Customer Reviews

Sharpe's Siege: Richard Sharpe and the Winter Campaign, 1814 (Richard Sharpe Adventure Series)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Hands down, my favorite of the Sharpe series. Major Sharpe and some of his Rifle regiment are sent to help take a French coastal fort that defends access to a number of small craft the Navy needs to capture to make a huge pontoon bridge for the invasion of France. Of course theres a French spy, a pompous and greedy British Naval officer, an American privateer, Sharpes wife possibly dying from fever, and lurking behind everything, Sharpes nemesis, French spymaster Pierre Ducos. Sharpe has to leave most of his men behind (but not, of course, Harper), and easily takes the fort. However, he is stranded on land with a company of Marines and must suddenly hole up in the flimsy fort and hope for salvation. This is Cornwell at his best, inventing a non-historic situation for Sharpe, taking him out of his natural element, presenting him with overwhelming odds, and then having him improvise his way to victory. The siege is a wonderfully frantic affair, as Sharpe must contend with overwhelming enemy numbers, low ammunition, and a crumbling defense. Great stuff.

It's 1814 and Napoleon's conquest is nearing its finish, Englishman Major Richard Sharpe is assigned to take the fortress of Teste de Buch. The fortress is deep inside enemy territory and close to the strategic city of Bordeaux. The task is to take the fortress, secure the route to Bordeaux and determine if the city will capitulate to the British. However, things do not go as planned. While taking the fortress, Shape frees an American pirate (French sympathizer) Captain Killick. Which earns him the enmity of Captain Bampfylde, the officer in charge of this mission. Later, after Sharpe leads an attack outside of Bordeaux he is abandoned by Captain Bampfylde. That leaves Sharpe stuck inside the fortress while the French lay siege. Sharpe is surrounded by Napoleon's forces and trapped deep in enemy territory. Things are hopeless, until...

Bernard Cornwell writes good books. He is fun to read and his stores are always packed with adventure, action and intrigue. As with all of Sharpe books they keep you interested until the end. I have trouble putting them down. Cornwell's style is fast paced plots and he keeps the story going, you may guess the ending but who cares, half the fun is getting there.

If this is your first Sharpe book don't let it be your last, Sharpe's Eagle or Sharpe's Company are among the best in the series. However, all of Cornwell's Sharpe books are good reads, you will not be disappointed.

When a quick raid on a French fort falls victim to cowardice and miscommunication it is up to Richard Sharp and his men to dig in and defend themselves. Can Sharp get his men out alive with nothing but their guns and an American privateer who may or may not be a friend? Lots of action and good battle scenes an excellent Cornwell book.

This particular edition of the Sharp's series is one of my particular favorites. My favorite character Patrick Harper has a notable part to play(b y which I mean the part played by his seven barreled navy gun). If you are one of those people that likes to start a series from the middle and work your way back this is an excellent book to start with

Bernard Cornwell gives another solid adventure novel from his Sharpe series, the military counterpart to Forester's celebrated Hornblower novels. In this story, Sharpe is dispatched with the Royal Navy to capture a coastal fort and a few dozen luggers. Napoleon's spymaster, Major Ducos, learns of his bitter enemy's presence and schemes to trap him, and succeeds in marooning Sharpe in his fortress. The "Siege" follows, as Sharpe stands off a force of 2000 crapauds plus artillery, with little more than 200 Riflemen and Marines, and his own will to win.

On the minus side, longtime Sharpe confidant and British spymaster Michael Hogan dies of fever. I believe that Cornwell handled this matter poorly. Hogan's death was consistent with Napoleonic reality (many more soliders died of disease than wounds back then), but it was anti-climactic - and it was anti-climactic because Hogan's death was used to create anxiety in Sharpe that his new wife would also die of the fever. Basically, Cornwell bumped off a long-standing, well-developed character in a poorly developed fashion to make the hero anxious about a new, underdeveloped character. That is bad writing.

If Cornwell's Sharpe serial has any general failing, it is in how cookie-cutter all his novels are. If you are reviewing one of them, you are basically reviewing all of them. There is rarely ANY variation from his standard plot and character archtypes. Just ONCE I would like to see Sharpe get into trouble because of a otherwise competent superior's honest mistake (or the brilliance of the enemy - imagine that!) and not because said superior is an incompetent, corrupt, cowardly, arrogant bumbler.

However, even if Cornwell is formulaic, it is a thoroughly enjoyable formula. History buffs, fans of swash and buckle, and anyone who has enjoyed Forester's Hornblower will just love this stuff.

'Sharpe's Siege' is a wonderful novel in Bernard Cornwell's multi-volumed work. This time Sharpe is under orders to take a French coastal fort with the help of the British navy. Eventually, Sharpe finds himself stranded in the fort thanks to the machinations of his old nemisis Pierre Ducos. With his back to the sea Sharpe adopts, what else, a cunning strategy to deafeat the French and save his men. A real highlight in the series and lot of fun.

"Sharpe's Siege" is one of the better entries in this series of novels. Although it's not directly based on an actual battle (which I tend to regard as a disadvantage in the occasional Sharpe novel that isn't solidly based on a specific battle), it still does an excellent job of capturing the feel of this type of a Napoleonic fight. And, unlike so many of the more formulaic entries in this series, "Siege" doesn't get bogged down in some unlikely sideplot involving a damsel in distress. Also, while the story does have a bit of a cloak-and-dagger element to it, this book doesn't go overboard on the 19th-century poor man's James Bond plotting in the way that "Sharpe's Prey" or "Sharpe's Sword" did.

There are a few of the Sharpe books a fan would consider as being the best of the best: this is one of them.

On only (I think) three occasions does Sharpe fight a battle which doesn't appear in the history books: a completely imaginary conflict which cannot rely on any preconceived notions of "how it really went".

And Cornwell does it brilliantly. He takes Sharpe out of our comfort zone - away from his beloved Riflemen - and pops him into a no-win situation.

Ducos is weaving his dangerous plots, the Royal Navy is represented by a money-hungry imcompetent coward, Harper has his six-barreled gun, there are Royal Marines, a thousand or so French troops, American privateers, and a decrepit fort set against a dangerous coast.

What more could you want?

Oh, yes: a battle. And what a battle it is. One of Sharpe's best. And the wonderful thing is... we know he's going to escape, even though the odds are insurmountable.

There's a cliche seen all-too-often on the back of books: usually written by Clive Cussler, the words are "A roller-coaster ride! (Insert another author's name here) look out - you've got serious competition!"

Well, it's a description that tells part of the tale. Once again, Cornwell delivers more than just a great, rollicking adventure. He tells a complex story which exposes more of Sharpe's ambitions, dreams, and fears.

All of Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe books are good. Some are very good. And there are three which are simply superb: this is one of them.

It becomes quite clear to me that Bernard Cornwell must have an incompetent agent because any one of his novels have better dialogue, stronger characters, more vivid settings, and by far, more exciting action than an entire year's worth of the [junk] that Hollywood puts out. The Sean Bean series, while ably acted, was a travesty to the scale and the detail of Cornwell's books. You can't low budget Cornwell. If they can throw 100 million bucks to turn a one dimensional comic book character into a movie then they can certainly risk some on Cornwell. Russell Crowe would be nice.
This book is exciting from beginning to end with a cliffhanger escape for Sharpe as thrilling as any I've seen. Cornwell also pokes a little fun at Sharpe's gullibility which is a humorous (and welcome) popping of the bubble of this man's iron immortality.
Personally I have found the Warlord series to be Cornwell's best writing but this book is one of his best.

It seems impossible to me to review any *one* book of this series. All the ones I've read so far -- this was the latest -- have been more or less interchangeable. Sharpe fights huge battles. Sharpe deals with army politics. Sharpe sleeps with gorgeous woman X, Y, or Z. Sergeant Harper wastes a bunch of Frenchies. However, don't take that as a criticism. These books are great. They're wildly entertaining and Cornwell seems to have a very good grasp on the events, tactics and battlefield realities of the Napoleonic Wars. In each installment, our heroes survive hairsbreadth escapes, the reader learns a little more early 19th century Continental military trivia, and battle scenes both thrilling and gory abound. What more could anyone want? They're not great literature, but they sure are entertaining.

This is another entry on the Sharpe series. It is fun, entertaining and very readable. Cornwell's research is as excellent as usual. He takes some licenses for the shake of the story and continuity, but this is OK. Some people are outraged by the portrait of some of the real historical characters, but historical characters are rarely depicted accurately in historical fiction, so I think this can be forgiven. Besides, usually a more serious account of these characters is given at the end of the book on the Historical Note.

Many people insist in compare this series with Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander. I don't think this is fair for any of the series, they are different entities. What they have in common is that once you start you may get hooked and devour one book after another...

And in the literary world today that is a rare and marvelous thing.