Sharpe’s Company - Bernard Cornwell (Audiobook)

Narrated by William Gaminara

ISBN: 978-1433261404

Listened to: June 2011 (at age 33)

First time read

What to Expect:

This is the thirteenth book of lots.  It actually wouldn’t be too bad of a place to start – it doesn’t rely on too much of the previous material.

From the Amazon summary:

It was a hard winter. For Richard Sharpe it was the worst he could remember.  He had lost his command to a wealthy man -- a man with money to buy the promotion Sharpe coveted.  And from England came his oldest enemy -- the ruthless, indestructible Hakeswill -- utterly intent on ruining Sharpe.  But Sharpe is determined to change his luck.  And the surest way is to lead the bloody attack on the impregnable fortress town of Badajoz, a road to almost certain death -- or unimagined glory.

My Reactions (spoilers!): 

Overall: 

I keep thinking that I need a break from this series so that I’ll have a reaction other than “ditto”.  But then I head out on a road trip for work, and I pop in the next book in the series.  They’re good.  Not unique, or particularly challenging at this point, but still interesting.

In the latest Sharpe novel, we get to see a bit of siege warfare, and the return of Sgt. Hakeswill.  Sharpe’s romantic life gets a bit of movement, and, other than another battle going by, we end up pretty much where we started.

I felt that the book was repetitive in too many places – both in the descriptions, the actions, and the phrasing.  It was perhaps worse in the audiobook format, since I couldn’t just gloss over the repeated bits.  In most places, the repetition seemed to be a conscious stylistic choice, but I don’t agree with that choice.

Otherwise, it was a satisfying listen, and I’m not sure that I’ve ever come across a villain as completely loathsome as Sgt. Obadiah Hakeswill.  He certainly livens up an otherwise unremarkable story.

As ever, I greatly enjoy listening to William Gaminara’s voicing of the Sharpe novels.

Rating: 3

Other Opinions:

Pretty slim pickings in the review department – pretty much all I could find were reviews of the BBC miniseries.  If you know of a decent review, please let me know in the comments.