I have just finished reading the first of the three Fenwick Travers novels – FENWICK TRAVERS AND THE YEARS OF EMPIRE – and I have thoroughly enjoyed it.
The book tells the story of how and why Fenwick Travers joined the US Army as a Private and managed to gain an officer's commission after attending West Point. It then traces his early career in the Regular Army, including his part in the Spanish-American War and the Boxer Rebellion.
The book is described as 'an entertainment' and it certainly lives up to this billing. Some of the story lines do contain some rather incredible coincidences, and the sex scenes are quite funny (which I hope is intentional), but it is a great historical romp that is entertaining and diverting to read. It is not a great work of fiction, and it is not as well written as the 'Flashman' novels (although it is certainly as good as books written by other more famous best-selling authors), but this does not detract from the enjoyment I got from reading the book, and I am looking forward to reading the other two books in the series.
The book tells the story of how and why Fenwick Travers joined the US Army as a Private and managed to gain an officer's commission after attending West Point. It then traces his early career in the Regular Army, including his part in the Spanish-American War and the Boxer Rebellion.
The book is described as 'an entertainment' and it certainly lives up to this billing. Some of the story lines do contain some rather incredible coincidences, and the sex scenes are quite funny (which I hope is intentional), but it is a great historical romp that is entertaining and diverting to read. It is not a great work of fiction, and it is not as well written as the 'Flashman' novels (although it is certainly as good as books written by other more famous best-selling authors), but this does not detract from the enjoyment I got from reading the book, and I am looking forward to reading the other two books in the series.
.jpg)
Thanks for the review, Bob. I'll keep an eye out for this one while browsing the used bookstores.
ReplyDeleteRegards,
Steve
Corporal Tim,
ReplyDeleteGlad to be of help.
I found out about the books when I read a review of one of them, looked them up on Amazon ... et voila!
As I wrote in my blog entry, they are not great fiction but I have so far found them fun to read.
All the best,
Bob