Sparrowhawk VI: War [Hardcover]

Edward Cline (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 16, 2007

The sixth and final installment in this acclaimed series about the start of the American Revolution. Sparrowhawk Book VI: War, which concludes the series, opens in the spring of 1774 and ends explosively on the York River in Virginia in September of 1775. Jack Frake is now the captain of an independent company of militia; Hugh Kenrick is a burgess witnessing the twilight of the colonial legislature in Williamsburg. The whirlwind of colonial resistance to Crown tyranny begins in front of an enigmatic marble statue and leads to the bloody slopes of BreedÂ’s Hill near Boston.

Jack sends Etáin to Scotland for her own safety, while Reverdy and Hugh clash over their true loyalties. The residents of Caxton are in conflict, too, as Jared Turley, the bastard son of Hugh’s uncle, is in Virginia and manipulates men and events to exact the Earl’s vengeance on Hugh. And the Sparrowhawk plays a key role in concluding the chosen destinies of the heroes.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for the Sparrowhawk series:

...wonderfully written....This story is the framework, built upon the foundation of the previous books, which will no doubt rise to become an epic telling of the saga of the American Revolutionary War as it has never been told before.
--Historical Novels Review

Filled with period detail and characters readers will care about....Comparing favorably to the swashbuckling action of a Rafael Sabatini novel and the grueling realism of Bernard Cornwell, this is the best kind of historical fiction, a tale that reflects and illuminates its age.
--Publishers Weekly

Filled with period detail and characters readers will care about....Comparing favorably to the swashbuckling action of a Rafael Sabatini novel and the grueling realism of Bernard Cornwell, this is the best kind of historical fiction, a tale that reflects and illuminates its age.
--Publishers Weekly

About the Author

In addition to the Sparrowhawk series, Edward Cline is the author of First Prize, a detective novel, and Whisper the Guns, a suspense novel. He lives in Yorktown, Virginia.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 379 pages
• Publisher: MacAdam/Cage; First Printing edition (January 16, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596921986
• ISBN-13: 978-1596921986
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,477,671 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Edward Cline (1946 -) was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After graduating from high school (in which he learned nothing of value) and a stint in the Air Force, he pursued his ambition to become a novelist. His first detective novel, First Prize, was published in 1988 by Mysterious Press/Warner Books, and his first suspense novel, Whisper the Guns, was published in 1992 by The Atlantean Press. First Prize was republished in 2009 by Perfect Crime. The Sparrowhawk series of novels set in England and Virginia in the pre-Revolutionary period has garnered some critical acclaim (but not yet from the literary establishment) and universal appreciation from the reading public, including parents, teachers, students, scholars, and adult readers who believe that American history has been abandoned or is misrepresented by a government-dominated educational establishment. He writes regularly for such political and cultural blog sites as Rule of Reason and The Dougout. He is dedicated to Objectivism, or Ayn Rand's philosophy of reason in all matters.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MAGNIFICENT ... AND TIMELESS!, March 14, 2007

By 

William Bucko "Bill Bucko" (Mt. Clemens, MI United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sparrowhawk VI: War (Hardcover)

The men who made the American Revolution were giants. Their story has never fully been told - till now. The 5 previous volumes of Ed Cline's "Sparrowhawk" series showed us two brave youths developing independent minds and spirits ... one, a transported felon, the other, the son of England's nobility. In Book 4 a corrupt king and parliament tried to bleed the colonies, with the Stamp Act and Navigation Acts ... amid the first stirrings of resistance, as Patrick Henry dared to speak treason. In Book 5, Jack Frake and Hugh Kenrick drew swords to block the stamps from being landed in Virginia.

As Jack Frake explains:

"What cleaves us is as wide as the ocean that separates us. It is a distance between souls, between minds, between ways of looking at things. That ocean helped to create that cleavage. It removed our ancestors for a time, as it once removed us, from the immediate concerns and power of kings and the ambitions of men who would be kings, and allowed us to see what could be accomplished without them. It allowed us to see clearly - those of us who bothered to see - what was necessary for men to live their lives unfettered by allegiances to the arbitrary and superfluous ... Once that was done, we could bow no more, neither to nature nor to kings nor to men who would be kings ..."

In this, the last volume of the series, the action explodes. The thrills begin when Etain, Jack's wife, grabs a musket to oppose customs men come to ransack her house ... and the excitement does not let up. The Sons of Liberty march north, to the bloody slopes of Bunker and Breed's Hills ... where in the shock of battle, lives are destroyed ... then back to Virginia to meet the murderous assault on the town of Caxton by the crown's lackeys, and to take part in the Sparrowhawk's fiery last battle.

With every decade, we grow more distant from the American Revolution - distant not just in time, but in attitude. A political and intellectual establishment more corrupt than king or parliament tries to make us forget what the revolution was about, and why our forebears fought. How many years has it been since you heard anyone speak out for "individual rights" or "the pursuit of happiness"?

Ed Cline does speak out. Eloquently, with immense literary skill. His classic inspires us - as it will inspire generations to come - to swear, with rectitude: We, too, will not submit.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A worthy conclusion, June 2, 2007

By 

Timothy C. Swanson (Vietnam) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sparrowhawk VI: War (Hardcover)

Mr. Cline's final Sparrowhawk novel brings the series to satisfying conclusion. Plot twists keep the reader's attention and the action is relatively balanced between the two main characters, Hugh Kenrick and Jack Frake. As in the past, Kenrick is the more interesting character, much more of a work in progress, and with a much wider range of contacts. Nonetheless, Jack Frake is challenged with uncharacteristic doubt and uncertainty.

You may find the viewpoints of some of Mr. Cline's characters throughout the series overemphasized (particularly Frake's), but this is not straight fiction. The author has a very particular political point of view and he uses the characters to explore and illustrate not only this, but various others that were current in the 18th century. There may be some anachronism in this, but it doesn't detract. This is literature that makes one think. That I do not agree with all of Mr. Cline's premises does not mean that I found Sparrowhawk any less worthwhile, indeed, it is more valuable for having done so. I would like to see what happens if Mr. Cline applies his talents to another era of history.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A rousing, action-packed finale!, August 29, 2007

By 

David Gulbraa (Costa Mesa, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Sparrowhawk VI: War (Hardcover)

Volume Six of Ed Cline's Sparrowhawk series is a rousing, action-packed finale to what has been a landmark drama of ideas leading up to the American Revolution. In "War," Cline brings together a huge cast of characters and resolves their various conflicts with thunderous finality. To put it succinctly: in this final volume, the time for talking is over; the time for shooting has arrived. And shoot they do!

If you've read the entire series, this finale is a just reward--although some readers might need a stiff drink and a whisk broom to brush themselves off.

Ed Cline is to be congratulated for producing such a memorable series of historical novels.