David McK (3222 KP) rated Sharpe's Mission (1996) in Movies
Dec 8, 2022
This, I believe, is the only Sean Bean led Sharpe made-for-TV movie NOT to be based on a Sharpe novel by Bernard Cornwell, even although it is written well enough that it very well could have been!
As with all of the Sharpe stories, you know pretty much what to expect: Sharpe is sent on a dangerous mission (here, to blow up a French ammunition supply during the closing stages of the Peninsular War), and ends up fighting just as much against those in authority on his own side as against the French ...
Enemy of God
7.5
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. . Uniting the restive British kingdoms behind him, Arthur believes he can now hold back the...
David McK (3222 KP) rated Sharpe's Assassin in Books
Oct 10, 2021
In chronological order, that was then, novel # 11 of 23 (including short stories in that count).
While Cornwell continued on with his 'Saxon Stories / Last Kingdom' series starring Uhtred of Bebbanburg (read those. Enjoyed those), I've always held a soft spot for the soldier-up-from-the-ranks of Richard Sharpe, so I was quite happy to hear that he would be returning to that character.
This is that return, chronologically novel # 23 of 24, taking place almost immediately after the Battle of Waterloo (worth reading Sharpe's Waterloo again - you don't need to, but it gives context). There's no historical battle (for the setting) this time around; instead we have Sharpe getting caught up in/foil an a plot to assassinate the Duke of Wellington - who, here, seems to have mellowed somewhat towards Sharpe - and the returning King Louis XVIII, with a large portion of the novel set in and around the environs of Paris (in particular The Louvre).
Good to have Sharpe and Harper back together!
David McK (3222 KP) rated Honour and the Sword in Books
Jan 30, 2019
An enjoyable enough read, but not really a pick-up-and-read type of book: this one, I found, could be quite heavy going at times, mainly as it does require some serious commitment instead of my usual 10 minutes here, 1/2 an hour there (which meant, that by the time I was beginning to get back into it, it was time to put it down again!) ...
David McK (3222 KP) rated The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die (2022) in Movies
Sep 3, 2023 (Updated Sep 3, 2023)
5 TV series.
Each adopting roughly 2 novels.
So that meant there was 3 left unadapted when said series was cancelled ('The Flame Bearer', 'Sword of Kings' and 'War Lord'), with Netflix instead developing a movie instead of series to finish off the story.
Which, I have to say, does feel a bit rushed, with some noticeable absences (not even mentioned in passing) and, whilst watching, and with what seems a rushed finale.
I also have to say that Uhtred, here, still looks a lot younger than he was portrayed in the novels (especially by this point) and I don't remember *that* ending happening, either!
David McK (3222 KP) rated Pirate Latitudes in Books
Jan 30, 2019
Although it is not the first time he has dabbled in the genre (see also The Great Train Robbery and Eaters of the Dead), I felt that his relative lack of experience of said genre showed: one needs only compare this to a work by Bernard Cornwell, for instance.
I suppose It is possible that the novel was finished but not completed, if you know what I mean, and I also got the feeling that he was trying to jump on the Pirates of the Caribbean (albeit without the magic!) bandwagon with this novel, also set in the Caribbean during the time of Charles II
The Cross and the Curse
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AD 634. Anglo-Saxon Britain. A gripping, action-packed historical thriller and second instalment in...
Sharpe's Devil (Sharpe, #21)
8.0
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From New York Times bestselling author Bernard Cornwell, another exciting adventure in the...
Traitors or Rome (Eagle #18)
8.0
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The enthralling new Cato and Macro adventure in Simon Scarrow's bestselling Eagles of the Empire...