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alexxkayThe twelfth and latest of _The Flashman Papers_. For those of you who havent previously been exposed to Flashman, a brief explanation:
Harry Flashman started life as a character in the well-known Victorian novel _Tom Brown's School Days_, in which he was the class bully. Fraser pretends that he was a real person, whose autobiographical "papers" he has discovered, and is in the process of editing and publishing. After school, Flashman joined the British Army, and proceded to get tngled up in approximately every great military disaster of the Victorian era. (And remember, almost every battle is a disaster for one side or the other.) In these adventures, despite being a cowardly, lecherous, and completely selfish individual, Flashy somehow manages to emerge not only alive, but usually with a new medal or two to show for his pains. Through his cynical, jaundiced eyes, Fraser gives the reader a tour of some fascinating places, people, and events (while adding footnotes and appendices pointing to other historical perspectives). The series as a whole is *strongly* recommended.
This book details Flashman's adventures during the brief Abyssinian War of 1867-1868. Flashy is 45 now, and only a few adventures that take place later in his chronology have been detailed to date. As he gets older, the ways in which he gets into hot water have changed. Though, of course, there's a woman involved, his main problem now is the combination of his heroic reputation and his own reluctance to puncture it. When British military officials offer to send him on dangerous missions, he has no choice but to accept. This grates a little, as Flashy very nearly *is* heroic for much of this book, no matter how much he's cringing on the inside. His *actions* are those of a Victorian James Bond, for the most part, which feels almost out of character. Luckily, he does get in at least one thoroughly despicable act in the middle of the book, to remind us of who he is.
Abyssinia is full of interesting customs and people. Possibly a bit *too* interesting at times. When things get really extreme, eaithr Flashman (within the narrative) or Fraser (in a footnote) will tend to say the equivalent of "I *swear* I'm not making this up; you can check the accounts of the other people who were there if you don't believe me." This sort of statement is not unknown from earlier books, but it seems to turn up in *this* book about a dozen times, which is about ten times too many. The frequent reassurances of reality actually *worsen* my sense of immersion, by reminding me of the difference between the historical sources and this faux-historical novel.
On a chronology-geek note, Flashman drops a few more oblique hints about what he was doing during the American Civil War. (Ever since the first book, it's been known that Flashy was a decorated officer on *both* sides of that conflict.) I remain suspicous that Fraser doesn't actually intend to ever *write* that book, but it's nice to have a few more dots to connect.
_Flashman on the March_ isn't the strongest entry yet, but it's still a good read. It has almost all the elements that one expects of a Flashman book: sex, adventure, torture, sex, barbarians with weird customs, death, more sex, exciting battle scenes, heroism (on the part of other people), treachery, even more sex, and monarchs who are too insane to have been plausible if they weren't actually real. Recommended.
Harry Flashman started life as a character in the well-known Victorian novel _Tom Brown's School Days_, in which he was the class bully. Fraser pretends that he was a real person, whose autobiographical "papers" he has discovered, and is in the process of editing and publishing. After school, Flashman joined the British Army, and proceded to get tngled up in approximately every great military disaster of the Victorian era. (And remember, almost every battle is a disaster for one side or the other.) In these adventures, despite being a cowardly, lecherous, and completely selfish individual, Flashy somehow manages to emerge not only alive, but usually with a new medal or two to show for his pains. Through his cynical, jaundiced eyes, Fraser gives the reader a tour of some fascinating places, people, and events (while adding footnotes and appendices pointing to other historical perspectives). The series as a whole is *strongly* recommended.
This book details Flashman's adventures during the brief Abyssinian War of 1867-1868. Flashy is 45 now, and only a few adventures that take place later in his chronology have been detailed to date. As he gets older, the ways in which he gets into hot water have changed. Though, of course, there's a woman involved, his main problem now is the combination of his heroic reputation and his own reluctance to puncture it. When British military officials offer to send him on dangerous missions, he has no choice but to accept. This grates a little, as Flashy very nearly *is* heroic for much of this book, no matter how much he's cringing on the inside. His *actions* are those of a Victorian James Bond, for the most part, which feels almost out of character. Luckily, he does get in at least one thoroughly despicable act in the middle of the book, to remind us of who he is.
Abyssinia is full of interesting customs and people. Possibly a bit *too* interesting at times. When things get really extreme, eaithr Flashman (within the narrative) or Fraser (in a footnote) will tend to say the equivalent of "I *swear* I'm not making this up; you can check the accounts of the other people who were there if you don't believe me." This sort of statement is not unknown from earlier books, but it seems to turn up in *this* book about a dozen times, which is about ten times too many. The frequent reassurances of reality actually *worsen* my sense of immersion, by reminding me of the difference between the historical sources and this faux-historical novel.
On a chronology-geek note, Flashman drops a few more oblique hints about what he was doing during the American Civil War. (Ever since the first book, it's been known that Flashy was a decorated officer on *both* sides of that conflict.) I remain suspicous that Fraser doesn't actually intend to ever *write* that book, but it's nice to have a few more dots to connect.
_Flashman on the March_ isn't the strongest entry yet, but it's still a good read. It has almost all the elements that one expects of a Flashman book: sex, adventure, torture, sex, barbarians with weird customs, death, more sex, exciting battle scenes, heroism (on the part of other people), treachery, even more sex, and monarchs who are too insane to have been plausible if they weren't actually real. Recommended.