Sharpe's Fortress
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Praise for Bernard Cornwell and the Sharpe series 'Cornwell describes military action brilliantly. He evokes all the sights and sounds and smells while managing to describe the fluctuations of the battle with enough vim to keep you in suspense!The Sharpe novels are wonderfully urgent and alive.' Daily Telegraph 'Cornwell has maintained a marvellously high standard throughout the series!brilliantly lucid and compellingly exciting.' Evening Standard 'Bernard Cornwell knows his man, knows how to harness his qualities to the services of good fiction, and does not miss a trick!Sharpe and his creator are national treasures.' Sunday Telegraph 'The insubordinate, sarcastic and oversexed Richard Sharpe returns!Cornwell delivers the usual mix of strategy and strength -- classic battle scenes and plenty of fisticuffs.' Daily Mirror
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Sharpe, having just received his commission, faces his toughest battle yet in this return to India, the terrain of the bestselling Sharpe's Tiger. Repackaged in the fantastic new Sharpe look. It is 1803 and Sir Arthur Wellesley's army is closing on the retreating Mahrattas in western India. Marching with the British is Ensign Richard Sharpe, newly made into an officer and wishing he had stayed a sergeant. Spurned by his new regiment, he is sent to the army's baggage train and there finds corruption, romance, treason and enemies old and new. Sergeant Hakeswill wants Sharpe dead, and Hakeswill has powerful friends while Sharpe has only an orphaned Arab boy as his ally. And waiting with the cornered Mahrattas is another enemy, the renegade Englishman, William Dodd, who does not envisage defeat, but only a glorious triumph. For the Mahrattas have taken refuge in Gawilghur, the greatest stronghold of India, perched high on its cliffs above the Deccan Plain. Who rules in Gawilghur, it is said, rules India, and Dodd knows that the fortress is impregnable. There, behind its double walls, in the towering twin forts, Sharpe must face his enemies in what will prove to be Wellesley's last battle on Indian soil.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
a litte tired,
By Alexis Paladin (London) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Sharpe's Fortress (Paperback)
With any Sharpe novel you know you are going to get a fast-paced, well told story and plenty of action. This is no exception. Here our hero must battle the prejudices of his own comrades as he rises to the rank of Ensign as well as the forces of Gawilghur lead by old enemy William Dodd and arch nemesis Obadiah Hakeswill, Sharpe's nemesis from the first two books. The early chapters, describing Sharpe's exposure of his Captain's corruption and subsequent kidnap are lively and interesting. Once again, as punishment for his honesty, Sharpe finds he must fight a couple of enormous local thugs known as Jettis and once again he eventually prevails. It as at this point where the novel begins to struggle a bit. It is difficult to see why Cornwell could not at least invent some other evil for Sharpe to overcome. The Jetti fight is almost identical to that in Sharpe's Tiger. Following the fight Sharpe basically seems to do what he wants, wandering from regiment to regiment at will and pretty much making his own orders. Of course we allow Cornwell a good bit of licence with Sharpe in the name of good story-telling but this really does stretch credulity a little too far. The Siege itself is well told and Sharpe conducts himself with his usual daring aplomb but again there are some things which are difficult to accept. It is never fully explained for example, why after taking the outer Fort, the British cannot simply wait and starve their opponents instead of ploughing recklessly forward on the same afternoon. This is not to say that in reality there was not a very pressing reason, it is just that is not explained here. Instead the capture of the fort feels a little too inevitable. Throughout the early chapters we are endlessly reminded of the impregnability of the `Fortress in the Sky' and yet ultimately it does not seem that tricky to capture it. Maybe these criticisms are a little harsh but Cornwell has set himself high standards and the first two `Indian prequels' were first class. It just feels that Cornwell was a little lazy with this one. Perhaps just a bit too keen to finish Sharpe's Indian adventures and ship him off to Trafalgar.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great continuation of the Sharpe series,
This review is from: Sharpe's Fortress (Paperback)
Cornwell has written another excellent Richard Sharpe novel.For me, the most gripping part of this (and others in the series) is the realistic account of the battles and the effects on the soldiers. Being in the British Army at the beginning of the 19th century must have been hell. Against the backdrop of blood and guts, the author has woven a good story with considered charaterisation. Recommeded. Since this novel ends at the battle of Gawilghur (1803), and Sharpe's Rifles commences in 1809, I wonder how many more novels Sharpe can feature in.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The best of the "Sharpe in India" series,
By A Customer
This review is from: Sharpe's Fortress (Hardcover)
Sharpe's Fortress is the best of the Cornwell's novels chronicling our hero's adventures in India, but it still lacks the character development of the books set in the Peninsula campaign. Hakeswill never appeared to be much of a threat and was unecessary as a foil for Sharpe since Dodd, a much more interesting foe, was present. The idea that the fortress actually existed and was attacked by Scottish and Sepoy troops makes the novel all the more fascinating and exciting. All in all, a fun and quick read and a welcome addition to the series.
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