Rumours of War (SIGNED by the author) [Hardcover]

Allan Mallinson (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Bantam Books (2004)
• ISBN-10: 9999087183
• ISBN-13: 978-9999087186
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Hervey in the Peninsula; twice over - vol 6, October 10, 2011

By 

John Middleton (Brisbane, QLD, AUST) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rumours of War (Matthew Hervey, Book 6) (Paperback)

The problem I have with this book is that it is neither fish nor fowl; not a complete novel of Hervey's first battles nor a satisfying instalment without them. It tries to both continue Major Hervey's story in 1826 post-India, and also to revert - when it suits it - to Cornet Hervey's 1808 expedition, on the basis that as Hervey is in Portugal he has a lot of flashbacks. The structure of the book is a problem, and one that I cant just wish away. Maybe this is due to reading the series all at once rather than as published, but as that is likely how others will read it now, that is no reason to excuse the book its structural faults.

As a result, I found it a little unsatisfying, or perhaps frustrating. On the one hand, it is nice to see Hervey face up to his sister and daughter (and taking and losing as a new lover a character first introduced some books ago) and to see him further advance; on the other the mix of old and new is confusing in places, and as well there are scenes shown to us that Hervey could never have seen.

Patrick O'Brien is held up as the benchmark for military/naval historical fiction, and yet he found it necessary to invent several years - no one quite knows how many - out of whole cloth to fit in the story he wanted to tell. Mallinson is not an O'Brien in the storytelling stakes: that's not a slam, very few are. There just seem to be a few too many compromises here within the book, where simply one big compromise - to write a prequel of the young Hervey - might have saved the day. Maybe Mallinson was trying to highlight Hervey's development as a character here by juxtaposing present and past, but the waters are too muddied for this to be wholly successful.

For all of that, I did keep reading and enjoy doing so. Three stars isn't wholly fair but I can't give it four: if I could give 3.5 I surely would. This is not the place to start reading about Hervey, and its not where I will give up, either, but I hope in a few volumes time that this is not the book I noted as where a decline set in, for whatever reason.

5.0 out of 5 stars Rumours of War, July 13, 2010

By 

HorseSoldier176 - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Rumours of War (Matthew Hervey, Book 6) (Paperback)

Fantastic continuing story of Matthew Hervey. Brigadier Mallinson continues a great tradition, of outstanding storytelling! I look forward to his next book!