Sweat pours down your face as you load your cumbersome musket. A line of enemy infantry are charging towards you, screaming
and desiring nothing more than to gut you with a bayonet. You lift the musket to fire and prepare to spew forth your hatred in the form of hot lead. This is the world you are plunged into through the pages of
Sharpe's Tiger. The novel is chronologically the first in the Richard Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell.
The story begins by dropping you into the forced march of a British army that is stationed in India at the turn of the 18th century. Here we meet Richard Sharpe, a lowly private in his majesty's service, who possesses a cynical wit and a frightening capacity for violence. From the first paragraph, his intriguing mix of depressing commentary and roguish charm introduce him as the quintessential antihero.
Sharpe’s point of view immerses the reader in the reality of Napoleonic era warfare. The grim realities that a regular infantryman in the army lived through each day are made brutally clear – sometimes to the point that the reader feels alienated. Sharpe lives in danger of death from not only the enemy, but also from disease, hunger, and his own officers. With this perspective, one begins to understand why Sharpe can fight with such fury.
The fights in the novel, both on the battlefield and off, are well written and smooth. Every sword thrust and every pistol shot is described in such a fluid way that the imaginative reader will be able to follow the combat easily.
The author uses the fictional Richard Sharpe to bring actual historical figures to life throughout the text. The reader encounters the cold Colonel Arthur Wellesley, the tenacious General Baird, and the noble Tippoo sultan. Each character is allowed to live out their virtues, quirks, and shortcomings as history remembers them. Cornwell allows each character to develop naturally, which causes the reader to take personal stake in each of their lives.
Cornwell’s writing is stylish, but by no means complicated. The average reader will find it easy to jump into the era without much confusion. Some historical terminology may be difficult to grasp, but that is unavoidable in
historical fiction. The plot is realistic (which will keep the history buffs happy), and yet exciting and adventurous (which will keep everyone else happy).
Sharpe’s Tiger is a thoroughly enjoyable read and will appeal to those who are looking for both a great action novel and a historical adventure. It avoids the monotonous and overbearing tone that many novels in this genre suffer from.