Sharpe's Fortress, by Bernard Cornwell

Sharpe's Fortress
by Bernard Cornwell

Sharpe's Fortress is the third of Bernard Cornwell's Star-Wars-like return to a time before the first Sharpe novel he wrote (Sharpe's Rifles), and the third and last of those set in India. Like Tiger and Triumpph we meet a very young Richard Sharpe and, unfortunately in my opinion, his relationships with people like Sir Arthur Wellesley, Crawford, and Obadiah Hakeswell that we will meet again, ostensibly for the first time, in the oldest books. I jsut found out that Patrick Harper shows up in Sharpe's Prey, next after the book we are reading now, and I sure hope he and Sharpe don't actually meet. It would, I think, ruin the original meeting in Sharpe's Rifles.

The title location in Sharpe's Fortress is the mountain top and heretofore impreganable fortress of Gawlighur. Now remember all these novels are about real battles and, except for the fictional charcters' roles in it, absolutely accurate in terms of events and battles. At the behinning of the novel, the newly commissioned Ensign Sharpe is having a very bad time of it and regretting wanting to be an officer. The men don't respect him and the other officers look down on him. Plus he is considerable older than the usually teenaged ensign. He is relieved when he is transferred from a battle regiment to a job overseeing supplies delivery. His boss in this duty is a corrupt and venial fellow who distrusts him from the start, especially when Mr. Sharpe exposes the Indian merchant he has been cheating on the army with. It so happens this man's righthand weasel is none other than Obadiah Hakeswell, the man who hates Sharpie to pieces. He has Hakeswell give Sharpe to the brother of the merchant, now hanged, who pits him against two jettis in a ring. Defeating them and with the hellp of Indian allies, Sharpe makes his way to where the siege of Gawlighur is about to begin. he manages, of course, to be the first over the wall of the inner fortress and pulls another James Bond villain non-execution of Hakeswell. If you remember William Dodd from triumph, well he's in this one too.

The thing with Sharpe novels is that they are formulaic, almost identical, and who cares>?! If you like one, you will like them all.. well, maybe with the exception of Sharpe's Gold, which is not even very good. Sharpe hasa to deal with inept upper class officers, can count on a few good eggs, is loved and left by beautiful women, fights like a demon, and manages too be personally responsible for every victory. And it's a glorious ride all the way.

This book is available in hardback, paperback, Kindle, and audio download.