First read Jan 13, 2009: Love the battle, tactics, camaraderie, and the history. Seventh in the Richard Sharpe military fiction series revolving around a lieutenant promoted up from the ranks. The action encompasses a retreat from Soult out of Oporto just before Wellesly arrives. My Take It's an interesting contrast between the "superior" upperclass blue blood values and those of scum from the gutter. Cornwell is a bit heavy-handed in it but he certainly gets the point across beautifully. I can't read his Sharpe series without wanting to find my own pistol!Cornwell keeps the tension on as we skulk, scurry, and fight. I can almost smell the gunpowder and I could swear my ears were ringing from the fury of battle. Cornwell describes the life so well that my feet ache, my body freezes, and I wallow in the comfort of a hot cup of tea.If you've ever been frustrated by an idiot boss or commander, you will adore Lieutenant Sharpe! The Story Trapped in Oporto by duty and Captain Hogan's command to rescue the runaway Miss Savage, Lieutenant Sharpe again finds himself cut off from the rest of the army as the French pour into Oporto. By lucky chance, or the grace of the gods, he finds rescue and reinforcements in Lieutenant Jorge Vicente of the 18th and together they escape into the vineyards.Thanks to his civilian interests, Vicente is able to guide Sharpe to Vila Real de Zedes thus escaping the French and finding Miss Savage. The newly-married Miss Savage, er, Mrs. Christopher. Unfortunately for the new Mrs. Christopher, it is war and Col. Christopher must be about his duties. He orders Sharpe and Vicente to remain at Vila Real de Zedes to protect his bride...and his newly-acquired property as he and a French civilian ride off.A week turns into three and Sharpe can't have the men lounging even if the French seem to be ignoring the property. It must be prescience that has them fortifying a ruined tower on a hill on the property as shortly after another visit by Col. Christopher—and the loss of his telescope to him, a troop of French soldiers attack. It's the memory of Christopher's reaction to the remark about the Judas tree that has Sharpe on edge and the only thing that warns them. And it's Sharpe's keen observations and quick intellect that get them off the hill and across the river making it possible for their surprise attack. The Characters Lieutenant Richard Sharpe is in the second battalion of the 95th Rifles and Captain Hogan of the Royal Engineers has been delaying paperwork and snitching funds to keep Sharpe and his Rifles protecting him as they map the countryside.The Riflemen include Dodd, Sergeant Patrick Harper, Williamson, Tarrant, Pendleton, Dan Hagman, Harris, Cresacre, Cooper, Sean Donnelly, and Sims.Lieutenant Jorge Vicente and Sergeant Macedo with what remains of his 18th regiment, the second of Porto aids Sharpe and his men in escaping the city.Lt. Colonel James Christopher has been sent out by the Foreign Office to determine if the Portuguese prefer the French or would be willing to fight with the English. Captain Argenton is a French officer with information about a possible mutiny amongst the French army if Marshal Soult intends to crown himself king. Kate Savage holds the country house and its vineyards along with the port shipping business in trust for when she marries. Brigadier General Vuillard is a sadistic bully with no concept of honor although a Bonapartist through and through. Major Henri Dulong is second in command of the 31st Léger, a light infantry unit and famous throughout the army for his bravery and ruthlessness...and, a rare thing in the French army, honor.Lieutenant Colonel Waters, the senior exploring officer, receives Sharpe's message about the three sunken barges. General Rowland "Daddy" Hill and General Sir Edward Paget (the battle in which he loses his right arm) battle under General Sir Arthur Wellesly to retake Oporto while Lord Pumphrey has arrived to take over from Christopher. And a brief mention of Lt. Col. Shraphnel and his contribution to the war effort. The Cover The cover is an explosive radial gradient of oranges to browns with a French cavalry charge and a gun pointing toward them.For it's Sharpe's Havoc that rains down upon both the French in Oporto and Col. Christopher at the bridge.
God, the cover. Honestly, what the hell was the publisher thinking with such an atrocious eyesore? It's kinda tiny on the site, so allow me to briefly describe it: it's this ugly orangeish-brownish blurry picture of a dragoon on his horse with a horribly low-res floating gun pointed at him. Really, why? No one's gonna say that Sharpe's Havoc is an unquestionable landmark of literary genius or anything ridiculous like that but it deserves a better treatment than that. It's a good example of what kind of horrible art publishers will come up with.Anyways...this was probably one of my least favorite Sharpe books, cover aside. The antagonists are boring and lame compared to someone from the previous books like Hakeswill or even Dodd. The ending felt anticlimactic, which is utterly rare in a Cornwell novel, and the general plot was just...watery or something, I don't know. Definitely less compelling than Sharpe's other stories thus far. And when Cornwell introduced me to yet another boring love interest I almost was incredulous at his utter fucking refusal to not include a pointless love story. Then, almost as if the author himself had heard me, he suddenly scaled her role back to an easily ignorable minor character. Sweet relief.I know I just spent a lot of time complaining about this book but you will see that I still enjoyed it. Why? It's kind of hard to answer. Even at his worst, Cornwell has an ease with vivid description and detail as well as an almost casual style of prose that keeps my imagination engaged. It's just an unchallenging, pleasant experience even when it's not particularly substantial. The history is also fascinating. Finally, Harper is hilarious. The stories he tells about his experiences in his native Ireland just have this ridiculous quality that had me laughing at them. I can't say I disliked reading this book, but Cornwell was pushing it this time.
What do You think about Sharpe's Havoc (2015)?
One of the newer books in the series, this is an outing that goes back in time, just before the setting of Cornwell’s first Sharpe adventure. As such it’s a self-contained effort that one reads on an epic level, full of action and adventure and warfare in spades. Cornwell has come a long way since SHARPE'S EAGLE, adding extra characterisation and juicy detail into the descriptive action which makes this an authentic as well as an enthralling read. The scope of the novel is just right, with the ‘big picture’ – the invasion of Portugal etc. – neatly balanced off against the little picture. This time, Sharpe makes an impressive escape, finds himself trapped behind enemy lines and is involved in a breathtaking siege sequence. The action is bloody and exciting and the mashismo drips off the page. Characterisation of the good-natured Harper, the decent Vicente and Sharpe himself, a sentinel-like, quiet and angry hero, is fine. This book is a fascinating read that is difficult to put down, and one of the best I’ve read in a long time.
—Graham
These star ratings really don't mean much, do they? In this case, I think the rating reflects my interest, or in this case "lack of interest", in history seen through the sights of a early 19th century musket. A series of battles for Portugal, with one gruesome battle scene after another is the frame into which a cynical action-adventure hero, a fair young damsel and a dastardly double agent are inserted. The Napoleonic historic context is accurately but superficially drawn, but one gruesome battle after another, with all the butchery described--animals slaughtered because they're part of the whole scheme of things, women raped, children killing and being killed, citizens being burned alive in a church--wears on the spirit.
—Loraine
Good grief.Thus far, Sharpe's Havoc is easily the weakest installment of the series. The trope of the treasonous British officer was overused two books back and this time Sharpe does not even have anything interesting to do for most of the novel, hanging around for around a hundred pages at a mansion while his nemesis du jour engages in mustache-twirling evil around Portugal, presumably only prevented from tying the love interest du jour on railroad tracks by the Age of Steam still being just around the corner.The one-note villains are a bunch of malevolent incompetents right up to Marshal Soult, which somewhat lessens the impact of our heroes finally prevailing. Kicking the ass of an imbecile is not a great feat of derring-do.That said, Cornwell still has a way with compulsively readable prose and his battle depictions are the usual excellent fare. He also knows his history and I appreciate the historical notes at the end of the novel, telling whose thunder Sharpe stole this time and which parts of the tale were Cornwell's own imagination, which a matter of historical record.Eminently skippable.
—Jukka Särkijärvi
