Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A Struggle, 27 Jan 2009
Have I ever been more glad that I waited for the paperback of a book to be published rather than buying the hardback than I am when it comes to Soldier of Fortune? Not that I can remember.
Boy this book was a struggle to get through. Normally I enjoy historical military fiction, from Simon Scarrow to John Wilcox. I even have a soft spot for some of the earlier Sharpe books. I was therefore hoping that I would enjoy Edward Marston's first Captain Rawson adventure and could add another series of novels to my 'to read list'. Instead I'm pretty sure that this will be the last of the series I pick up.
Soldier of Fortune commits one of the cardinal sins when it comes to military fiction; it lacks any real excitement. With a narrative that is poorly paced the reader has to suffer through substantial tracts when nothing very much happens. When action does occur it is blandly or confusingly written, and lacks punch or any discernible tension. Battles, murders, kidnaps and escapes all occur but none of them succeed in even vaguely raising the reader's heart rate. Rawson, we're told, is a rogueish soldier, spy and lover. Any book with such a person as the central character should be a heady mix of action, adventure, sex and romance. When none of this is anywhere to be found and even the romantic subplot is uttely anaemic then you know something is badly wrong. By two thirds of the way through I will admit to being thoroughly bored by Soldier of Fortuine and had to force myself to finish the book (I hate to abandon any book).
Matters might not have been so dire had there been any positives to counteract the lack of punch and excitement. Strong characterisation or historical detail might have improved matters, but both were equally lacking. Some characters, such as Rawson's Sargeant friend/confidente, are so badly conceived as to be almost laughable. Others, such as Rawson himself and real life characters like the Duke of Malborough were devoid of any real depth. Without depth or realism it is very hard to invest in any characters, their actions, the events that occur around them or the book as a whole.
As for historical detail, whilst I wouldn't want the story getting bogged down by minor historical details, Marston takes a scatter-gun approach that left me dissatisfied. For the most part he sticks to sketching out merely the broad historical facts in such a limited fashion that the book suffers from dearth of sufficient detail or there is no real context offered for the real life events that occur. These events are often covered with scandalously cursory detail; the Battle of Blenheim, a critical event both historically and in terms of the book, is covered in only a few pages. On the other hand he'll suddenly drop in a point of detail that seems utterly irrelevant to the plot. Did we need to know that Marlborough's wife briefly and incorrectly suspected him of having an affair; no, and it adds nothing to the wider story. Its seems to have been included simply so the author could demonstrate the breadth of his research. This inconsistency of approach is both strange and irritating.
Overall I feel I'm being generous giving Soldier of Fortune two stars. It earns one for not being totally unreadable and scrapes another for the author's decision to set his story during a period not commonly covered by other books in the genre. Beyond that however, I can find nothing else to recommend it.
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27 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
...Not for me., 9 Feb 2008
As a reader of military history fact and fiction, I'd like to think that I know what I should expect from a book on the subject. Now, please don't get me wrong, I'm sure this author's other works are brilliant - It's when I heard that a military novel has been written by a crime writer, I thought...'oh dear' But I did give it a chance.
One word that I would use to describe this book is, Un-descriptive. Nothing is explained, or elaborated a pon. For example, a battle reads like.
-The troops advanced
-They were surprised by an enemy musket volley
-Some died...our hero lives -he draws his sword and run after the French
There's no passion, no grittiness too it. No explanation to what pattern of muskets were used, how they were loaded, no talk of military formations, other than 'the regiments were in tight formation'
The main chap is a Captain in a regiment, but no military organisation is touched a pon. ie. what company did he command, who was the acting Colonel of the regiment etc.. etc... Not even uniforms are touched on.
I was just left feeling very cold and wooden by the end
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Abysmal, truly abysmal!, 26 May 2009
I love historical and military novels, both sea and land. I bought this thinking that it would be a Napoleonic novel as the rider on the cover was wearing a Napoleonic uniform. As soon as I received it and saw it was set at the time of Marlborough I knew I was in trouble. If the publisher can't get the picture right what hope is there for the book?
I was right. Cliché followed cliché. Stereotype followed stereotype. One boring cardboard-cutout character followed another across the pages, all uttering lines worthy only of a bad Victorian romance. Women were swooning all over the place, battles glossed over with scant research, pantomime French villains were twirling their moustaches as they plotted to behead the dashing hero.
The author obviously knows nothing of military history, armies, wars or anything else. It's a thinly disguised Mills and Boon novel from the 50s.
First young woman: "Oh! I am in love with our hero."
Sister: "Don't be so foolish, forget him." (Thinks - I want to marry him myself)
Hero: "I must away to the war where I will face many dangers and bloody battles and may well be killed. But it is my duty! Do not fear for me dear ladies."
Both girls immediately swoon at the thought of hero facing danger.
That's about the level of it. If you like that please tell the publisher to hire me, ha!
I cannot stress too much how utterly awful this book is. Unfortunately I bought two at once. I forced myself through the first one like another reviewer below. The second one is going to the charity shop.
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