Customer Reviews

The tavern knight

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Set during the English Civil War, this novel lacks the craftsmanship of both Sabatini's first novel and of his mature works. The setup (treachery, revenge, and an unsurprising surprise revelation) has the potential for classic Sabatini treatment, but from that point on the plot collapses. The main dramatic interest from that point on is how Sabatini will get himself out of the corner he's painted himself into. Minor spoiler warning: He doesn't. The ending, driven by coincidence (as is not uncommon in Sabatini) fails to satisfy the reader, and is completely unsatisfactory by Sabatini's later standards.

The Tavern Knight is a classic adventure story well written from the first to the last page. Rafael Sabatini has written better books but I can find no fault with this one.
If you're already familiar with Sabatini - just read it. If you are not, I'd recommend reading one of his more popular books such as 'Scaramouche' first.

This edition of Sabatini's novel is a poorly typed manuscript-- 8 1/2 x 11, typewriter font -- with a cover slapped on. It is an affront to anyone who values the work of Sabatini, or any other author. I attempted to struggle through it, but in the end returned it to order an edition by a publisher with some regard for readers and writers.