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claudia_bookworm's review
adventurous
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
jasminado's review
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.75
This book was not for me, unfortunately. I wished I hadn't read the blurb beforehand as this most likely has affected my opinion on this book. The blurb sounded (and still sounds to me) amazing, but at the end it just ended up being a summary, if not a spoiler for the end of the book. I wish someone would've told the author to include the inciting incident in the blurb and not the plot-points that happen in his last arc. I expected to read something completely different.
Furthermore, I can't say that I cared enough about the characters. Although the book was written in 1st pers., I felt distant towards all the characters. Therefore, I can't say I feel intrigued enough to continue reading this book series.
Why I gave almost 2 stars nevertheless?
Mostly, because I kept reading it as I was 'intrigued' enough to find out WHEN the blurb would finally happen. Once I was 2/3 through the book, it felt like a waste to not finish it. Also, I always appreciate different writing styles, and I did find the author has a unique writing voice (even if it wasn't to my taste).
Furthermore, I can't say that I cared enough about the characters. Although the book was written in 1st pers., I felt distant towards all the characters. Therefore, I can't say I feel intrigued enough to continue reading this book series.
Why I gave almost 2 stars nevertheless?
Mostly, because I kept reading it as I was 'intrigued' enough to find out WHEN the blurb would finally happen. Once I was 2/3 through the book, it felt like a waste to not finish it. Also, I always appreciate different writing styles, and I did find the author has a unique writing voice (even if it wasn't to my taste).
thebobsphere's review
4.0
This review originally appeared on the Times of Malta on the 22-04-18
Within the first few pages of James Vella-Bardon’s novel, the reader is served with combat scenes, house burnings and a quest for revenge.
The year is 1585 and the initial setting is the Spanish-occupied Netherlands, where a rebellion is being brutally suppressed.
Needless to say, the Spanish soldiers are very unpopular with the Dutch natives. There is one exception, and that is Abel de Santiago, a deadly sniper who does not fully share his comrades’ violent tendencies. To make matters more complicated he is married to a Dutch woman. On the day his wife’s house is burnt down with her inside it, Abel makes it his life’s mission to track down the killers.
If you had the misconception that a historical novel is stuffed with facts and details, then Vella-Bardon takes that trope and turns it into something completely different. The reader is, instead, hurled into a rollercoaster ride of a novel with interesting plot developments.
A fine debut which tackles a relatively unknown chapter of history while being historically accurate
As Abel’s quest for revenge materialises, he is captured and sold as a galley slave, finding himself aboard one of the ships forming part of the Spanish Armada. As popular history goes we all know how that fared, but Vella-Bardon focuses on a quirkier part of history as some ships from the Armada were wrecked on the Irish coast. Although the majority of Spaniards were tortured and killed, some did escape capture with a few even choosing to reside in Ireland. Abel is captured by English troopers that the natives call Sassenachs, who are brutal oppressors led by the titular sheriff.
Eventually Abel does manage to escape, and Vella-Bardon throws in some curveballs which change the direction of the novel. Abel also reveals a detail about his past which I cannot wait to see developed further in the forthcoming books (The Sheriff’s Catch is the first of a five novel series called The Sassana Stone Pentalogy. The other detail, which should play a bigger role in subsequent instalments is a mysterious ring which ends up in Abel’s possession.
It is worth exploring the character of Abel, as he is the main protagonist. Unlike most historical adventure novel characters, Abel is not a superhero. He isn’t dashing and righteous, however he is a dead shot, as well as being cunning and resourceful, and this is what saves him from some unpleasant situations.
Abel does have good qualities but will not hesitate to ignore his moral code whenever the situation requires it, and this is a realistic trait. Although I felt that the torture and fighting scenes were at times a bit overdone, I understand that this novel had to be explosive in nature, given that it is the first in a series. It also possesses a number of interesting underlying themes which distinguish it from other adventure novels.
As a case in point Vella-Bardon cleverly manages to show that history is circular when he displays the cruelty of the Spaniards towards the Dutch, who are in turn subjected to this same cruelty when they find themselves shipwrecked in Ireland.
The Sheriff’s Catch is published by the Penguin Random House-affiliated Unbound, who use a crowdfunding model to finance their books. It is no secret that today’s more interesting and risk-taking novels stem from other new publishing houses like & Other Stories, Salt, Galley Beggar and the experimental Dostoevsky Wannabe.
Unbound itself has also pub-lished Man Booker Prize longlisted author Paul Kingsnorth, whose debut novel The Wake revealed the power of new presses. The Sheriff’s Catch is part of this revolution.
The Sheriff’s Catch is also a fine debut which tackles a relatively unknown chapter of history while being historically accurate – Vella-Bardon consulted historical texts and historians about the events and happenings mentioned in the novel). There’s a memorable lead character, there’s definitely a ton of heart-stopping and chair-gripping moments and it will keep you waiting for the next four volumes to see how the story develops. Think of it as the first part of a blockbuster film saga, except with depth.
joecam79's review
5.0
Historical fiction has seen such a rise in popularity over the past decades, that it's easy to forget that it is, in fact, a long-established and venerable genre. One could say that some of the earliest literature (including, say, the Iliad) is "historical", being based on actual facts which had happened in the past. The genre as we know it became particularly popular in Europe in the 19th Century, through the works of such authors as Scott, Balzac and Hugo. The historical novel was often the vehicle for Romantic ideals, and sometimes helped forge national identities in young newly-formed states (one thinks of Manzoni's [b:I Promessi Sposi|9701194|I Promessi Sposi (1827)|Alessandro Manzoni|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347477972s/9701194.jpg|57875038]).
What contemporary writers have at their disposal, in contrast to their predecessors, is a freedom to mould the genre to their own ends. Thus, I recently enjoyed Amy Sackville's [b:Painter to the King|36256985|Painter to the King|Amy Sackville|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1517587650s/36256985.jpg|57907651], a re- imagining of the life of Velazquez rendered in modernist, stream-of-consciousness narration. On the other hand, the "neo-Victorian" novels of Sarah Waters are not only set in the 19th century, but also borrow tropes from genres of the time (including the Gothic and the sensation novel).
With The Sheriff's Catch, the first volume of a projected pentalogy, Maltese-born and Australia based James Vella-Bardon, adds his name to historical novelists to look out for. His novel introduces us to our 16th century protagonist, sharpshooter Abel de Santiago who, after an orphan's upbringing in Malta, ends up joining the Spanish army and campaigning in the Netherlands. When his supposed friends kill his young, pregnant wife, Santi deserts the army and embarks on a mission of revenge which leads him through several ordeals, not least a stint as a galley slave with the Spanish Armada. It is no spoiler to reveal (since it is stated on the back cover blurb) that by the conclusion of the book Santi will arrive in Ireland, at a time when the country is being terrorised by the marauding English troops - or "Sassenachs", as the natives refer to them.
Vella-Bardon's book takes us back more than four hundred years, but like the historical novels of [a:Perez Reverte,Arturo|6441273|Perez Reverte,Arturo|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], its models are the epic, swashbuckling 19th Century classics of the likes of Dumas. As was often the case with its literary forebears, The Sheriff's Catch was adapted for serialization prior to being published in book-form, and one can feel it in the thrust of the plot. There are continuous twists and end-of-chapter cliffhangers, which ensure that the reader is hooked from one passage of the novel to the next. Indeed, the constant sense of danger and Santi's reckless, death-wish attitude sometimes make the narrative rather breathless - although there are passages when the reader is allowed to take a step back and delve deeper into the protagonist's character. This could be felt particularly in the final chapters, where the introduction of a female figure (possibly/hopefully an important character in forthcoming volumes?!) seems to give a different, yet no less enjoyable perspective to the book.
There is plenty to admire in this first instalment of the Pentalogy. It is clear that much research has gone into the novel, evident for instance, in the minute descriptions of the weapons and paraphernalia of war. Yet, this knowledge is lightly worn, and Vella-Bardon avoids the common mistake of suspending the flow to provide us with an encyclopaedic entry on the era portrayed.
The first-person narration, together with the graphic, and sometimes garish, evocation of the historical setting (smells and bodily fluids included), help provide a sense of total immersion into the period without making the reader feel spoon-fed. The sense of authenticity can also be felt in the dialogue - just to give an example, the style of the language changes to reflect the characters' switching from one language to another, with the use of a more archaic syntax and vocabulary when the characters are speaking Latin. It is not easy at all to mark a change in code without changing the language of the narration, but Vella-Bardon manages it nicely.
Until we meet again, Santi...
https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-long-hard-road-to-vengeance.html
What contemporary writers have at their disposal, in contrast to their predecessors, is a freedom to mould the genre to their own ends. Thus, I recently enjoyed Amy Sackville's [b:Painter to the King|36256985|Painter to the King|Amy Sackville|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1517587650s/36256985.jpg|57907651], a re- imagining of the life of Velazquez rendered in modernist, stream-of-consciousness narration. On the other hand, the "neo-Victorian" novels of Sarah Waters are not only set in the 19th century, but also borrow tropes from genres of the time (including the Gothic and the sensation novel).
With The Sheriff's Catch, the first volume of a projected pentalogy, Maltese-born and Australia based James Vella-Bardon, adds his name to historical novelists to look out for. His novel introduces us to our 16th century protagonist, sharpshooter Abel de Santiago who, after an orphan's upbringing in Malta, ends up joining the Spanish army and campaigning in the Netherlands. When his supposed friends kill his young, pregnant wife, Santi deserts the army and embarks on a mission of revenge which leads him through several ordeals, not least a stint as a galley slave with the Spanish Armada. It is no spoiler to reveal (since it is stated on the back cover blurb) that by the conclusion of the book Santi will arrive in Ireland, at a time when the country is being terrorised by the marauding English troops - or "Sassenachs", as the natives refer to them.
Vella-Bardon's book takes us back more than four hundred years, but like the historical novels of [a:Perez Reverte,Arturo|6441273|Perez Reverte,Arturo|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], its models are the epic, swashbuckling 19th Century classics of the likes of Dumas. As was often the case with its literary forebears, The Sheriff's Catch was adapted for serialization prior to being published in book-form, and one can feel it in the thrust of the plot. There are continuous twists and end-of-chapter cliffhangers, which ensure that the reader is hooked from one passage of the novel to the next. Indeed, the constant sense of danger and Santi's reckless, death-wish attitude sometimes make the narrative rather breathless - although there are passages when the reader is allowed to take a step back and delve deeper into the protagonist's character. This could be felt particularly in the final chapters, where the introduction of a female figure (possibly/hopefully an important character in forthcoming volumes?!) seems to give a different, yet no less enjoyable perspective to the book.
There is plenty to admire in this first instalment of the Pentalogy. It is clear that much research has gone into the novel, evident for instance, in the minute descriptions of the weapons and paraphernalia of war. Yet, this knowledge is lightly worn, and Vella-Bardon avoids the common mistake of suspending the flow to provide us with an encyclopaedic entry on the era portrayed.
The first-person narration, together with the graphic, and sometimes garish, evocation of the historical setting (smells and bodily fluids included), help provide a sense of total immersion into the period without making the reader feel spoon-fed. The sense of authenticity can also be felt in the dialogue - just to give an example, the style of the language changes to reflect the characters' switching from one language to another, with the use of a more archaic syntax and vocabulary when the characters are speaking Latin. It is not easy at all to mark a change in code without changing the language of the narration, but Vella-Bardon manages it nicely.
Until we meet again, Santi...
https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-long-hard-road-to-vengeance.html
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