ALawston's Full Review: George MacDonald Fraser - Royal Flash
Anti-heroes are the most fun. It's why millions of slightly strange women adore J K Rowling's Severus Snape, why we all, deep down, want Wile E. Coyote to catch the Roadrunner and why the Devil has all the best songs.
So when I heard about a series of books about a vain, cowardly bully lying, whoring and blundering his way to a hero's status in Victorian Britain, I knew it would be brilliant.
The Flashman Papers
The Flashman Papers chronicle the further life and times of Harry Flashman, the bully first immortalised in Tom Brown's Schooldays, as he cheats his way through life with a smarmy flourish.
In the second of these adventures, Royal Flash, our gloriously vile anti-hero mixes with historic figures as he lives out his very own Prisoner of Zenda swashbuckling tale. The gentle, but riotously entertaining setup brings Flashman to the attention and emnity of one Otto Von Bismarck.
Now, Germany's other famous statesman might be the most recognisable figure in this book, but he is just one of a host of supporting characters drawn from historical fact. Boxers, adventuresses, princes and heroes are all genuine characters, and a wealth of footnotes at the back of the book show that the author has done his research.
The success of this research is a little tough to guage for me as this is far from my period of expertise, but of course any lapses in accuracy are skilfully deflected by the author's introductory assertion that Flashman may have embellished or forgotten elements in his past while writing his memoirs.
In any case, this stirring tale of dumb luck and brutality triumphing over political machinations, calculations and ruthless intelligence had me demanding angrily why I'd never bothered to read Hope's Prisoner of Zenda.
A book which combines 19th Century political theory with storming castles by moonlight, with a 'hero' more concerned with nicking the crown jewels than with safeguarding European security? Fantastic! It's particularly good fun, in my view, because of the way the novel opens with a lot of real characters and events and really grounds the reader in the period, before gradually dissolving into more and more of a fantasy adventure as the second half of the tale unfolds.
Of course, more delicate readers than I may be alienated or repulsed later on by Flashman's torture and cold-blooded murder of a would-be assassin, but to me it was a brave move on the writer's part to show an anti-hero being as anti as possible. Flashman is occasionally forced to act in a courageous, even faintly noble fashion for the plot's sake, and to see him cheerfully chuck an assailant over a waterfall helps the reader maintain a balanced view of the character as a complete cad.
If you enjoy historical fiction at all, then Royal Flash is a nice tongue in cheek approach to the genre. Fans of Pratchett, etc, should be aware though that although I found huge sections of the book very funny, this isn't really a humour piece as such. On the whole though, I'd recommend the book to anyone who wants to enjoy a solid adventure story with a well-drawn leading character.
If I have one regret, it's that in my usual fashion I began reading this series on its second volume. Royal Flash costs around £7.99 in bookshops, and around £5.49 on Amazon. Although that sounds like a no-brainer, Flashman books are often included in BOGOF and 'buy two get one free' promotions in bookshops, so don't neglect the high street completely!
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
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