpe will be stymied by but eventually overcome the bureaucracy as he leads his troops, have a dramatic one to one encounter with the bad guy, and win the girl.
Honestly, that last paragraph could be my review of every single one of these books. They are a fun, easy read, but only if you keep your expectations low... very low.