Sharpe's Skirmish

Rating:
Summary: Sharpe's Skirmish
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: A 53 page short story
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: A 53 page short story
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Worth it for the avid Sharpe's fan
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: ok supplemental
Review: I really was expecting a full size book for the price here, guess I should read the fine print next time.

Rating:
Summary: Condensed novel or basic plot never extended to full size.
Review: OK, this is NOT a FULL SIZE Sharpe Novel, so what?. It only makes for a BETTER one sitting read as it disposes with the non fundamental subplots of a Cornwell book (wich incidentally I love when not repetitive...)
The main interest is how Cornwell give us a condensed novel (instead of a short story) wich never developed into a normal lenght one (Probably he will have some other sketches of projected plots never fully developed wich one day will see the light in a compilation of short stories? (What about the Eastern Theater of the war, and the sieges of Zaragoza or Gerona?, He could even have been at Maida?...) I would love a proper book of Sharpe's short stories!.
You can easily identifie all the characters (AND I MEAN THE SECONDARY ONE'S) usually put there as a matter of fact, as usual some of them are nearly caricaturesque: The ambitious French Officer (thinking perhaps on his chances to get the proverbial Marshall's Baton!), the incompetent high class British officer (always of a superior rank of course), etc.
I have all the novels (first bought Sharpe's Eagle in an airport to pass the flight-time away... WHAT A FIND!... I was hooked since then (1982) and enjoyed them from the start as a fresh approach to the napoleonic wars (even if in some of the earlier efforts the "cliches" were a little gross: the lazy "siesta" adicted spanish, the brutal french, and others...), Brilliantly enough the series get focused with each passing novel produced and the overall "fresco" of the War in the Peninsula is I think well balanced. The apearance of competent Spanish patriots, spanish colaborationists with the french (funny to remind the reader they actually some of them were trying to democratise Spain in the lines of the French Revolution principles, quite a pity to think ahead of your time... Fernado VII Restauration produced a purge and bloodbath of intelectuals and quickly supressed the Constitution of Cadiz (1812) and even one of the best guerrilla figters "El Empecinado" was executed for his political views when all was over).
All Sharpe's fans will enjoy as I did.

Rating:
Summary: A Short Sharpe
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: A Short Sharpe
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: A Hybrid of Fan Fiction and a Cornwell Throw-away Piece
Review: The plot is summarized elsewhere so I will not repeat it here. The main point to bring out is that this is a hybrid of fan fiction and Cornwell, not a ?pure? Cornwell story about Sharpe. This came out pretty clearly in the actual writing, with Sharpe speaking and behaving in ways that are subtly but clearly different than what we?ve become used to. My belief that there is a lot of fan fiction in this short work is supported by the statement ?The author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work? found on the copyright page. Furthermore, proceeds from the sale of this work are split between the Sharpe Appreciation Society (a UK fan club) and the Bernard and Judy Cornwell Foundation, also supports my belief about their role in this work. My guess (and it is just a guess) is that members of the Sharpe Appreciation Society took Cornwell?s original tossed-off promotion story and gave it a strong going over.

So it?s an OK read, but different enough (in a bad way) from Cornwell?s own, undiluted writing so as to warrant only two stars. The fighting contains some derivative items from both its predecessor in the series, ?Sharpe?s Sword,? as well as a book published later but that occurs when Sharpe is a young officer ? ?Sharpe?s Fortress.? If you do buy this, be sure to lower your expectations and then you?ll be amused.