Loved the series? Well the book's even better.

I normally don't buy a book after watching a film or television programme as I usually end up disappointed because the adaptation didn't actually live up to the written word. However, I was persuaded to have a try at reading Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe books (by someone who knew I'd enjoyed the television series), and this, Sharpe's Rifles is the first that I have read. This is neither the first book in the series that was written, nor the first in chronological order, but actually corresponds to the opening episode of the television series (and was indeed written at series' producers request). I started with this particular book because I was curious as to how it would compare to the screen version, would it be as good, would I be as enthralled? Read on and find out….

Sharpe's Rifles is one of a series of historical novels, set during the Napoleonic wars and this particular instalment is set in 1809, when the French definitely had the upper hand and were driving the English out of Spain. During the rout Richard Sharpe, a lieutenant who has been raised from the ranks finds himself separated from the rest of his regiment along with a group of surly, insubordinate riflemen and now he has win the men over, capture a town, and help restore the Spaniard's faith in themselves. (I'm deliberately not telling you anymore about the plot, otherwise there would be no point you reading the book, would there?)

As I was jumping in at the deep end (so to speak), having never read the "earlier" books (that were written later), and having actually only watched the series, I was a little concerned that my own pre-conceived ideas about the characters would deflect from the impressions the author would have liked me to form. But (to my pleasant surprise) I found the characters well drawn, if slightly different to what I expected. The main character, Sharpe, was in manners and attitude, exactly what I expected, but in appearance (and age) completely different. For those who haven't actually watched the series (or read any of the books) Richard Sharpe was a bit of an oddity in the English army of the 19th century. He was a common man raised from the ranks as a reward for an act of extreme bravery. In a time where officers were, in the main, gentlemen who had bought their commissions, he had to fight against the ingrained prejudices of both other officers and the enlisted men. Personally, I felt the way Sharpe was portrayed in the book was actually far more natural than on-screen as the character and his relationships with his men had far more time to fully develop.

And the one enlisted man with whom he slowly builds a strong relationship (and even friendship), is Patrick Harper, an Irishman in an English army. As this is set in a time when Ireland was still "occupied" by the English and it's citizens were seen as inferior and heavily discriminated against it's easy to see the parallels between Harper and Sharpe. What impressed me was the way that loathing turned to grudging respect and then finally friendship. For me at least this was the most interesting side-plot, and one that I felt was well played out and a definite highlight of the book.

Although I have a quite diverse reading taste, I've previously read relatively few historical novels as I tend to find that the action is a bit slow and humour severely lacking. This was so different, almost from the first page I was hooked and found myself actually wanting to know what happened next. In fact I would say the actual writing style, while perhaps a little on the simplistic side, made the book a pleasure to read, with just the right amount of action. Locations were well described, without being overly so, the battle scenes made me feel as if I was actually there and the various interactions between different (classes of) characters seemed perfectly natural. As far as historical accuracy goes, I would have had no idea how well the plot followed genuine events if it wasn't for the interesting little afterword by the author, all I can say is that I couldn't have pointed out any glaring mistakes. However, not having read any of the other books in the series (yet), I couldn't tell you if there are any inconsistancies ( in either characters or events) or how well it compares to the others, I can only say it's one of , if not the, most entertaining historical novels I've read. The only real downside that I can see is that there are not really that many layers to the story, and it will probably be some months before I am ready to return to it's pages, but as I was so impressed with this instalment I've already ordered two more books in the series (so it must have been good).

So am I recommending Sharpe's Rifles? Well if (like me) you find that the reading written word is a far more satisfying experience than watching an adaptation, and are normally disappointed with said adaptations then you will probably enjoy this book. If, however, you find it harder to visualise characters just from reading about them, you'd probably be better off watching the series starring Sean Bean. Personally, I loved the book and felt it was vastly superior to the adaptations (which I still enjoyed) and can't wait to read about more of Sharpe's (mis-) adventures.

--Technical Bits--

Paperback : 352 pages (UK) / ? (US)
Publisher : HarperCollins (UK) / Brentwood Records (US)
ISBN : 0006176976 (UK/US)

Price : £5.59 (from Amazon UK) / Amazon (new and used) from $2.74 (US)