The Reavers
by George MacDonald Fraser
List Price:
Our Price: $0.95
You Save: $23.05 (96%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: George MacDonald FraserEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Format: Deckle Edge
Published: 2008-04-22
ISBN: 0307268101
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Knopf
Book Reviews of The Reavers
Book Review: A Farcical Farewell
Summary: 4 Stars
Like most others who will pick up this final book from Fraser, I am a longtime devotee of his Flashman series. And the sheer pleasure of reading that series has driven me to seek out and read most of his other fiction and non-fiction over the years (including this book's ancestor, The Pyrates). Of these twenty or so books, this one is clearly the silliest of the lot, and anyone picking it up should be ready for a pretty heavy dose of wink-wink, nudge-nudge.
The book is essentially a farcical rewriting of his earlier novel, The Candlemass Road, complete with many of the same characters and situations. The story is set in the same 16th-century Scottish/English borderlands that Fraser wrote a history of under the title The Steel Bonnets: The Story of the Anglo-Scottish Border Reivers. It concerns a Spanish plot to kidnap King James and replace him with an impostor (and if that sounds familiar, it's because Fraser used the device in Royal Flash). Seeking to foil this plot are an Elizabethan secret agent, a Scottish highwayman, a stunning English noblewoman, and her saucy sidekick.
If this sounds like a delightful historical thriller, well, be warned that Fraser wrote this one with his tongue even more firmly planted in cheek than usual. It brims with modern pop culture references, anachronisms, authorial asides, and over-the-top renderings of thick Scots dialect. None of these bothered me, but plenty of other readers seemed to find some or all of these elements annoying. However, in the preface, Fraser is pretty clear that the book was primarily written to amuse himself, so I'm willing to go along with the ride. Especially since it's the last we're likely to get from such a great storyteller. (Unless, that is, a literary executor manages to uncover one last packet of Flashman adventures....)
Ultimately, a pretty minor and self-derivative work from a very entertaining writer. If approached in the right frame of mind, it should provide a few hours of very light entertainment, and possibly spur the reader to check out some of the true history of the setting.
Historical Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Historical Books
Pirate Latitudes: A Novelby Michael Crichton
Harper; Published: 2009-11-24; Roughcut; Book
Best price: $2.44
Price in other shops:
The Master Butchers Singing Club: A Novelby Louise Erdrich
Harper Perennial; Published: 2004-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.83
Price in other shops:
The Last Witchfinder: A Novelby James Morrow
William Morrow; Published: 2006-03-14; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops:
Zorroby Isabel Allende
HarperAudio; Published: 2005-05-03; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $3.09
Price in other shops:
The Hot Kid: A Novelby Elmore Leonard
William Morrow; Published: 2005-05-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $2.89
Price in other shops:
The Last Kingdom (The Saxon Chronicles Series #1)Mass Market Paperback; Book
Bones of the Hills (Conqueror, Book 3)by Conn Iggulden
Harper Collins Canada; Published: 2008; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $44.70
Marchby Geraldine Brooks
Penguin Books; Published: 2006; Paperback; Book
Emperor (Emperor 1)by Conn Iggulden
Harpercollins Pb; Published: 2003-06-07; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.80
Girl With a Pearl Earringby Tracy Chevalier
Harper Collins Audio; Published: 2002-06-17; Audio Cassette; Book
Best price: $86.82
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
Quartered Safe Out Here: A Harrowing Tale of World War IIby George MacDonald Fraser
Skyhorse Publishing; Published: 2007-10-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.98
Price in other shops:
Flashman: A Novelby George MacDonald Fraser
Plume; Published: 1984-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.94
Price in other shops:
Black Ajaxby George MacDonald Fraser
Carroll & Graf; Published: 1999-04-21; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.49
Price in other shops:
Flashman and the Tigerby George MacDonald Fraser
Knopf; Published: 2000-08-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.24
Price in other shops:
The Pyratesby George MacDonald Fraser
Knopf; Published: 1984-07-12; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $68.50
Mr. Americanby George MacDonald Fraser
Simon & Schuster; Published: 1981-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $95.00
Flashman on the March from The Flashman Papers, 1867-8Knopf; Published: 2005-11-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.91
Price in other shops:
The Candlemass Roadby George MacDonald Fraser
Harpercollins; Published: 1994-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $40.61
The Candlemass Roadby George MacDonald Fraser
Skyhorse Publishing; Published: 2011-02-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.97
Price in other shops:
The Steel Bonnets: The Story of the Anglo-Scottish Border Reiversby George MacDonald Fraser
Skyhorse Publishing; Published: 2008-07-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.55
Price in other shops: