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Harlequin

I have read two of Bernard Cornwell's novel series before - The Last Kingdom and the Warlord Chronicles - so was looking forward to a change in quality from what I had just been reading. Harlequin, however, came as a bit of a shock.

Something I have observed over the years, is that many writers seem to have a particular perspective they prefer to (or are better at), writing in. Both of Cornwell's aforementioned series are written as if they were a first-person account of events told at a later time by the protagonist. Cornwell seems very adapt at this style of storytelling and the prose flows well and draws you in to the world that is being depicted. Harlequin, on the other hand, is written from a third person perspective and just doesn't flow as smoothly; there's lots of exposition (info dumps are not something I expected from Cornwell at all) and at times the prose itself is jarringly workmanlike.

Poor prose alone does not ruin a book, and Cornwell is generally good at writing fascinating characters. Sadly, Harlequin was also a bit of a let down in this regard as well. Most of the book consists of action scenes (quite horrific action scenes, as is probably very accurate for a novel set during the hundred years war) with little else going on. Thomas of Hookton, the book's protagonist, drifts from one battle to the next, but never seems to have much agency of his own. He fights when he is asked to and wants to rise up in the ranks of the king's army, but doesn't seem to have much drive apart from this; again, not a wholly unrealistic depiction, but not the most interesting subject matter for a novel. Some of the supporting characters are quite interesting, but they never seem to develop into anything more than window dressing.

This sounds like quite a harsh condemnation of the book, but it is mainly so because I have been impressed by Cornwell in the past. Harlequin probably isn't a particularly bad novel, but it is a definite step down in quality from his other books that I have read in the past.