The second Sharpe book I have read, this was set just before Sharpe’s Trafalgar. I love the character of Richard Sharpe. He may be the hero in the book, but he has his flaws and that causes him trouble. The battles fought are described well enough that you can feel the horror that the soldiers must have felt and picture in your mind the wide battlefield as it changes through the day.

I’ve also noticed that there aren’t that many Sharpe books in the second hand book shops which surprises me a little because the series is relatively new (began 1980’s). I think I’ll soon start buying second hand books from Amazon to fill the gaps.

I’ve got four books to write about today. I finished the first and went straight into the next two. Then a friend lent me another book that I just couldn’t put down.

The first book was another of Dale Brown’s Dreamland series. It’s a typical military action thriller based around a research and covert operations group. Once again, trouble in some part of the world requires them to work with new and not properly tested technology to ensure everything turns out well in the end. “Turns out well” applies only to the key characters and the ‘good guys’ side of course. In fact several of the Dreamland team get killed but hey, it’s war! The key characters all survive to have another adventure of course.

While I generally enjoy this type of book I found this one a little tedious, perhaps almost predictable. Some of the technology ideas were interesting concepts and it certainly was good enough to read to the end.