I used to read cornwell books when I was 14 and I thought they were amazing.
Recently I picked up this book again and had a quick look through and realised why the biggest fans of these books are 40 year old men and 13 year old boys.
His books contist of gory battles puncutated by erotica set in a different historical periods with a few dates and a bit of a plot thrown in (13 year old boys liking this formula becuase they are interested in sex and a box and 40 year old boys because perhaps dont get as much sex and excitment as they got when they were in their prime)
To be fair this book has a mildy engaging plot but there truly are better books, and authors out there.
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Having read all the Sharpe novels I was looking forward to this and I was not disappointed. Bernard Cornwell has an unnerring ability of making history fun. True the characters are fictional on the whole but his ability to bring to life scenarios from our past history is pure mastery. The pace as always is face and full of action. A wordsmith of the highest pedigree who makes reading enjoyable and easy.
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I just finished this book and immediately read it again. its brilliant and i read it twice in just under a day even thought it is of moderatre length.
The plot is realistic and believable with things that actually happen and not some made up baddies like other books (the baddies in this case being drugs) such as stormbreakers deadly v8irus? come on!
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I am a big historical fiction fan so was keen to try a new author. This book felt quite heavy at first with a lot of detail, and at nearly 700 pages it's a long book. However this level of detail is what sets it apart from other books, with a huge amount of research into the period and characters that you can understand all their emotions and reactions. In the end the 700 pages flew by, and gripped me all the way through. Excellent book and new author for my bookshelf. Looking forward to the next in series
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I agree with other reviewers, this is really quite different from the authors previous books. It isn't as fast paced or colourful. I bought this for my 3 year old niece. She liked it but i don't think it will be read as much as her other Julia Donaldson books. It is a lovely book though.
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The second book 'castle' in the series is a improvement from the first, its starts to reveal the conspiracies that are happening in the castle, I won't say much but the adventure speeds up quite abit in this one.
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The second book 'castle' in the series is a improvement from the first, its starts to reveal the conspiracies that are happening in the castle, I won't say much but the adventure speeds up quite abit in this one.
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...which is that even though the Cherub agents have been through tough training and the book is always saying how important they are and how dangerous their life is, they never actually DO any of the hard stuff in the missions. All the Cherub agents can do is break into a house a photocopy stuff, then make it look like the break-in was 'only kids messing around'. Then they get out of the way and let the adults and the police finish off the mission. It might be realistic but it's lame.
The story-line in this one is OK though, but there isn't enough mystery about who killed the boy that dies at the beginning in a flashback. It seems kind of obvious all the way through. There is nothing new about the plot.
Bernard Cornwell for me is the no 1 in historical fiction genre, and as these are his favourite set of books of all he has written, I was really looking forward to these. I have just finished the first book, and it was amazing. I think as these books are written in the Dark Ages, he is able to let his imagination go wild in a way that he couldn't in the Sharpe or Grail Quest series. This book is an interesting take on the famous Arthur legend, and in his usual way, he has done an amazing amount of research into the time period and legend, to make what is probably the most likely Arthur tale that I have read (dont expect round tables!). This book is one you just cant put down, finished it in a week! A great tale of battles, love and magic..... halfway through ... Read More:
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Having read and delighted in The Book Thief, I thought that I would give I am the Messenger a go. I was in Oz at the time and so the setting was perfect. It truly is a read in one sitting book. It may have been written for young adults but is a book that all can take from.
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