Racy but not quite so pacy
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The second outing for Flashy doesn't bowl along at quite the same frenetic pace as the first. The writing is a little more reflective and descriptive (i.e. better), but unfortunately the plot is not so engaging. The real appeal of the first book was how the anti-hero's adventures were interwoven with real historical events. Here the setting and most of the events feel just a bit too made-up. Still very readable though and some of the characters are fun; the young Bismarck and an apparently real-life femme fatale called Lola Montez. Looking forward to reading the next one.
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Flashy at his best!
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Royal Flash is the second in the Flahman Papers series by George MacDonald Fraser and it is the first Flash book I ever read (but certainly not the last). Set in the mid-nineteenth century, this novel tells the story of Harry Flashman's encounter with Germany's nation building future leader Otto Von Bismarck.
This story is great fun, Flashy gets himself in to all sorts of dangerous situations he would rather have avoided, resulting in tremendous action packed hilarity.
After reading this book, I fully intend to read the entire series and any other books by this author that I have the fortune to come across.
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Good, but not great......
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I've read all of the books in the Flashman series, and I've really enjoyed Rupert Penry-Jones' two narrations so far. This particular storyline is the weakest of the bunch in my view, with few of the characters really coming to life. Otto and the other "baddies" seem more like Bond villains than anything else. I'm looking forward to the next installment on Audio CD - they certainly make trans-Atlantic flights more enjoyable!
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Plunge with the best!
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Rupert Penry-Jones proves to be an inspired choice as the voice of the arch-cad and yellow-livered 'hero' Flashman. In this second instalment, Flashman is trapped by Lola Montez and Otto Bismarck into another hare-brained scheme, impersonating royalty with the peace of Europe in the balance. Penry-Jones attacks the bountiful variety of Fraser's book with relish - the fiendish plotting, the craven cries for mercy, the calculating covetousness and (of course) the animal lust. Highly recommended. Bring on the next chapter!
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Flashman...
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If 'Flashy' played for England, we would all be singing, 'There's only one Harry Flashman.' As any reader of this type of novel will know, protagonists of this kind do not come along too often. Having discovered 'The Flashman Papers' a few years ago; our cowardly cad in 'Royal Flash' never fails to impress. After being lured away from London, the dishonest poltroon is made an offer that even he cannot refuse. The chance to impersonate Royalty and sample the regal life, in return for a tidy sum. But as 'Flashy' discovers, there is no such thing as an easy ride. Finding himself once again embroiled in deceit, intrigue and giddy-up passion - he displays his quick thinking and utter resourcefulness when confronted with the malevolent Statesman Bismarck. There is certainly something special about Harry Flashman. Is it his talent for self-preservation that we admire, or his natural ability to be the number one love rat? Personally, I think more of us can associate with him than would care to admit. Squirming through life in his usual disastrous way, he somehow lives to shirk another day.
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