This is the sixth episode, chronologically, in the adventures of Richard Sharpe, British infantryman during the Napoleonic Wars.

Up front, let me say that this book is still a lot of fun. It's only in comparison to the first five that I downgrade it a bit.

This book was written ninth, which might seem fairly far along in the 24 book series, but it was still before the first five books that preceded it chronologically. I think that this shows in a couple of ways.

You get some hints of this in the facts of the story. In one scene, Sharpe is recounting the battles he has fought in and needs to make a fairly complete accounting. Though he mentions Seringapatam, Assaye and Gawilghur, he omits mention of Trafalgar and Copenhagen...presumably Cornwell hadn't thought of those adventures, yet. There is also a bit of an inconsistency in his reaction to the weight of Murray's cavalry saber, though he used—and liked—a much heavier sword in India during the first three books. However, those types of things are really very minor and don't detract from the book.

What did detract, for me, from the last sixth of the book was Sharpe's character. It seemed less formed that it had in the first five books. Without giving specific spoilers, I thought this was most notable in his reactions to Louisa Parker toward the end: his initial response felt right but, within a day, this brooding, sensitive, sometimes bitter fellow was somehow happy-go-lucky and accepting of rather unfair and certainly unexpected behavior toward him by a couple of individuals. It didn't fit the Sharpe we've come to know and didn't ring true.

On the positive side, we get an exciting opening and, once we get past a bit of mysticism in the middle, a quite exciting ending. We get introduced to Patrick Harper who is almost as an enjoyable character as Sharpe, and who I understand plays a major role in succeeding volumes.

The series is very good; this particular episode is good. I continue to recommend them. ( )

Love all the Sharpe series. ( )

For historical fiction this is really stirring stuff. Sharp and his background are intriguing. This is an excellent plot and left me fascinated by the Napoleonic period. I enjoyed all the Sharp series. The books are well written in an easy to read style. Real page turners and you just want to finish them. ( )

Though Bernard Cornwell has added many more Sharpe's novels to the collection, Sharpe's Rifles is the first in the original series of eleven books that goes chronologically from the defeat of Sir John Moore's column in Spain in 1809 to the final defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815.

We meet Lieutenant Richard Sharpe, despised by his officers and men as former enlisted man elevated to an officer by an act of suicidal bravery. Not a gentleman of means, not having purchased his position, Sharpe is a pariah among the officers. He is equally isolated from his men who think that only their betters can lead them. It is this struggle for acceptance that dog Sharpe throughout Cornwell's novels.

In Sharpe's Rifles, Sharpe finds himself cut off from the rest of Moore's army ,which will be embarked for England at Corunna, and is forced to find its way to the British garrison at Lisbon. Along the way he falls in with a Spanish cavalry leader guarding a secretive treasure, and on a strange mission. As with most Sharpe's adventures, he also encounters a menacing enemy, and participates in a desperate battle, often complicated by his attraction to a beautiful woman-in this case, the lovely 19-year old Louisa, seeking adventure in Spain.

Though the novels often seem formulaic, Cornwell gets at least 95% of the history right, is a wonderful story teller with a masterly descriptive style. ( )

#6 in the Richard Sharpe series.

Two years have passed since the Copenhagen campaign, and in January, 1809, Sharpe finds himself, along wiht about three hundred men of the 95th Rifles, in Galician Spain running for safety, along with the rest of the defeated British army, from the French victory at Corunna. But in the retreat, Sharpe and the Rifles have become cut off from the main part of the army. Far from taking part in the fighting, Sharpe is Quartermaster of the 95th, a menial and to him, humiliating task. Still, he tries to fulfill his duties, making sure that the men load up on extra powder and shot as they prepare to leave everything behind and run.

However, before the Rifles can fully recoup in the small village in which they're recovering (mostly by drinking themselves insensible), the French appear in the form of dragoons, cavalry. As a result of the ensuing fight, all the officers die, leaving Sharpe in command of a much reduced band of Rifles who do not accept his authority--he is not a proper officer in their minds, not a "proper gentleman". As Sharpe, keenly aware of the resentment and feeling awkward in his new role as commanding officer, makes plans to lead the men to safety, he is met with rebellion in the ranks. The men designate Rifleman Harper, a big bull of an Irishman, as their "spokesman"--in reality, as Sharpe realizes, to kill him. Sharpe and Harper engage in a fight to the death--which is interrupted, just as Sharpe is about to skewer Harper, by the appearance of a Spanish cavalry officer, Major Blas Vivar and what is left of his company of elite cavalry, the Cazadores.

Thus begins the strange odyssey of Sharpe and the Rifles as they accompany Major Blas to Santtiago de Compostela, Spain's holiest site, and an impossible mission which results in a suicidal attack on the French.

This is military action-adventure at its very best. The action is non-stop and the fight/battle scenes are superbly written. As an ardent fan of Patrick O'Brian and the Aubrey/Maturin series, I must say that Sharpe's Rifles is as least as well written as O'Brian's best; the only difference is that Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin evolve into far more complex characters--Sharpe, over 6 books, has not changed much. But he's developed enough to be believable, and devotees of the genre will not even notice the lack.

highly recommended. ( )