Customer Reviews

The Devil's Oasis: A Novel

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This is the third in the series of adventure tales centering on Anton Rider, a gypsy-raised Brit who makes a living taking sports on safari. He has two upright sons and a separated wife, Gwenn, who has a terminal addiction to lovers who are losers. His friends include a likeable, devious and over-sexed dwarf, a German soldier with one foot, and an ancient Englishman. All these exotic characters are found in exotic locales along the Nile in 1939-1942 as Rommel advances toward Egypt and the British fight desperately to halt him. This, of course, involves Anton, who always finds trouble, and his military-age son Wellington. Gwenn is keeping company with a detestable Frenchman; the dwarf is calculating how he can get even richer with the war The greatest part of the book, especially toward the end, is devoted to war in the desert. The descriptions of the war are a little confusing. More explanation as to why, for example, the Foreign Legion is clinging so desperately to a particular patch of sand would be useful. Courage abounds in this novel; fear is not so evident -- and more would be welcome in a dramatic sense. Likewise, the hardships of heat and thirst in the desert don't seem to be exploited as effectively as they could be. But this is a good adventure tale, better written than most, and I look forward to the next book in the series.

Liked this even better than WRH. Just great adventure writing, set in North Africa. One of the best novels I've ever read. Combines action with romantic setting and atomosphere. Extremely well crafted and written.

Third in a series, this book takes Bartle Bull's motley assortment of African adventurers to the battlefields of North Africa in the early days of World War II. The earlier two books were great tales but suffered from a certain disappointing similarity and a jumpiness of narrative which took us back and forth among the different characters and various sub-plots. This time, though, things are a bit different. There are no battles in the bush or safaris except for a brief moment early on when white hunter and protagonist, Anton Rider, is wrapping one up, just before lighting out for Cairo to woo back his estranged wife Gwen, who has relocated there after attending medical school and becoming a physician.

On arrival in Cairo, Rider finds Gwen playing mistress to a slippery French archeologist and unwilling to reconcile with him because of his adventurous ways. Meanwhile his grown son, Wellington, and nearly grown son, Denby, are keen to sign up to fight the Jerries and Eyeties in the newly developing war, causing still another rift between Gwen and Anton.

Their proper British friend, the somewhat incompetent Lord Adam Penfold, rounds out this little group which is again bound together by their common friendship with, and devotion to, the Goan dwarf Olivo Fonseca Alavedo, the very kinky and always scheming capitalist miser with the heart of gold who keeps them all in the chips despite their unworldly ways. Olivio has his family of five beautiful daughters by his off-stage African wife (for some reason, throughout all the trials and tribulations of this group, she never makes an appearance) and his one dwarf son (the spitting image of his dad . . . though why he is the only one to inherit dwarfism while his daughters are all perfect specimens is never addressed or explained). Their old friendly enemy, Ernst von Decken is there, too. He's high tailing it to Rommel in North Africa to salve the pain of having been on the losing German side in East Africa during World War I. This time, relying on a peg leg to replace a foot he lost in the prior book, A Cafe on the Nile, he is quickly inducted into Rommel's inner circle and ready to beat the "Englanders" at last.

Anton, of course, is keen to do his duty for a Britain he left as a lad of 18 and has not seen since, even as Wellington, born and raised in Africa, enlists to do his. Gwen, rather annoyed by it all, flees Cairo for Alexandria to do her duty there caring for the wounded in the overcrowded hospitals, while Olivio has uncovered a secret on one of his landholdings that brings him into conflict with a certain French archeologist, as well as the Egyptian authorities. While Anton and Wellington are off blasting Eyties and Jerries, Olivio must outwit the man who is out to steal what he has found and who will stop at nothing, including assassination, to get his way.

As before, we are treated to a generous helping of sexual coupling, though it's less off the beaten path this time than in the prior books, as Wellington falls for Olivio's surviving eldest daughter, Saffron, and Anton cavorts with Ernst's American wife who has paused to dally a bit in Egypt on her way home to the states in the wake of Ernst's desertion of her for the glories of a dreamed of German victory. Anton leads his long range desert reconnaisance unit deep into Libya, enemy territory controlled by the Italians and Rommel, while Wellington takes his stand at a little known oasis on the road to Tobruk which Rommel must take if he's to move on and seize Alexandria, Egypt and all the rest of the oil rich Middle East.

As before, there's lots of action and good fun for those who want to lose themselves in a 1940's style adventure set in the exotic locale of North Africa. Bull does a marvelous job of conjuring up the world though I think, this time, he was a little too specific in the technical details as he lists the various vehicles on the two sides interminably and has Penfold continue to read newspaper headlines giving us the broader events of the day. Bull notes in his afterword that he did quite a bit of research in the old newspapers and, through Penfold, he seems keen to show us how much he took away.

The downside in this tale, though, remains the characters. While sharply drawn and generally interesting, they have no real depth and never seem to show any growth. Anton is still the heroic hunter cum adventurer, aphrodisiac to the ladies but a fish out of water with his own wife, Gwen. Lord Penfold is still the dull, impractical and sincere British aristocrat and Olivio is still the consumate schemer. Ernst remains the somewhat honorable schemer and lout he has always been, despite the losses he has taken including the missing foot.

The Goan dwarf, Olivio, still takes his hits but, as always, knows how to hit back in a remarkably brutal way, though his brutality is surprisingly muted this time out compared to what we got in the first two books. Despite the deep losses he sustains in his battle of wits with his new enemy, he seems surprisingly unmoved by it all, thriving, rather, on the vengeance he is able to conceive and implement despite the loss of some of those who are closest to him. He's been blown up and nearly burned to death many times before, of course, and given the health problems Bull tells us beset him, it's hard to imagine that he's still alive, still scheming and still taking revenge after it all. But this story is not meant to be realistic. It's a fantastic world of adventure masquerading as reality and in that it does its job. If you want to lose yourself in a fast paced tale of adventure in a far off time and place, among strange and quaintly alien peoples, then this book is right up your alley. I generally like my historical adventures set a bit further back in time, myself, but as an author of one of these (The King of Vinland's Saga), I respect a good job when I see it. And Bartle Bull has written an adventure worth losing oneself in. I lost myself for a couple of days, reading it right through to the end without a break. And that's what it's all about after all.

Stuart W. Mirsky

Bartle Bull's series of North African novels can fairly be characterized as a "rip-roaring yarn." From the chaotic closing days of WWI ("The White Rhino Hotel") to the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in 1935 ("A Cafe on the Nile") to the outbreak of WWII ("The Devil's Oasis"), Bull has taken a cast of beloved characters and dropped them pell-mell into some of the most exotic and dangerous (and therefore romantic) circumstances possible.

What brings this series alive is Bull's ability to capture the uniquely North African flavors of his cherished setting. It is obvious that Bull has spent quite a bit of time in the desert and on safari in North Africa, not to mention a lot of time "recharging" himself at various seedy and sophisticated bars and hotels. Writing with a quick, terse prose, Bull is more likey to spend more time describing the sights, sounds, and smells of a busy riverfront than he would describing the psychological torments of his characters -- a remarkably stoic, macho crowd.

Again, the one completely unique character in Bull's novels is the Goan dwarf, Olivio Alavdedo. Rising from servant in the first novel to wealthy landowner and entrepreneur, Alavedo confronts both his physical limitations and impending death (due to health complications) as opportunities. With a mind as cruel as it is cunning, Alavedo concocts schemes of conquest and vengeance that are haunting, devastating, and completely original. He stands in stark contrast to the what-you-see-is-what-you-get machismo of Englishman/gypsy/hunter Anton Rider and German/African/hunter/farmer Ernst von Decken -- both of whom are great characters in their own right.

I have given both "Hotel" and "Cafe" five stars for their sheer audacity -- I have completely enjoyed both books. I still enjoyed "Oasis," but I have to confess that some of Bull's plot developments in "Oasis" seem overly similar to plot developments in the first two novels. Alavedo once again faces numerous assassination attempts -- we've been here before. Gwenn Rider has once again left Anton for a Euro-trash villain who is destined for a horrible comeuppance. Anton once again finds himself challenged to express his true feelings, and he undergoes horrible physical punishment while trying to do the right thing. And there are other plot developments that come straight from the first two books.

All of these plot similarities derive from the fact that our characters haven't changed all that much. Alavedo continues to court enemies (this time in the corrupt world of Egyptian antiquities), so it's natural that he be marked for trouble. And Gwenn and Anton Rider, despite their intense love, are too different to spend every day next to each other. But still, there's a certain sense of repetition in "Oasis" that keeps the novel from a five-star rating.

Fortunately, despite this misgiving, "Oasis" brings the goods as far as thrills and chills are concerned. Ernst von Decken allies himself with Erwin Rommel during Rommel's African campaign. Anton joins the British Long Range Patrol Group, charged with scouting and sabotage. (Ernst and Anton also find themselves confronting the loss of their long friendship, thanks to Anton's "behavior" with Ernst's young American wife, Harriet.) Anton's and Gwenn's elder son, Wellington, also joins the British army in North Africa and takes on Rommel and the Luftwaffe. And there is much, much more.

Chalk up another sterling adventure for Bartle Bull and his series of African novels. While it's clear from the conclusion of "Oasis" that another novel (at least) is forthcoming, perhaps it's good that Bull has briefly left this series for another novel, "Shanhai Station." Maybe this break will give him some inspiration for some unanticipated and original crises to befall his romantic band of killers, schemers, and lovers.

Bartle Bull is a great storyteller. The characters we first met in The White Rhino Hotel and further enjoyed in A Cafe on the Nile are back. The setting is now Cairo and Northern Africa as the Nazi juggernaut (in the person of the surprisingly admirable Rommel and his Afrika Corps) prepares to capture Cairo, to thereby control the Middle Eastern oilfields, and to gain an unsurmountable advantage in winning the war. Anton Rider, now older and more battered; Gwen, his estranged wife now in a liaison with another despicable cad; Wellington, their older son, discovering love and heroism for the first time; and, always, the enigmatic Goan dwarf, Olivio Alavedo are all back to further work out their lives in this grand historic context. As always, the reader cares about the characters, is caught up in the fast-paced plot and is swept up in a powerful narrative. If you like adventure and care about good writing, read this series!

This is the third book in a series that begins with "The White Rhino Hotel," is followed by "A Cafe on the Nile," and concludes with this title. The writing is pretty even through all three. If you like the setting--Africa and Egypt--and like this kind of thing--entertainment with no great message--then all three books should satisfy. The plot is most satisfying in the first and third. But once you get interested in the characters, you'll want to read all three. I definitely recommend reading them in order, although each stands alone, if necessary.

The Devil's Oasis was my first read for Mr. Bull. It's a must for anyone who enjoys WWII era fiction. Although this book is the third in a series, it stands alone very well with its own character development and storyline. The historical references are plentiful and accurate, driving the story on well. I hope to see more like this.

I read the most recent Bartle Bull book (China Star) first then went back and ordered all the others. I have never enjoyed a series more. The battle scenes and description of the characters in this book, especially Rommel, adds much to understanding the spirit of war.
If you want to read about a time when some brave men had courage, dignity and a sense of honor, read this book.

Old time adventure fun - a good book. My only regret is that the author has apparently ended the series. I would suggest reading all four in the series in addition to the new series.

Enjoyed this book, after reading the first two, The White Rhino Hotel and A Cafe on the Nile. The historical detail and colorful plotting make it difficult to put down.