Barry Sadler's Casca: The Liberator [Paperback]

Paul Dengelegi (Author)

Book Description

Series: Barry Sadler's Casca | Publication Date: November 1, 1999

Drowned but kept alive by an immortal curse, Casca Longinus is rescued from his watery hell many years later African villagers who believe the mercenary is a god sent to rescue them. Original.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Jove; First Thus edition (November 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0515126896
• ISBN-13: 978-0515126891
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,109,574 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Some Good, Some Bad..., January 28, 2000

By 

Dayton Ward (Kansas City, Missouri USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Barry Sadler's Casca: The Liberator (Paperback)

While overseas many years ago I borrowed a friend's copy of a CASCA book. Enthralled with the idea behind the character, I spent the rest of that summer hunting down and reading all 22 books. After Sadler's death I figured that someday, somebody would continue the series. Well, here we are and I greet Casca's return with a mixed reaction.

Barry Sadler may not have been the greatest writer, but the one thing he could do most of the time was tell a story that you wanted to see to the end. None of the original CASCA books are great literature and some of them were downright turkeys, but for the most part he kept you coming back for the next one.

This new entry in the series has a promising start, and I agree with those reviewers who note that Mr. Dengelegi has attempted to add a new level of characterization to Casca. This I applaud, for after 22 books something new added to the mix can only help if it's done right.

However, the middle portion of the book bogs down horribly. Page after page of Casca eating, bathing, flirting with the servant girls, eating some more, bathing some more, flirting some more with the girls, and then we do it all over again. This part of the book covers more pages than the initial scenes and Casca's brush with The Curse combined. I found myself skipping ahead and looking for the pace to pick up...never a good sign when one is reading any book. The story picks up speed toward the end, but by then it was probably a lost cause for me.

Being as this is the first attempt to resurrect the series, I will watch for the next Casca book. One mixed effort won't ruin the potential entertaiment value the character represents for me. Hopefully that's true for other Casca fans.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A dissapointment for Casca fans., April 22, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Barry Sadler's Casca: The Liberator (Paperback)

Barry Sadler never was one of the great writers, or even one of the great storytellers. Neither was Conan Doyle, but both created characters that in their own way, transcend their author's limitations.

As a collector of Holmes pastiches, I'm well aware of the problems faced by authors taking on a well loved character - the failures are more frequent than the successes. Yet our hearts continue to beat a little faster at the thought of a new encounter with an old friend, however poorly told.

Like many others who have reviewed this book, I've read all the Casca books. Some of them are lame, and should not have been published (as is true of some of the Holmes and Nero Wolfe stories). I'm definitely not holding Sadler up as a paragon, but when he was on form, he was very, very readable, and created an enduring and often engaging character, with some wonderful historical quirks thrown in for good measure (being buddies with Lao Tzu - instead of Sun Tzu - is an excellent irony). But when he was off (at least a third of the time), he, like he often said of Casca, was simply dragging his ass.

Dengelegi understands the Casca premise, and chose an interesting setting, but he simply could not make his Casca come alive. His Casca is humorless, introspective, and grossly repetitive. His book is a hopeless read, badly in want of a blue pencil. It's hard to imaginge Sadler enjoying this book.

Were that not enough, the book has many, many production errors that look like spell-checker problems. Whatever became of proofreading?

Jove books - please get Dengelegi an agressive editor, and spare us this uphill battle next time. Yes, we want Casca books; no, we don't want them like this - bloated and pompous. Casca fans deserve better for helping you milk a cash cow. This doesn't need a Tolstoy, or a Shaara - just a workmanlike writer (as was Sadler) with a feel for a unique character.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars An insult to Sadler's memory, January 10, 2002

By 

D. Stanmore (London, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Barry Sadler's Casca: The Liberator (Paperback)

I really wanted to like this book as I have read all Sadler's Casca books and enjoyed most of them. I never actually finished reading the book, it was so bad.

The writer needs a lot more editorial control regarding pace and structure. The whole middle section of the book (where I gave up) has no action - Casca sits around, eats his meals, and that's it. In the first few chapters the author spends a lot of time describing the other people on the boat and I thought these guys would be with Casca throughout the story, but they get killed off by the pirates - what a waste of time.

I am surprised that Dengelegi was invited back to do a second book.