"He might not be a born officer, but by God he was a born soldier. He was the son of a whore, bereft of God, but a God-damned soldier."I've decided that the best way to approach the Sharpe series -- in which the publication order differs so radically from the publication order as to seem all but an exercise in randomization -- the way one does when reading stories about Conan the Cimmerian. There might be some narrative carry-over from novel to novel, but it's best to just regard them as discrete stories that happen to be about a guy with the same name and more or less the same character.I say this because Sharpe's Rifles is the point where a lot of people who have chosen to read these books in chronological order start complaining about inconsistencies. The book was written some half a dozen years after those of the original core series, but cast as a prequel to them -- and the books I've read so far were written many, many years after this one, but take place earlier in Sharpe's career.So in a lot of ways, the Richard Sharpe in Sharpe's Rifles bears little resemblance to the character I've grown to love through his adventures in India, at sea, and in Denmark, except in the ways described in the ur-Cornwellian sentence I quoted at the beginning of this post. He's still pretty uncouth and brutal, still an all but conscience-less and cold-blooded killer, but he seems only to have honed those qualities from his prior adventures* but not to have experienced the character building that came with them. To wit: he is unsure in his authority (though it could be argued that the years he has spent as a downtrodden Quartermaster for the 95th Rifles might have eroded the confidence he gained in India and Denmark), a complete sucker for anything in a skirt (see my asterisk below) and taking lessons in leadership from the Spanish major Bias Vivar that he really ought already to have absorbed from the good examples of his protectors in India like McCandless.But these are small quibbles, and become meaningless once one has agreed to treat the novels as things outside of time and narrative continuity. Especially when the material at hand is so good, as it is here. For Sharpe's Rifles has everything I've come to expect from a Sharpe story: over-the-top adventure (here a ragtag band of survivors of a famous retreat across Spain is teaming up with a small-but-elite cadre of the Spanish army commanded by the aforementioned Don Bias on a mission to bring a Holy McGuffin to the Cathedral at Santiago de Compostella and thus create a new legend to inspire the Spanish peasantry to rise up against the hated French invaders), internecine bickering, inspired combat tactics, cold chivalry among enemies, and all the fighting, drinking and swearing (if not, this time, the whoring) one might expect from a good piece of military fiction.Here, too, is an origin story of sorts, though its significance is lost to chronological readers who have not osmotically absorbed a certain level of meta-knowledge about the series -- for it is here that Sharpe and his gonna-be best friend, Sergeant Harper, meet for the first time. And it's a pretty good meet as those go -- Harper almost stages a mutiny against Sharpe! -- but it's still not as good as Aubrey and Maturin and the concert at Port Mahon. But that's maybe not a fair comparison, right? I'm sure back in the 1980s when only the original core Peninsular War books existed, fans of Sharpe/Harper were delighted to observe this meeting, but for us chronological readers starting in the 21st century, it will never have the same power.Still, cracking good stuff. Again, lots of explorations of how the rifle changed warfare, and how swords still matter, even if one sword is in the hand of a guy astride a big horse and the other in the hand of a guy on foot who ran out of ammo or out of time to reload his weapon, lots of amusing ruses de guerre... and then there's the attack on Santiago itself, which doesn't hold a candle to the big set-piece battles we saw in India, but is still very satisfying indeed.Truly, Sharpe never disappoints.*At least, thank goodness, his prior adventures don't involve a lot of ret-conning; the allusions to his deeds in India, at Seringapatam and Gawalghur, etc. match up with the stories I've read. Well, except for Lady Grace, his lover from Sharpe's Waterloo who died after giving him a son before Sharpe's Prey. I'm pretty sure that once you've bedded a gorgeous noblewoman you're not going to be so terribly overawed by a mere member of the impecunious country gentry, however mischievous and cute.
Just finished this novel today, tore through it in three days...I would have finished last night but I took a pause to waste my time watching TV instead (silly silly move).First, I have to say I have tried to read one of Mr Cornwell's novel before and I could not get into it at all. This one was different. I purchased this on Sunday evening and started reading it Monday over lunch and read about a third of the way through on the first day. Tuesday was murder on the book, I read through lunch and stayed up until 1am reading it. Had to force myself to put it down.This is an action adventure film. Yes it takes place in the past and it could be said it is a historical adventure, but WOW! this was awesome. I literally picked it up on a whim (I admit I loved the cover) and as it was the first in a series I was a little worried. I really do not care for long drawn out series and tend to get bored. While I was at Barnes & Noble I checked out the reviews on Amazon and the books got really good reviews, so I figured what the heck, I have somewhat been wandering about aimlessly trying to find something to inspire me. Perhaps this was it.I immediately loved the book. Full of action, interesting characters, and really neat historical information littered about the story. It also takes place during a period of history that I really do not know anything about, namely the British in India (see The Siege of Seringapatam). If you are really sporting, do a Google Maps search for Seringapatam to see where the battle took place.In the Afterward in the end of the book the author explained the differences between reality and the book and explains the details of the liberty he took with history. I found this especially interesting. Having little knowledge of these events and reading the book I had certain images in my mind of what things looked like in the book based on descriptions and, heck, my own little imagination. Reality is a bit different, but that is ok.If you like adventure books, and especially if you are interested in historical (albeit not boring) tales, I cannot say how much I recommend this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I already made a trip to the local library and picked up the next three books in the series...it was that good. I now proceed to Sharpe's Triumph!
What do You think about Sharpe's Rifles (2001)?
The Sharpe books are turning out to be informative and entertaining reads that do for the Napoleonic Wars what the Flashman series did for the Victorian era. Our hero finds himself in northern Spain on the retreat to Corunna when, due to an unfortunate turn of events his unit is cut off from the main force and he is left in charge after the deaths of its leading officers. From that moment on Sharpe has to learn the skills of leadership, especially after a disastrous start, and is fortunate enough to be assisted by the very able Spaniard, Blas Vivar. Vivar has his own agenda, that of inspiring resistance to the invading French by unfurling the banner of St James in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostella.The whole is an adventurous, action-packed and well-written read in which our hero is not always in the right and things don't always turn out the way he expects but, as one would expect, much is learnt and the stage is set for greater things.
—Mieczyslaw Kasprzyk
More of a 2.5, but definitely my least favorite of the series so far. I didn't care for the reader, Fredrick Davidson, which didn't help. While he was tolerable, his Spanish voices were very low, gravelly, & almost unintelligible at times, while all his Irish voices were very high & lilting. Since one of the Irishmen was a really big, tough sergeant, the high voice didn't fit my image of a red haired Lee Marvin well.Sharpe wasn't shown in a very good light for most of the book & the historical afterword basically said that "it didn't happen that way". One of the things that I like about the Sharpe books is that they usually DID happen that way, with a few minor changes to put Sharpe into the action. The sinking feeling in my stomach when I heard the news told me just how much I like that & have come to rely on Cornwall's historical accuracy. It's kind of the point for me.There were quite a few editorial goofs, too. For example, an officer was herding his men by hitting them with the edge of his saber. It was pretty obvious from the context & the results that it was the flat. Caltrops don't just stick into the soft frog of a horse's hoof, but also into the sole, yet several times it was put that way. Irritating. I listened to book #3, Sharpe's Fortress, just before this. My library doesn't have books #4 & #5 in audio format, but I read the 5th, Sharpe's Prey some years ago. The next audio book I have is #9, Sharpe's Gold. I think I'll take a break for a while & maybe come up with book 7 or 8 in the meantime.
—Jim
First, a disclaimer: I have not read any of the other books in the series (though each book seems to standalone plot-wise), and as this is a book in the middle, I might not have experienced it in the way it was meant. The entire reason it was on my shelf was because I felt like I needed to read more action novels and it just happened to be on sale at Coles while I was shopping. With that said, the strongest point of the novel was definitely the action. The author is really good at creating the atmosphere of war and conveying the fear, excitement and drudgery that comes with being in semi-constant danger. The scenes of battle are exciting, and the experience of being in battle is visceral and absorbing.The plotting was very economical. This is a very tight book. The weakness was definitely the characterisation. This probably links back to the tight plotting, because rarely are the characters given room to develop. The romance itself, while used to an effective plot-end, is rather unrealistic and undeveloped. I was glad that it turned out the way it did rather than the way I expected, because it didn't have enough to stand up as a lasting romance in any way. Blas Vivar was probably my favourite character. Harper was also likeable enough. By contrast, the villains themselves were weakly sketched. The protagonist, Sharpe, for all his faults and the author's choice to provide character exposition in place of proper development in places, does undergo a cohesive arc and is, for the most part, sympathetic. To his credit, the scene in the tavern with Blas Vivar (after Louisa makes a definitive choice) was for me probably the truest part in the entire novel.
—Betty
