Another superb Sharpe novel, our officer hero is sent to escort another office to Copenhagen on a mission to bribe the king of Denmark. If successful the British will ‘look after’ the Dutch fleet and keep it safe from Napoleon’s grip. Unfortunately the officer Sharpe escorts runs away with the gold bribe to join forces with the Danish. This story also has more interaction with the Navy which I really enjoyed (one part especially, where the Captain of Sharpes transport makes a comment about a soldier not understanding the battle of Trafalgar, not realising Sharpe was there)

For me, this is one of the better Sharpe series with one, important missing point. The last words of a Sharpe book traditionally finish with the title… eg. “Loup was dead, and it was over at last: Sharpe’s Battle” but this one didn’t. Funny how you get to expect certain things and miss them when they are not there.

Now I have a real struggle on my hands, figure out which Sharpe books I haven’t read then find them in the second hand bookshops!

Erm, what to say about this book. Probably “Wow!”, but my head is a little overstuffed with new concepts to be sure. This book pretty much explains the progress from modern day along to post human spread amongst the universe. This could be read as a precursor to “glasshouse” although I’m glad I read glasshouse first. For some reason this book didn’t have a table in the front explaining the future system of measuring time. Part way through the book time is measured in seconds and kiloseconds instead of our current seconds, minutes and hours. By the end of the book, T Gates and A gates (that featured in glasshouse) seem logical outcomes of our society, along with a new definition of life and consciousness that lasts beyond centuries (not that they are measured the same way any more).

It’s a story that has many threads of sub story within it and an ending so open I’m left in anticipation of finding out what happens to the cat. A good read, if a little hard work in places.