"The Flashman series" Topic

How did you read the series? Publication order or by timeline? Which do you think is the better reading order?

Whichever one my local second hand bookshops had in stock

I don't think it matters a damn which order you read them in. Harry scarcely changes as a human being, and there are no real spoilers " Ahhhh , you mean we WIN the Indian Mutiny?"

Pat

Publication order.
There is no real compelling reason to read them in chronologically order, since each book is complete. You might want to read Flashman and the Redskins immediately after Fl;ash for Freedom, but it's not really necessary.

As long as you read the first book,"Flashman", first, the order of reading for the rest of the series does not matter.

On the subject of Flashman, Chiltern Minaitures do a nice collection of sets covering our hero, each one with a female companion.

link

Here's how mine came out.

I started reading the series mid way which was fine as thay are complete stories. Second time round I read them in publication date.

Andy

I wonder if Fraser's character was inspired by The OFM…

G'morning, John.

Eric

I must read in chronological order. Otherwise lies Madness!

Don't you have papers to shuffle, eric?
Trucks to misplace?

Andymac, thanks for posting those, I didn't know about that range. They look great!

whill4 (minor spoilers follow) I'd read them in publication order, although as others say it doesn't matter all that much. Other than Flashy reminiscing about females he's met in previous books, and the occasional recurring foil, there's not really a critical continuity. The publication order of the books skip around in his timeline, but they're in the form of memoirs so theoretically they were all 'written after the facts' anyway :P

Certainly start with the first though. They surprised the heck out of me… well written, well researched, politically incorrect, and really entertaining!

John;
Funny you should mention that. We tried to ship a truck, and the document which told us to ship it was cut back in 2000. Had a little trouble explaining that.

Nobody's missed it. Been sitting here the whole time.

I love working for The Man. It's like a Flashman Novel in it's own way.

I'm thinking Flashman needs to visit Canada for the Fenian Invasion in 1866. How about it John? Battle of Ridgeway and The Green Flash?

Eric

The original Flashman is a must read, to set the groundwork and backstory regarding the type of person his is and how he will conduct himself in the future.

Militarily…you should read it chronologically instead of by print release date, but I agree, as long as you've read the first book, first…have at it reading the rest in any order you choose.

I'm thinking Flashman needs to visit Canada for the Fenian Invasion in 1866. How about it John? Battle of Ridgeway and The Green Flash?

We pretty much know that Flashy was in Mexico at the time.
as much as I like the Abyssinian adventure, part of me wishes that the civil war or Mexico would have been his last one.

And, please. May the Estate NEVER license some hack to "round out" the series.
That tragically happened to the Conan stories, the Godfather saga, Gone with the Wind… IT NEVER WORKS. I spit on ALL Sherlock Holmes "pastiches".
If you MUST "borrow" a character, like GMF did with Holmes, make him a minor and annoying bit player.
Or, take a mnor character and run with him, like GMF did with Flashy himself.
But, NO MORE FLASHMAN BOOKS BY INFERIOR WRITERS!

John;
Relax. I was thinking about a GAME. Using TSATF. We just need an (in)appropriate Flashy in 25mm. Or maybe go BIG and do it in 54mm Plastics.

Eric

I have a "not-Flashman" figure. The one from Eureka in the Pax Limpopo range.

If you want to read them chronologically you have to put down "Flashman and the Redskins" halfway through and then read a bunch of other books before coming back to it.

Stupid idea, if you ask me. You'll spoil that one for yourself at the expense of this perceived gain of the correct order. Do you think GMF intended you to wait until the entire series was done before reading any of them? If he thought the chronological order made a damn bit of difference he would have written them that way.

Talking of putting him in games, I had Flashy in Abyssinia years before GMF sent him there.

The swine copied my idea!

I agree with the OFM.

Gah!

I see Robert Brightwell has produced 'Flashman and the Seawolf' which seems to be about Flashy's dad and Cochrane. Looks like there might be a series set in the Naploleonic period comong up. I have not read it so I am in two minds about the whole concept.

And make sure that you read ALL of the footnotes. There is a ton of both historical info and Flashman related information that rounds out the story nicely and puts everything in their context.

Thank you for the responses. I found Flashman at the local Half Price Books store and I will start tonight.

I've only ready "Flashman and the Dragon". I found a trade paperback copy in a local thrift store for a buck. I noticed it b/c I remembered Chiltern made some nifty minis. SHQ produces them now. They're listed under 25mm fantasy as Victorian Characters; no pics. andymac, your brushwork on your Flashman minis is outstanding. In-any-event, I definately would read more of the books as I quite enjoyed the one I've read. Oh, and to address the topic of the thread, I'm not worried about what order I read them.

Read them! That's an order.