Bernard Cornwell has done it again with this classic Sharpe adventure. In Sharpe's Siege, our hero, Major Richard Sharpe, is called upon to assist the British Navy in the capture of a fortress on the French coast. This does not bring him happiness, for, in the first place, he is leaving behind is new, and sick wife, Jane, who he fears has "the fever." And secondly, he has to take orders from an incompetent Naval Officer. What should be a fairly routine piece of action behind enemy lines becomes much more complicated by some underhand goings on by both the French, in the shape of his long-time adversary, Pierre Ducos, as well as the British army itself. And guess who gets caught up in the middle of all the politics once again! This leads to his small band of men being abandoned in the fortress they had captured, and facing overwhelming forces of the enemy. Desperate times call for desperate measures ... one of which may be that he has to put his trust in an American privateer who has no love for the British! The action is fast, furious and brutal at times, but we also see the softer side of Sharpe in this book, something which I'm very happy to see. Sharpe fans needn't worry overly, he certainly hasn't lost any of his edge when it comes to the battle. This book is raw at times, showing that there may be victory, but there is certainly no glory or glamour in war. Sharpe's Siege is the eighteenth in the Sharpe series, and I've only got three more to go! I feel like I should ration myself as I am dreading the day when I have no more Sharpe books to look forward to devouring!
My STAR rating: FIVE.
Length: 319 print pages.
Price I paid: £2.50 from a charity shop.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio CD; unabridged audio download; ebook.
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