Rebel

Main Review:

So as promised, I’ve continued my foray into the American Civil War for my latest read. For this instalment, I’ve crossed back into the realm of the fictional for Bernard Cornwell’s Rebel; the first part of the so-called ‘Starbuck Chronicles’. Having been a fan of Sharpe and The Last Kingdom for many years, I was hoping for good things as I returned once more to the rolling hills and rivers of Civil War Virginia.

The opening scene, with an angry mob of southerners rounding up as many northerners as they can get their hands on for some ‘vigilante justice’ was an incredibly gripping scene to kick off the story. Had I read this book even only a year ago, I would probably have compared it to Jack Cade’s rebellion in Shakespeare’s Henry VI Part 2. In 2021 however, I was struck by how similar the scene was to the events of the January 6th insurrection – complete with otherwise well-to-do society members getting involved whilst law enforcement officials tacitly allow if not outright participate in the chaos going on before them.

There was some brevity available though. Namely that, with so many American accents being bandied about, particularly those of the southern persuasion, I was able to enjoy imagining every instance of the word ‘boy’ being spoken in the same way as Arthur Morgan in Red Dead Redemption 2.

The book is openly marketed as being ‘by the bestselling author of the Sharpe series’ so similarities were obviously meant to be expected. But Sweet Christmas this book really is just a reskinned Sharpe. There’s the signature pulpy writing style, and the fact that the main characters seem magnetically drawn to brush shoulders with real-life historical characters (Wellington for Sharpe, General Lee for Starbuck). There’s also the fact that each book is basically a run up to a specific historical event that dominates the final third of the story. None of these similarities are a BAD thing per se – there’s a reason the Sharpe books are so popular – but it’s certainly notable – it struck me as similar to those RPG players who adapt pre-existing rules to work for the setting / period they want to play.

Rebel isn’t entirely a carbon copy of the Napoleonic exploits of Sharpe however – with the biggest difference being between the two main characters. Whilst Richard Sharpe was a low born soldier from the darker parts of London (Sheffield in the TV version because, you know, Sean Bean) Nathanial Starbuck is a young man from an affluent family who was on the path to become a theologian before falling for a woman, being betrayed and having his heart broken. Nate’s youth and naivety makes him very easy to relate to and root for. Nowhere is his potential for foolishness more easily shown than in the early section when, having just explained how he had been betrayed by the person he practically worshipped that he immediately nestles himself under the wing of Washington Faulconer – another individual with a powerful personality.

Speaking of Faulconer, the larger-than-life Virginian landowner, I found it interesting that it’s stated in multiple places that he has already freed his slaves by the beginning of the book. In the story, It’s frequently suggested that he did this at the insistence of a woman he desired to woo. I couldn’t help but feel it was done however, at least in part, to help audiences be willing to accept a confederate officer as a paternal authority figure within the story. Having just read a book on the history of the period, which paid particular attention to how important Lee was to the Confederate war effort – I also found it very notable that Falconer immediately takes a dislike to him and derides him as a ‘washed-out cautious buffoon’. It gave the whole exchange a similar energy to those blokes who watch sport from their seats at home and insist they could do better than the professional athletes.

In many ways, the book can be considered a sort of ‘applied history’, but overwhelmingly, it felt more akin to a Dickens novel or the more mature tales of Roald Dahl. This is largely because the cast of characters around Starbuck seem to be competing for who can be the most zany or egregious. There’s school teachers who hate children, the lawyer who cares only for gossip – everyone seems to have incredibly specific physical traits or idiosyncrasies. Many of the characters are so outlandish they wouldn’t feel out of place in a Grand Theft Auto game.

It’s obvious in the battle sections that a lot of research has gone into conveying the fighting correctly – there’s pages of fastidious explanation of how the massive Parrot gun operates. Once the bullets start flying, Cornwell really captures the chaos and the mess and the mud perfectly. The final third is paced so well that you can blast through the whole battle in the span of a short afternoon, drawn to keep on going and follow the twists and turns even if you know how the battle turns out.

With that said though, this book has some serious issues – which can largely be summed up by calling the book ‘dated’. It seems to me that prior to writing any of the female characters in this story (and there’s only about four of them in total) Cornwell must have flipped a coin and made them either a wicked Jezebel or a fragile wisp of a woman depending on the result. Early on, there’s a casting couch comment presented so flippantly that it’s obviously meant to be considered funny and the joke simply does not land with me.

More worryingly, there’s an overt amount of sexualisation of a female character who is canonically only just 15 years old. It’s odd enough that Nathaniel is so obsessed with her, given that he’s supposed to be about 18/19, but it seems that half the men in this book (many considerably older) seem completely head over heels for her; with one (albeit one of the antagonists) going so far as to impregnate her. If that wasn’t bad enough, this same girl is kidnapped, raped and essentially sold into sex slavery for no real discernible purpose or reason besides giving Nate a sub-plot to avenge her by killing the man responsible. I’m just so tired of the majority of female characters in historical stories being sex workers, and sexual assault being something that authors can just sprinkle their stories with for the drama of it all.

The flippancy and gratuitousness of it all really grated quickly, and tarnished what would have otherwise been a fairly enjoyable piece of pulp fiction. I had thought I might continue the series over the festive break, but any desire to do so has long since evaporated. I’d much rather go and read something where women get to do more than simply be passive victims. There’s plenty of other ways to get your ACW kicks that don’t involve unnecessary violence against women.

So all in all, a slightly underwhelming final book for 2021, which I suppose is pretty on brand given everything that’s gone on over the last twelve months. I’ll be back next week with my ‘End of Year’ roundup but until then – I wish you all a wonderful festive break – and hopefully many books beneath the Christmas tree!