β Scribed by K. J. Parker
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
Packed with sharp edges and provocative points, Sharps is the book that
fantasy readers have been waiting for - fun, dangerous and very, very
clever.
For the first time in nearly forty years, an uneasy truce has been called between two neighbouring kingdoms. The war has been long and brutal, fought over the usual things: resources, land, money
Now, there is a chance for peace. Diplomatic talks have begun and with them, the games. Two teams of fencers represent their nations at this pivotal moment.
When the future of the world lies balanced on the point of a rapier, one misstep could mean ruin for all. Human nature being what it is, does peace really have a chance?
"Courtly intrigue, intelligent prose, and complicated plotting." --- graspingforthewind.com on The Folding Knife"I
have reviewed books before that I thought might someday be found to
have achieved greatness.... But I am trying to be precise in my use of
the word when I tell you that K.J. Parker is writing work after work
that demands to be placed in that category. " --- Orson Scott Card on
The Engineer Trilogy
"It's a dark, bleak and fiercely intelligent portrait of the human condition." --- SFX on The Company
"Imagine Lost meets The Italian Job...a
masterfully planned and executed book, one that builds on
ever-revealing characterization and back-story, leading slowly yet
inexorably to its final conclusion." --- SFF World on The Company
"[Sharps] is a ripping good adventure yarn, laced with frequent
barbed witticisms and ace sword fighting... Parker's settings and
characterizations never miss a beat, and the intricate political
interplay of intrigue is suspenseful almost to the last page." (Publishers Weekly )
π SIMILAR VOLUMES
Richard Sharpe and his company are part of a small expeditionary force sent to break a bridge across the River Guadiana. What begins as a brilliant piece of soldiering turns into disaster, thanks to the brutal savagery of the French Colonel Vandal who is leading his battalion to join the siege of Ca
Sharpe, though a little more comfortable with his new officer rank, is sure that this new unit is of lower status, and that he has failed. His ship home is shipwrecked: he is captured by pirates, but fighting free with a few companions, finds himself on a British Navy ship heading to join Nelson's f
Sharpe's Havoc brings Sharpe to Portugal, and reunites him with Harper. It is 1809 and Lieutenant Sharpe, who belongs to a small British army that has a precarious foothold in Portugal, is sent to look for Kate Savage, the daughter of an English wine shipper. But before he can discover the miss
Sharpe, just promoted to an officer, faces his toughest battle. It is 1803 and Sir Arthur Wellesleyβ²s army is closing on the retreating Mahrattas in western India. Marching with the British is Ensign Richard Sharpe, newly made into an officer and wishing he had stayed a sergeant. Spurned by his new
Richard Sharpe and the Waterloo Campaign, 15 June to 18 June 1815. It is 1815. Sharpe is serving on the personal staff of the inexperienced and incompetent Young Frog, William, Prince of Orange, who has been given command of a large proportion of the Allied force. More concerned with cutting a
A classic Sharpe adventure: Richard Sharpe and the Winter Campaign, 1814. The invasion of France is under way, and the British Navy has called upon the services of Major Richard Sharpe. He and a small force of Riflemen are to capture a fortress and secure a landing on the French coast. It is t