"More Flashman..." Topic

Has anyone read the 2 books by Robert Brightwell (…and the Seawolf, …and the Cobra) being the memoirs of Harry's uncle Thomas in the early 1800's?

Any good?

I just finished "Scoundrel!" by Keith Thompson – well worth getting and well written though I cannot judge how historically accurate it is.

"Flashman and the War between the States" (Tighe) should be avoided like the plague.

The Carton Chronicles, set in Revolutionary France, is more enjoyable and takes another literary villain (Sidney Carton, of "A Tale of Two Cities")as its hero (but ignore the clumsy sub-plot that he is Harry Flashman's real father!)

"Flashman and the War between the States" (Tighe) should be avoided like the plague.

I nearly got my sorry behind kicked off a Flashman Yahoo group for suggesting that very thing. I had never read it, I just DISAPPROVED of the whole idea.
I firmly believe that only GMF or a designated (by HIM) heir should tell the tale.

His relatives are fair game.

And, YES, I do know that Harry was originally in Tom Brown's Schooldays.

Tighe's book is actually not badly written for the first couple of chapters, but then degenerates into a pastiche of "Flash for Freedom", that keeps Flashman in one of the backwaters of the war for pretty much the entire book, avoids or contradicts some of the known 'facts' of his ACW service, and then ends abruptly with "to be continued…"

I struggled to get through it, unlike every true Flashman book I ever picked up since I was a teenager. Had it been written simply as an historical romp featuring another caddish officer type, I'd probably have been more forgiving.

But what do I know? The Fonthill series by Wilcox is some of the worst written, steriotypical (not least '352 Jenkins', the loyal right-hand man, who has to say "look you" ever few pages to remind you he's Welsh)and historically inaccurate tosh I've ever read, but still seems hugely popular – he's got 8 books out so far.

"Flashman and the War between the States" is now 'Sir Thomas 'British Tommy' Armstrong and The War Between the States'. There's even a Flashman in 2003 invading Iraq.

The Brightwell books are not bad at all in my opinion. The historical facts seem quite good and the hero is not just a clone of the original Flashman. He is still a reluctant hero, but he is not a coward, rapist, murderer etc (at least not yet). While not quite a good as the GMF canon, I look forward to the next adventure.

I've just ordered them, couldn't resist. It helps that the 2nd book is set during the Maharatta wars.

I'll ignore the family link to 'Flash Harry' and read (and hopefully enjoy) them at least as much as I do any other historical novel such as Hornblower, Brigadier Gerard (a lot), Sharpe, Hervey (quite a lot) Bolitho & Aubrey (used to enjoy but got bored).

And am I being unfair on Fonthill? I gave up after the first 2 books (I think it was the characterisation of Wolseley that finished me off) but maybe the series has improved? His books cover the period of history I find most fascinating so I was really disappointed they were so poor.

Heresy! Only GMF can write Flashman! The Canon is closed.

Do you mean Fonthill, ontario?

I really wanted to like the Fonthill novels because they fall in my favorite historical wheelhouse, but as SJwalker38 wrote, they're awful. It's a shame because I purchased the Fonthill books set in the Sudan with great anticipation. Unfortunately, they were written in a formulaic, paint-by-numbers fashion that robbed the reader of any suspense.

Ragbones, thanks so much, I thought it was only me!

Portraying Wolseley as a gruff but very indulgent, 'grandfatherly' figure with a soft spot (no, no, not in a Hector McDonald sort of way) for the young, impulsive hero killed the series for me.

While most of us cannot have a real idea of the true character of the great Victorian heroes – Wolseley, Roberts, Kitchener, Burnaby etc – as their life is so far removed from our own, I'd hoped that a well-read author would get closer than this – it's what makes the likes of McDonald Fraser stand out from the crowd.

I'd like to read the Fonthill take on the Shangani patrol and the Boxer Rebellion but…. (if only Fraser had managed to write his version of Flashman's involvement in the latter!)