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Read Sharpe's Sword (2004)

Sharpe's Sword (2004)

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Genre
Series
Rating
4.16 of 5 Votes: 1
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ISBN
0451213432 (ISBN13: 9780451213433)
Language
English
Publisher
signet

Sharpe's Sword (2004) - Plot & Excerpts

The year is 1812. Wellington's advance to Madrid has stalled at the town of Salamanca, blocked by the army of Marshal Auguste Marmont. As the two armies prepare for the battle everyone know is coming, Captain Richard Sharpe of the South Essex Regiment's light company captures, and then loses again, a cavalry officer who turns out to be Napoleon's top spy in Spain.As the only English officer capable of recognizing the sadistic Leroux, Sharpe is withdrawn from his usual duties to fight on an altogether unfamiliar battlefield, one of intrigue and subterfuge. Sharpe's mission is to capture the French assassin before he can eliminate one of Wellington's own spies, "El Mirador", who currently resides somewhere in Salamanca. The focus on counter-espionage makes for an interesting take in a series which, by its fourth, had already established a list of tropes on which it could draw. While Sharpe's Sword is assuredly action packed, it manages to be so while keeping a tighter focus on the main character's singular hunt for his opponent, and largely relegates Sharpe to observer status during two of the major battle sequences of the novel. Joining the regulars, Sharpe and the ever-loyal Sergeant Patrick Harper, are a cast of new characters who fit more easily into the espionage milieu. There's a radical Irish priest whose loyalties are uncertain, a beautiful Spanish aristocrat who knows more than she appears to and who, naturally, captures Sharpe's eye, an English intelligence officer whose good nature hides deeper personality flaws, and Leroux, the sadistic French assassin Sharpe has been ordered to take alive but has sworn to kill. The spy-novel format is a welcome change for the series, and the mystery is serviceable enough if not particularly surprising. While Sharpe's Sword was an exciting read and one of the stronger entries in the series, I think that it could have benefited from greater integration of the main story with the terrific battle sequences this series and author is renowned for.

Keep movin', movin', movin', though they're disapprovin'! Keep them doggies movin', Rawhide! ...must be constantly playing in Cornwell's head as he churns out these adequate historical fiction novels following rough-and-tumble ensign Richard Sharpe as he rises from the ranks of the British army with Wellington's fight against Napoleon as the backdrop and his own personal struggles as the focal point. Sharpe is a man with a mighty large chip on his shoulder as is, but it isn't helped that almost unfailingly in each book some outranking douche of a foppish dandy or a down-and-out dirtbag sergeant comes along and drops more shit on Sharpe. On the other hand, Sharpe is guaranteed to come across a lovely, often well-bred lady who inevitably succumbs to his rugged charm. Predictable plot devices aside, Cornwell knows his history and crafts some very exciting action. The Napoleonic Wars don't get much more entertaining than this!

What do You think about Sharpe's Sword (2004)?

Sharpe's Sword is a decent, bordering-on-the-brilliant installment in Bernard Cornwell's long-running series of horse-and-musket historical novels starring the rough-yet-heroic Captain Richard Sharpe. Sharpe finds himself embroiled in a cat-and-mouse game between warring intelligencers, with his trademark "bull in a china shop" approach proving to be ineffective at first, but eventually winning out in the end. Alas, this book feels the more like "running through the motions" as opposed to treading new ground. It doesn't help that the main Big Bad, Colonel Phillip Leroux, is a borderline Villain Sue who evokes a less effective version of an earlier Sharpe nemesis (Sharpe's Battle's Brigadier General Guy Loup). Still, fans of the series will enjoy this book and it can be a good starting point for people who want to try out Sharpe for the first time.
—Noel

#14 in the Richard Sharpe series.[return][return]Wellington s army and therefore Richard Sharpe is in Spain, near Salamanca, still fighting the French. But there s a new element in the mix Napoleon s personal intelligence officer, Colonel Leroux, who has been tracking down and eliminating the network of spies who supply information for Wellington s army. His latest coup is someone who will lead Leroux to the coordinator of the network, known only as El Mirador.[return][return]By accident, Sharpe encounters Leroux under disguise. Later, in another meeting, Leroux, with his sword made by Kligenthal, breaks Sharpe s cavalry sword and nearly kills Sharpe. Determined to get Leroux s sword, Sharpe pursues his nemesis through the intrigues that end up in the Battle of Salamanca.[return][return]Although this book gets off to a slow and somewhat awkward start, it soon picks up and Cornwell delivers a faced-paced, exciting story such as we have learned to anticipate. The plot is excellent. Of course, the usual battle is the piece de resistanceof the novel, and it lives up to all the other superb battle descriptions that Cornwell has written in the series. Sharpe is not the most sensitive hero in literature, but he continues to interest as he does evolve, if slowly. But then there are so many more books to go! Sgt. Harper continues to provide a foil for Sharpe.[return][return]As usual, there is an excellent Historical Note that provides more information on two characters in the novel that were historical figures. He waxes lyrical about Salamanca and, as usual, describes the battlefield as it currently exists. He also gives directions to the battlefield of Garcia Hernandez, the site of the magnificent charge of the King German Legion.[return][return]Another magnificent installment in this superb series. Highly recommended.
—Joyce Lagow

This story is set against the battle of Salamanca. When Sharpe captures a French officer, he doesn't imagine that his life is suddenly going to get very difficult. When the officer breaks his patrol and flees into Salamanca, killing two of Sharpe's superiors, Sharpe can't wait to track him down and exact revenge. But Colonol Leroux is more important than he can imagine, for the Frenchmen knows the true identity of El Mirador, the chief spy for England whose huge network of informers stretches all the way into Paris. Trapped in the besieged forts, it should be easy for Sharpe and his men to stop him escaping. Instead, Harper is knocked unconscious and Sharpe is missing, presumed dead and buried in an unmarked grave. Of course he isn't!! Instead, he gets to recover from his wounds with a beautiful Marquesa, but she has secrets of her own and even on his sickbed, Sharpe is pulled back into the world of war and espionage.This is a great story - I love the touch with the two swords and the twisting story around Helena is brilliant. Some of it a bit obvious - as a reader I was ahead of Sharpe on occasion, but that only heightens the tension.
—Dark-Draco

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