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A review by books_with_benghis_kahn
Sharpe's Trafalgar by Bernard Cornwell
5.0
Cornwell did it again! This book takes place almost entirely on the sea after Sharpe finds passage back to England to join his new regiment. Does his supply purchasing go well? Of course not. Did he have a boring and safe trip home? Of course not. Did the infantryman somehow find himself in the middle of one of the biggest naval battles ever at Trafalgar? Of course.
This was a genius idea by Cornwell to write about one of the biggest battles of the era and to have Sharpe get in the middle of it in an organic way. The giant set piece at the end of this one did not disappoint, and Cornwell brought his trademark visceral battle writing full of every sensory detail you could imagine, savage fighting, death everywhere, and acts of grand bravery.
What was a bigger surprise for me was how much I enjoyed the less action-packed parts that made up the larger chunk of the book. This book is largely a romance book, as the romantic intrigue really took over the middle of the book, and it really really worked for me and was emotionally poignant. On top of this being a Hakeswill-free book, it was a nice change up from the India books.
Unlike Moby Dick and Master and Commander, which both bored me for long stretches with their endless ship and sailor jargon, Cornwell keeps the focus of this one on the characters and the plot. I felt immersed in ship life without being bored by it, and that's quite an accomplishment.
I found myself as gripped to the page by this one as all the others, so 5 stars again!
This was a genius idea by Cornwell to write about one of the biggest battles of the era and to have Sharpe get in the middle of it in an organic way. The giant set piece at the end of this one did not disappoint, and Cornwell brought his trademark visceral battle writing full of every sensory detail you could imagine, savage fighting, death everywhere, and acts of grand bravery.
What was a bigger surprise for me was how much I enjoyed the less action-packed parts that made up the larger chunk of the book. This book is largely a romance book, as the romantic intrigue really took over the middle of the book, and it really really worked for me and was emotionally poignant. On top of this being a Hakeswill-free book, it was a nice change up from the India books.
Unlike Moby Dick and Master and Commander, which both bored me for long stretches with their endless ship and sailor jargon, Cornwell keeps the focus of this one on the characters and the plot. I felt immersed in ship life without being bored by it, and that's quite an accomplishment.
I found myself as gripped to the page by this one as all the others, so 5 stars again!