Season 11 The Flash: Season 5 This Is Us: Season 3 Saturday Night Live: Season 4 The Walking Dead: Renewed and Cancelled TV Shows View All Photos 4. A group of U. During the course of their mission, the soldiers notice an ancient stone statue nestled deep in a narrow gorge. When one of the soldiers takes a shot at the sculpture, a vengeful supernatural spirit is awakened from its centuries-long slumber. Now, as the ancient entity unleashes hell on the unsuspecting soldiers, a simple mission turns into a desperate struggle against a force that won't rest until the entire squadron is dead.
Shane West and Leonard Roberts star in a desert-bound shocker featuring J. Simmons and Callum Blue. Shane West as Jeff Keller. Leonard Roberts as Marcus Howston. Aldis Hodge as Trevor Anderson. Callum Blue as Gregory Wilcox. Mercedes Masohn as Afghan Woman. March 25, Rating: March 2, Rating: View All Critic Reviews 2.
John Manard Super Reviewer. Nick Grimm Super Reviewer. He puts in a lot of background information but writes it very simply so it's very easy to follow and understand. The book flows well and the hero vs the many villains is fascinating to read about and you never quite know w This is not normally a book I would choose to read; the only war books I normally read are from World War One or Two so I thought I would read about a different war. The book flows well and the hero vs the many villains is fascinating to read about and you never quite know whether George will be able to win.
I did however find that George was somewhat of an unrealistic character and I didn't quite fully believe in some of his actions. Whilst interesting enough and well written, I just found that I couldn't totally commit to the book; I don't know whether it was the lack of feeling for the characters or whether I just found the period didn't thrill me.
Aug 06, D. Saul David has a ways to go to transition from Historian to novelist. We have a few problems with the book. As he is a lecturer professor in history I will let him have the benefit of the doubt when it comes to interjecting the way we now use Bombshell as if they did it the same in But aside from those minor quibbles the major ones are that the hero is unbelievable, and certainly in too many places. As well as the interjection of history is right in our faces.
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We meet an officer of a regime Saul David has a ways to go to transition from Historian to novelist. We meet an officer of a regiment and we are given a clinical rundown of his uniform. We are shown a place and it is the elements of the picture in a list separated by commas instead of narrative description that flows. It stops us and makes it hard to think we are in a story and not in a history lesson. I did say though that our hero, George Hart just was doing too much and not believable because of it.
Despite the author trying to be mysterious it is all too obvious that is what he has done.
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Then, he is also the grandson of a Zulu chief's daughter. A secret that one takes to the grave in Victorian England. They do not have our sensibilities that we do. If the hero is going to move up in society, be a part of any white society, he has to be white. Or have done something that will let him be in society and George hasn't done anything when we meet him.
So my suspension of disbelief is gone. And George likes telling everyone his secret. Certainly the officer corp is going to work well with him, not. But then George gets himself on Chelmsford staff, finds a reason to get stuck in at Isandlwana and surviving that, gets himself to Rorke's Drift as well. While we may have needed to see a Historical Novel dealing with these battles, George gets there in a far fetched notion, and then as the book with so much back story, again unbelievable, that it is time to end and we don't see the end of the Battle at the Drift, or the end of the campaign.
While Saul David may know a firmer history than that of the movie, he did not go through with it and I sense that he also took some shortcuts to make his hero more heroic, at the cost of those who actually did the heroic actions in reality. You have to be a die hard lover of this period, I think to want to read the Hart Series.
Taking some pointers from the Fonthill books of Wilcox which I find work better might have given George Hart a chance. His Zulu blood I think dooms him to ever be an effective part of the society of the times, and his english parent also ruins the credibility of the hero. May 07, Robin Carter rated it really liked it Shelves: Im amazed at some of the reviews written for this book, i can only assume that people expected something different because Saul David is a noted historian, and that the cover had a glowing endorsement from Bernard Cornwell.
Why does everyone feel the need to put authors in a box with others?
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I really do think that books should be read at the right time and in the right order to fully appreciate them, and you should read an author on his own merit not in com Im amazed at some of the reviews written for this book, i can only assume that people expected something different because Saul David is a noted historian, and that the cover had a glowing endorsement from Bernard Cornwell.
I really do think that books should be read at the right time and in the right order to fully appreciate them, and you should read an author on his own merit not in comparison to another. This book was fun, the characters were alive and real and i felt i could believe in them. The period of history was one of great interest, full of action adventure, passion and the pride you would expect when the empire was at its height. If you take the book as a rip roaring adventure story Im going to keep buying his books Parm Product Description taken from back of book Bullied at school for his suspiciously dark skin and lack of a father, Hart soon learns to fight - and win.
At eighteen, his world is shaken by his mother's revelation that his anonymous father is willing to give him a vast inheritance - provided he can prove himself worthy of the prize as an officer in the King's Dragoon Guards. Hart must make a choice - and fight for his life. Apr 11, Jeremy Poole rated it really liked it.
Zulu Hart by Saul David. There is no question that Saul David is a master historian, but can he tell a story to keep you enthralled and entertained? If this book is anything to go by then yes he can. The novel is an historic, fast moving story based in the times of the Zulu wars in South Africa.
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The hero is a confused boy who is the illegitimate son of a half Zulu mother and a father of very high standing in British society, who will not openly recognise his son. The book is full of period racism a Zulu Hart by Saul David. George is bullied through Harrow, then through Sandhurst and eventually, forced out of the elitist Queens Dragoon guards by elitism. For me it becomes clear who the savages are. The book deals square on with cruelty, racism, bigotry and elitism that were rife in the British army. George our hero seams to fall in love with every woman he sees but moves on very quickly.
He is not unlike the character of Romeo. The story is good , if I have to criticise the book it would be in the glossing over of some periods of his life, e. Sandhurst, and perhaps too much time spent on the build up to war in south Africa. The book reaches a racing climax with the two big battles of the campaign, Isandlwana and the famous Rourkes Drift. Before returning to Blighty and leaving enough loose ends to create at least one more novel for Saul David. A very good, well written and historically accurate book. Well worth a read. Throughout this book I struggled to get the image of Harry Flashman out of my mind so it seemed quite fitting to read at the end that Saul David had asked George McDonald Fraser advice before starting to write this book.
Not that Hart is anything like Flashman. This is said to be the first in a series about Hart and as such it was an intersting introduction but for me it was not overly convincing. Firstly the fast pace of the storytelling left little time to really develop the lead character and Throughout this book I struggled to get the image of Harry Flashman out of my mind so it seemed quite fitting to read at the end that Saul David had asked George McDonald Fraser advice before starting to write this book.
Firstly the fast pace of the storytelling left little time to really develop the lead character and while I was pleased that he eventually did the right thing I was not really convinced that he was particularily honourable. He also seemed to do little actual fighting which left me wondering whether or not was particularily brave or merely lucky. But while I cannot fault the factual details about the story I did feel it a little lacking in actual battle action. On the whole I enjoyed the author's writing style and found it an interesting introduction to both Hart and the Zulu conflict but I must also admit that I am yet to be convinced of this series overall quality.
I wait to read the next installment with interest. Oct 15, Curtis Poe rated it did not like it Shelves: I had to give up. I hate to criticize an author, but this book is so poorly written that, like my wife, I could not finish it. In fact, I gave up by the time the protagonist got to Africa. It's not that the series of events was really a series of bizarre coincidences, but that everything about this book just fell flat for me. The main character, George Hart, was poorly fleshed out.
The plot beggared belief. The author would jump from timeframe to timeframe, with each scene designed to illustrate I had to give up. The author would jump from timeframe to timeframe, with each scene designed to illustrate something important, but with such tenuous connections between the scenes that it was a rocky ride. And the difficulty of believing the character's responses in any given situation, particularly when they were so poorly drawn, made the awkward prose even more painful.
I wanted to like this book and I hope the author publishes more as I see there's potential here, but I really, really would like him to have some coaching on writing. I'm giving a good 4 stars for this book. I didn't know I had it in me to have a liking in reading fictional war books. I love the book overall the 1st chapters were very intriguing and has a little dash of romance but while continuing reading I found myself somewhat bored in the middle part of the book it was kinda dry and unappealing so it took me longer to finish this book.
Jul 26, Ian Young added it. David has previously published a very well received history of the Zulu Wars, and we can therefore assume that the historical detail of the novel is likely to be accurate. On top of this has been introduced a back story featuring a young man with a mysterious background attempting to make a career in the army.
The book could fairly be described as a page turner — it moves very quickly, and takes simple approach to characterisation - the characters tend either to be very good or very bad, and have little depth. The author in his afterword draws attention to the Flashman novels as inspiration, but does not mention at all the Simon Fonthill novels of John Wilcox, with which this book seems to have much more in common. Likely to be the first book in a series.
Apr 21, Bev rated it it was ok. This was a real disappointment.
I have liked Saul David's non-fiction very much, but he's not yet learnt the art of fiction writing. When he shows me the story in his head, instead of telling me, it reads well, but unfortunatley he far too often falls into the non-fiction writers way of giving me facts and details which could be more elegantly and better imparted. Historically I've no problems with it, he knows his stuff really well, but this is not the writing of an heir to George MacDonald Fras This was a real disappointment.
Historically I've no problems with it, he knows his stuff really well, but this is not the writing of an heir to George MacDonald Fraser, mores the pity. Jul 23, W. Nicol rated it really liked it. Readable, rattlin' good yarn type of story despite hero being little less pompous than his detractors. Accurate depiction of the Zulu War and the underlying greed which was it's cause.
The murky motivation for the British invasion is fascinating - I do not know how true it is, but more recent events make it highly credible and more convincing than the traditional explanations of incompetence alone. The protagonist we are asked to get behind is man revealed to be of ambiguous moral standing, but by the end of the book I suppose we are to be convinced is an honest, hard-working and upright bloke.
But besides that - an engaging enough book, with lots of wars and battles and all the technicalities and tactics covered pretty well - not my thing though. And the back story was good enough, but moved along too fast for real characters to emerge. But if historical fiction is your thing, and you fancy a spot of far-fetched fun, give it a go. Saul David, a respected history professor, also knows how to entertain. Apr 05, Ashli rated it it was amazing.
The author provided an awesome narrative of the two major battles in the British-Zulu war which i only know through movies like Zulu and Zulu Dawn. In addition to that the introduction of the idea that there is no true innocent person within a conflict allows the critical thinker in me to understand further the intricacies of human nature. An interesting account of the battle of Rorke's Drift where 15o British soldiers were able to stave off repeated attacks by a force of three to four thousand Zulu warriors.
Though it is not as well written as books by Cornwell, Iggulden, or O'Brian, it is still a very interesting and informative read. Jun 10, Evie rated it liked it. Lots of bvattle stuff if you can cope with that, and one does have to wonder at the motivation of some of the characters.
But it's a good trry to look at some of th travails of a young soldier in the 19th century who doesn't know till just before he gets to South Africa that his grandmother was a Zulu. Nov 07, Verity rated it did not like it.
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Historians should not start writing literature without taking any English classes first as this book was so boring I couldn't finish it. The characters are flat, the dialogue is terrible, and the main character is no Sharpe like the author hoped but a whining, sex-crazed brat. Jan 21, Pauline rated it liked it. Enjoyed this book and will read the net. First fiction book by this author he normally writes non fiction,not done a bad job.
Loved the battle bit as I remember it from the film Zulu which I also enjoyed. Sep 16, John rated it it was amazing. I am not really a military book person. But this was outstanding. Saul David is an exceptional writer.