I've just finished reading this novel and have mixed views. On the positive side it was a good read and fits the series well. Sidney Smith's career is not doing much on the 'action' front at this stage so the supporting characters of Lucas Walker and Susan Whitney were used very skillfully to bring in a narrative of Nelson's exploits in the Mediterranean culminating in the Battle of the Nile. The challenges facing the French on shore were also explored which is not an aspect usually featured in novels about the Nile. Whilst Smith himself did not feature much in the second half of the book, the next in the series will be about the siege of Acre where he had a prominent role and presumably much of the narrative in this book is setting the scene for that.
On the negative side, particularly for fans of the genre and period, the book seems to badly need editing. Whilst works of fiction can mould events slightly to make the novel work, amongst the many apparent errors we were treated to the French (not Spanish) being defeated at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent and a "74-gun frigate".
Although the errors do start to grate if you can put them to one side this is a good read which I would recommend
Description of: The Temple
Author: Tom Grundner
 |
 |