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icarusabides 's review for:
Sharpe's Havoc
by Bernard Cornwell
It's 1809 and Sharpe is dawdling with a small detachment of riflemen in northern Portugal attached to a scouting unit and dearly hoping not to be sent back to England where duties as a lowly quartermaster await. Sharpe and his men are soon tasked by a Captain Hogan with a mission that sends him into territory quickly falling to the rapidly advancing French army.
Havoc mostly seems to serve as a way to bed in a lot of Sharpe's backstory from the prequel books into the main timeline with the later written Havoc being set between Rifles and Eagle. Reading in chronological order can be a little jarring when first getting to Sharpe's Rifles as the publication order means there's no mention of such things as Sharpe's relationship with Lady Grace, his time in Copenhagen or even Trafalgar etc.
It's an understandable issue given how Cornwell wrote the series but Havoc does a decent job of rectifying some of that as far as Sharpe goes while also giving him some more time to ruminate on his position in the army and his own evolving leadership style. His admiration for the cold expectation of Sir Arthur Wellesley and the equally effective but vastly different approach of officers like General Rowland 'Daddy' Hill is apparent and no doubt, along with the advice of Major Blas Vivar in Rifles, goes a way to transforming Sharpe from the angry jumped up Sergeant approach he started out with previously.
It's a solid entry in the series but it does flag a lot in the middle with Sharpe and his men rather aimlessly guarding a house for too long before things really get going once more with the excellent vivid battle at the Seminary. The other major issue is that the main villain is not nearly villainous enough. They mostly just waste Sharpe's time, try to get him killed but then who doesn't, and nick his telescope. A weasily diplomat l does make for a nice change to the usual more military focused enemies but they're just a too bland to be compelling ultimately.
So, not one of Cornwell's best perhaps but even with a below average book he's still a good read regardless. Sharpe's evolving leadership is interesting, especially in regard to the few troublemakers in the company, and his growing relationship with Harper who is in great form in this book is really good.
Havoc mostly seems to serve as a way to bed in a lot of Sharpe's backstory from the prequel books into the main timeline with the later written Havoc being set between Rifles and Eagle. Reading in chronological order can be a little jarring when first getting to Sharpe's Rifles as the publication order means there's no mention of such things as Sharpe's relationship with Lady Grace, his time in Copenhagen or even Trafalgar etc.
It's an understandable issue given how Cornwell wrote the series but Havoc does a decent job of rectifying some of that as far as Sharpe goes while also giving him some more time to ruminate on his position in the army and his own evolving leadership style. His admiration for the cold expectation of Sir Arthur Wellesley and the equally effective but vastly different approach of officers like General Rowland 'Daddy' Hill is apparent and no doubt, along with the advice of Major Blas Vivar in Rifles, goes a way to transforming Sharpe from the angry jumped up Sergeant approach he started out with previously.
It's a solid entry in the series but it does flag a lot in the middle with Sharpe and his men rather aimlessly guarding a house for too long before things really get going once more with the excellent vivid battle at the Seminary. The other major issue is that the main villain is not nearly villainous enough. They mostly just waste Sharpe's time, try to get him killed but then who doesn't, and nick his telescope. A weasily diplomat l does make for a nice change to the usual more military focused enemies but they're just a too bland to be compelling ultimately.
So, not one of Cornwell's best perhaps but even with a below average book he's still a good read regardless. Sharpe's evolving leadership is interesting, especially in regard to the few troublemakers in the company, and his growing relationship with Harper who is in great form in this book is really good.