Customer Reviews

Sharpe's Skirmish: Short Short (Richard Sharpe Adventure Series)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

After having read all of Bernard Cornwell's fabulous series about the Penninsular Wars with Richard Sharpe as the hero I couldn't wait to read more of his adventures. To my suprise I found this short story that had been transformed into a very short book.
I loved this story as I was hungry for more Sharpe and I was not totally disappointed by this offering. Although this short story is somewhat lacking in the interesting detail of most of Cornwell's books (what short story isn't?) I was still held captive by the exploits of Sharpe and his mixed regiment of Redcoats and Riflemen. An interesting twist is thrown in as Richard's elusive wife makes an appearence but her action is confined to riding off for help. If this story was longer we would have really felt Sharpe's anxiety about command and how his leadership skills would appear if he called for help that was not needed.That is exactly waht is lacking in this story...details.
If expanded this "skirmish" could have been a full fledged novel or at the least a strong novelette but Cornwell has yet to make the jump with this story.
I recommend this short story to all of Richard Sharpe's fans but please read the entire series first before you make the attempt and this story will mean a lot more because you will be able to fill in the deatils with your own Cornwellish interpretation and detail. This story should have been combined with the other two tales in "Sharpe's Christmas" as a collection because it does not stand up tall like Richard Sharpe on its own.

Can't get enough of Sharpe? Loved Theresa and were really bummed out when she died? Need a great socking stuffer or Easter basket item? This is for you!!! I ordered copies for all my friends, and we all enjoyed it. It's a quick read (only 60+ pages), but I'll buy more if they're published.

This is a brief novella, originally published as a promotional tie-in with "Sharpe's Fortress. This book, set in summer 1812, contains several references to the main battle in "Sharpe's Fortress," which occurred in 1803. The plot in "Sharpe's Skirmish" fits between "Sharpe's Sword" and "Sharpe's Enemy." It's about as long as 2 chapters of a normal Sharpe novel, and does have a short introduction by the author, but lacks his typical afterword on the historical setting of the book. If you're a serious Sharpe fan, you'll probably want to read "Sharpe's Skirmish"; if you're not, there are definitely better Sharpe novels to check out.

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.

As a dedicated fan of Bernard Cornwell and his riveting Sharpe series, I was extremely disappointed to discover when I received it that Sharpe's Skirmish is a booklet, not a book. It is thin beyond belief and would have made an excellent essay submitted by one of my university students as a final exam. You really should avoid disappointing fans like me and in future should make a full disclosure when you place on sale a book that really is only a booklet. Sharpe's Skirmish is so thin that when I placed it on my bookshelf with other real books it disappeared.

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.

I would never credit this as being one of the best Sharpe stories but it was a welcome and entertaining diversion. It has none of the complexities of the Sharpe novels but I wouldn't expect that in a 67 page book. It is a simple action story where Sharpe's determination and refusal to lose win out over a superior French column.

The setting is a simple one. While recovering from a wound, Sharpe is assigned with is company to guard a commissary officer who is taking possession of some captured arms (and wine). No one except Sharpe expects trouble. They get it anyway.

The French decide to mount a raid behind the lines and Sharpe's detachment is all that stand between the peninsular armies and a military disaster. As everyone knows, however, Sharpe is too stubborn to lose.

It was a pleasant diversion.

$6 for a short story?!? You guys have to be kidding! If I had realized it was this short, I would have passed.

Seriously, the author's disclaimer that appears in the story's introduction should appear in the description of this item so people will know what they are getting.

If this story had appeared in a collection of the author's short works (does Cornwell have other short works?), I would have loved it. I'm always enthralled by works in progress because they give me a glimpse into the author's thought processes. Unfortunately, my reading of this was a little tainted by the price I had to pay.

As for the story itself, despite the rewrite, it still needs some work: it's a little too pat compared to most of the other Sharpe novels. Yes, some of that is due to the short-story format, but I was left thinking how much better it could have been. Still, Sharpe and Harper ...

Here's hoping Cornwell does a followup about Sweet William ... he was dropped from the story line much too abruptly. What happened to him?

I am an absolute fan of the whole Sharpe story, but I am so so dissappointed with my purchase of Sharpes Skirmish. I thought I was getting a book but got a booklet 63 pages in total. With the cost and postage, I feel cheated and dissatisfied. I feel there should be a better description of the product and its content.