Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Sharpe's Skirmish by Bernard Cornwell ISBN: 0-9722220-0-6 Publisher: The Sharpe Appreciation Society Pub. Date: 03 September, 2002 Format: Paperback List Price(USD): $6.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.8 (5 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: A 53 page short story
Comment: By UNESCO standards, this publication just barely qualifies as a book. It is a 53 page story plus some white pages, introduction, etc. The price may seem a bit high, but it was republished for a fundraising effort after some rewriting. The original was a limited edition publication provided as a free promotional item for a bookstore.
This is a short action (skirmish) set between the time periods of two of the novels in the Sharpe series. The time is 1812. The French are retreating from Spain. The British are advancing in Northwest Spain after the Battle of Salamanca, and Sharpe is given the task of guarding a small fort on the flank of the British supply lines. All is well until the French decide to make a surprise attack. The final defense of the bridge somewhat brings to mind Harclay's defense at Boroughbridge in 1322, except Harclay had longbows. It is difficult to charge on horseback over a defended bridge.
Rating: 3
Summary: A Short Sharpe
Comment: OK....a word to the wise. Only buy this story if you've read a bunch of the other books in the series. This is certainly no place to start. This book presupposes a good knowledge of the Sharpe saga. The characters are given little background or fleshing out. As Sharpe says himself, this is a skirmish, not a battle.
For all that, it is a rousing good read. Everything you would want from a Cornwell book only in ultra-condensed form. There is the hero and his loyal friends, the incompetent superior officer, a beautiful damsel (not at all distressed), and a bunch of French to kill. These French are not too evil, but I always found Cornwell made the villains a bit too cartoonish. Isn't the fact that they're French reason enough to hate 'em? Only kidding!
So the only question is, is the book worth the price of admission? In any other case I would probably say no, but Cornwell has basically had this one published for charity. So go ahead, splurge.
Rating: 5
Summary: Condensed novel or basic plot never extended to full size.
Comment: OK, this is NOT a FULL SIZE Sharpe Novel, so what?. It only makes for a BETTER one sitting read as it disposes with the non fundamental subplots of a Cornwell book (wich incidentally I love when not repetitive...)
The main interest is how Cornwell give us a condensed novel (instead of a short story) wich never developed into a normal lenght one (Probably he will have some other sketches of projected plots never fully developed wich one day will see the light in a compilation of short stories? (What about the Eastern Theater of the war, and the sieges of Zaragoza or Gerona?, He could even have been at Maida?...) I would love a proper book of Sharpe's short stories!.
You can easily identifie all the characters (AND I MEAN THE SECONDARY ONE'S) usually put there as a matter of fact, as usual some of them are nearly caricaturesque: The ambitious French Officer (thinking perhaps on his chances to get the proverbial Marshall's Baton!), the incompetent high class British officer (always of a superior rank of course), etc.
I have all the novels (first bought Sharpe's Eagle in an airport to pass the flight-time away... WHAT A FIND!... I was hooked since then (1982) and enjoyed them from the start as a fresh approach to the napoleonic wars (even if in some of the earlier efforts the "cliches" were a little gross: the lazy "siesta" adicted spanish, the brutal french, and others...), Brilliantly enough the series get focused with each passing novel produced and the overall "fresco" of the War in the Peninsula is I think well balanced. The apearance of competent Spanish patriots, spanish colaborationists with the french (funny to remind the reader they actually some of them were trying to democratise Spain in the lines of the French Revolution principles, quite a pity to think ahead of your time... Fernado VII Restauration produced a purge and bloodbath of intelectuals and quickly supressed the Constitution of Cadiz (1812) and even one of the best guerrilla figters "El Empecinado" was executed for his political views when all was over).
All Sharpe's fans will enjoy as I did.
 |
Title: Sharpe's Havoc : Richard Sharpe and the Campaign in Northern Portugal, Spring 1809 by Bernard Cornwell ISBN: 0060530464 Publisher: HarperCollins Pub. Date: 01 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
 |
Title: Sharpe's Escape : Portugal, 1810 by Bernard Cornwell ISBN: 0060530472 Publisher: HarperCollins Pub. Date: 30 March, 2004 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
 |
Title: Sharpe's Honor by Bernard Cornwell ISBN: 014029435X Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 10 April, 2001 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
 |
Title: Sharpe's Siege: Richard Sharpe and the Winter Campaign, 1814 by Bernard Cornwell ISBN: 0140294376 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 01 October, 2001 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
 |
Title: Sharpe's Enemy: Richard Sharpe and the Defense of Portugal, Christmas 1812 by Bernard Cornwell ISBN: 0140294341 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 10 April, 2001 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
