Sharpe's Fury

Excellent book as always, and have to say a nice break in the chain. In this book Sharpe goes undercover, meets an old 'friend' from Copenhagen, and has to be much more than a good soldier, a good spy. Of course you have the standard Sharpe format, the enemy, the girl and the battle at the end, but different enough to stop each book being a clone of the last

Sharpe Slips in Again! (0/0 people found this helpful)

It's been quite some time since I last read Sharpe and I was sure that Cornwell had released a new filler book in 2007. Unfortunately I wasn't sure of the title and therefore had to go through my existing Sharpe collection to work out which one was missing! Anyway, this novel is set in 1811 largely in Cadiz; the last remnant of an independent Spain. This is an entertaining read with the normal rich assortment of characters. I do feel that Cornwell doesn't particularly struggle to write Sharpe novels after all these years but you can't begrudge a man for returning to his most excellent creation. Sharpe enjoys the normal scrapes and mayhem and interestingly meets Arthur Wellesley's youngest brother (b. 1773) serving as the British Ambassador to the Spanish 'regency' council. This is not the best Sharpe novel by any means but it does meet the high standard we have come to expect and is certainly worth a read!

Vintage Sharpe (2/2 people found this helpful)

In the winter of 1811 all of Spain has been lost to the French, except for the coastal town of Cadiz which is being besieged by the forces of Marshal Victor. Henry Wellesly (the Duke of Wellington's older brother) is ambassador there, and hard pressed to keep the Spanish in the war because quite a few of them believe it would be best to make their peace with Napoleon. To make matters worse, Wellesley's love letters to a Spanish courtesan have fallen into the hands of the Spanish faction opposing the war. So when Sharpe finds himself stranded in Cadiz with a handful of men, Wellesley knows he's found his man. Meanwhile a joint force of English and Spanish is setting out to attack Victor in the rear, but the Spanish commander Lapena is showing little eagerness to join battle.

Before this novel culminates in the famous battle at Barossa, there's villains and action galore to keep Sharpe busy and yourself entertained. And if this isn't your first Sharpe-novel you'll know that few can rival Cornwell in writing a fast-paced story that'll keep you turning pages. Granted, there's nothing very learned about any Sharpe-novel, and all the characters are indeed either good or bad and it's all very straightforward stuff but hey, they were meant to entertain and that's what these novels do in a superb manner.

One minor annoyance: Cornwell and his publisher clearly made sure all novels are self-contained so you could read them in random order and that's all very well, but if you're reading them back to back it does get annoying to come across (in each novel, again and again and again...) the bits
- about how Sharpe got his commission
- the story behind Sharpe's telescope
- Sergeant's Harper's volleygun
- Rifleman Hagman's history as a poacher
- etc. etc.

But as I said: that's a minor detail because the remaining 99,8% of the book are as good as ever.

Cornwell continues his betrayal (6/15 people found this helpful)

I read all of the original Sharpe series in the eighties and thought that the series had come to it's natural conclusion with Sharpes Waterloo in 1990. I was very suprised to see Sharpes Devil a couple of years later and to my mind this was a book too far in the series. Cornwell was always writing other books at the same time including the excellent Redcoat aas well as the nautical thrillers. When he started the Starbuck chronicles I was delighted and followed Nates adventures in the same manner as I had Sharpe's. Then, after the Sharpe series had been shown on tv Cornwell abandoned "The Starbuck Chronicles" mid-series (after four books)and resurected Sharpe. Not to sound too cynical but the only reason for this betrayal of fans who had bought the new books and were following Starbuck could only have been money...Cornwell betrayed and sacrificed the Starbuck fans for a newer and more lucrutive market...the new Sharpe fans worldwide who came to the books after the tv series. In order to continue to cash in along came all the new books each one inserted in a different period of Sharpe's career. If you have read the original series you won't recognise Sharpe's description in the new books..because it's Sean Bean!...Thanks Bernard, how's the yacht?

A true return to form! (9/10 people found this helpful)

After reading Sharpe's Escape I was left with the strong impression that Cornwell had run out of battles to write about, but Fury proved me ecstatically wrong. For the most part the novel is in the same vein as Escape, Sharpe and his 5 riflemen out on their own fighting their own war. Entertaining but not why I got into Sharpe. The battle at the end though is a perfect example of Cornwell's finest talent, writing sprawling battles with a cast of thousands. I can now once again look forward to the next installment of Sharpe, in the hopes that he will march again. To war.

PS is it me or does nearly every chapter end with "And (noun) will/must (verb)"?!

Bernard Cornwell

Reader Reviews:

Sharpe goes undercover (0/0 people found this helpful)

Sharpe Slips in Again! (0/0 people found this helpful)

Vintage Sharpe (2/2 people found this helpful)

Cornwell continues his betrayal (6/15 people found this helpful)

A true return to form! (9/10 people found this helpful)

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