Rebel: A rare misfire from Bernard Cornwell

For the past several years, Bernard Cornwell has been my second favorite author. Of the 50-odd books he’s written, I’ve read at least half, and thoroughly enjoyed them all . . . until I got to Rebel.

This isn’t really a bad book. Parts of it, particularly the 1st Mannassas/Bull Run battle scenes toward the end, are excellent. But I’ve been spoiled. Everything else I’ve read from Cornwell is so fine that this was a disappointment.

One problem in the protagonist. On Cornwell’s website, he says he stopped writing this Nathaniel Starbuck series after three books because it was too similar to his famous Sharpe series. So I expected Starbuck to be an American version of Sharpe. Far from it.

Sharpe is a hardbitten professional soldier who has risen through the ranks due to guts, determination and fighting knowhow. He knows how to handle men - and women. Nate Starbuck, on the other hand, is just a kid. He’s the son of a famous abolitionist preacher from Boston, a divinity student who has just begun to stray and feels endlessly guilty about it. His stupidity regarding women knows no bounds. Starbuck does some growing in this book, so he may be a better character in the next two. Or not. I'm in no hurry to find out.

This book’s other shortcoming is the shifting point of view. Most of Cornwell’s other books feature a single POV character in either first or third person. This one flits all over the place, sometimes in close third person, sometimes distant third, sometimes slipping into omniscient. Some of the POV characters are insignificant or uninteresting, while others, like Starbuck, are often annoying. I found myself fighting (and sometimes even succumbing to) the urge to skim.

Cornwell has hopes to someday continue Starbuck's adventures. I hope he doesn’t. He has too many great series going to waste time on a mediocre one.

Bottom Line: For great Civil War drama, Read James Reasoner’s Manassas instead.