"First Argument of the Year" Topic

Just to start things off on a high note:

"I'd trade the entire stack of Sharpes for one more Flashman".

Agree? Or no?

Totally agree.

Sadly, it isn't the first argument of the year, tho – that one – for me, anyway -started at about 01:00, and finished at about 9 this morning.

Flashman for sure. Will always regret no book on Flashy in the US Civil War.

entire stack for one more Aubrey-Maturin, although Obrian was formulaic by the end.

Yes, Mr Von Schlockenberg, who could not agree with you ? Although it does not mean the Sharpe novels are bad, but the Flashman novels are outstanding !
In case you ( and others ) are not aware of it: a few years ago Mr Thomas Flashman came on the stage, created by Robert Brightwell ( feedaread.com/profiles/1733 ) . Flashman is an uncle of Sir Harry and his adventures start around 1800. The first book ( Thomas Flashman and the Seawolf ) has him fighting ( ? he IS a Flashman after all ;- ) ) ) under Lord Cochrane – on whom Patrick O'Brian based Jack Aubrey ) and like George MacDonald Fraser Robert Brightwell offers all kinds of astounding historical facts. So I am looking forward to read the second installment: the Cobra.
( link

Also regret the lost Gettysburg book. There were rumors after his death that he'd all but completed a Zulu War book touched on briefly in Tiger,but seems they were groundless.
Guess we'll continue to be frustrated by all those tantalizing offhand references in the books,much like those in Dr. Watson's journals,e.g. "The Adventure of the Giant Rat of Sumatra".

Anyone know what,if anything,is happening with the Ridley Scott movie?

And c'mon, dvyws9,don't leave us hanging--what was that all about?

That's General von Schlockenberg, though that was tagged illegal,probably through the machinations of my arch nemesis, Le Comte de Merdemaison,curse him!

One thing I would NOT want is for some hack to be hired by "the estate" to write more books.
We have what we have, and let's let it go at that.

I enjoyed the entire stack of Sharpe, and I think it's foolish to wish like a 5 year old.

Personally, I think that Fraser had no intention of doing a Civil war book. Not unless he lived another 20 years.
I would have been intrigued to see how he became fluent in Chinese, or why the Foreign Legion was after him. Nexico would have tied in with that well.

I think Fraser threw in Giant rat of Sumatra stuff because he knew he could never live to "finish" the Flashman saga, so he threw in tantalizing hints deliberately to make up for that. Or maybe, he just wanted to mess with our minds.
I would rather NOT know all the details than to see garbage like the Gone with the Wind "sequels".

What, no Brother-in-law of Dune, the Alien Anorexia (volume 58)?

No argument, I would gladly make that trade with you!

Agree, x100.

I loved TFP, but let's let it lie.

The last offering was distinctly below-par.
Far from contributing to the canon, further entries of the same underwhelming standard as 'On The March' would just dull the lustre.

Harrumph.
I thought On the March was rather good.
Particularly since it brought back his true character, like kicking Halle Berry over the waterfalls.

Thing about kicking Halle Berry off the canoe is that it's a start-to-finish rehash of 'throwing Valla off the sleigh'.
I thought it smacked of trying too hard to recapture the old magic.

The opening of OTM sucks donkey sausage.
One of the strongest points about The Flashman Papers is their 'fake diary' format. It's been that way right from the start, and Fraser managed eleven volumes without breaking the spell.
Then suddenly, he abandons it for no good reason, and starts OTM in a dialogue format. Strikes a bum note from which the book doesn't recover.

I also felt short-changed about the whole Maximillian Adventure. It's been long-alluded to, but when we get to it, it turns out to be an anticlimatic and half-hearted affair which is dismissed in a chapter.

But the big problem with OTM is that Flashman doesn't really DO anything. He's just a passive hanger-on, trailing around in the wake of Uliba/Theodore/whoever.

I would love another Flashman novel, or two…or maybe three but it has to have a good writer attached to the project.

Ah, the alluded to but never realised: The American Civil War, the reign of Maximilian in Mexico and the Zulu War. Just fragments mentioned in passing. As for his work with "reduced women", well, the mind boggles.

"meh" to both, I'm afraid.