It pains me to say this, but for the first time reading a Bernard Cornwell book, I have felt a little disappointed. Sharpe's Waterloo is number 20 in what has been a fabulous series of historical novels centred around an iconic, heroic character. Richard Sharpe, born in the gutter, has worked his way up the ranks in Wellington's army. He had thought his fighting days were over and was living peacefully in France with his new love and their child. All was going swimmingly until Napoleon escaped and mobilised the French once again. It's June in 1815, and Sharpe heads back to war, but this time, as part of the Prince of Orange's personal staff. Needless to say, Sharpe is not impressed by the impetuous young man and they are soon at loggerheads. As Napoleon's army crosses the border into Belgium, the British and Prussian armies are separated, and know that they face defeat unless they can make a final stand just outside a small place called Waterloo. The British must hold firm until the Prussians can rejoin them, but the odds are stacked against them. There is much to like about this latest sojourn for Sharpe, the description of the skirmishes and battles, full of rich detail are a grizzly delight. However, for me, there just wasn't enough Sharpe. There was stacks of action and incident, but featuring characters that I wasn't invested in. It felt like a novel about Waterloo, that happened to have a cameo of Richard Sharpe dropped into it to make it a "Sharpe" novel. Maybe it's just me, but to leave your best asset on the sidelines for much of the book left me a little flat. This penultimate (number 20) Sharpe book is definitely not one of the best. Hopefully the final book in this series will be a belter!
My STAR rating: FOUR.
Length: 435 print pages.
Price I paid: £2.49.
Formats available: print, unabridged audio cassette, unabridged audio download, CD-ROM, ebook.
No comments:
Post a Comment