The Guns of El Kebir

This is my first Simon Fonthill book and I absolutely loved it, so much so that I have ordered the other 4 books in the series. Much action on a large and small scale. Great battle scene descriptions. Holds your interest throughout. You will come to cheer for Simon and "352" before the book is over and you will come to hate the dastardly Covington, their arch enemy in the British Army. The British Army at its best in the Colonial Wars.

This book is another fabulous episode in the adventures of Simon Fonthill. These books are just the right mix of history and adventure. Though the author takes a few liberties with historical facts, it's all in the spirit of high adventure and good old swashbuckling fun as Simon and his man Friday, 352, traipse through one brush with death after another. Great reading.

I enjoyed the book enough that I wish it had been longer. There are enough pages, but they seem to go fast. John Wilcox is not Bernard Cornwell, Zane Grey, or my latest idol, Sam Barone, but he writes a nice story. Most of his main characters are very likable, and the reader can cheer when the villains get their just desserts. The female lead is somewhat exasperating. Sometimes she is portrayed sympathetically, and at other times she is vain and self centered. If you've read Patrick O'Brian's Captain Aubrey series, there's a woman named Diana that reminds me of Alice in the Simon Fonthill series. I think everyone was glad when she finally drowned, and unless Alice's character improves by learning from the mistakes she's made in her life, I think I shall be glad if she falls by the wayside. I also have an issue in the series with false cowboys, rigged duels, and commanders dumber than dirt. But for the time being I intend to buy the series although I have reservations about it. Why, because the series is just good enough, I like the time period, and I just can't help feeling that the one book I don't buy will be the one where the author finally puts together a masterpiece.

There is nothing more satisfying than an adventure series that keeps delivering winners. Knowing that you can purchase a book and be entertained year after year makes reading a joy. Wilcox delivers again with The Guns of El Kabir. In his fifth annual installment of the /simon Fonthill series, Wilcox has Simon and 352in Egypt fighting a war not dissimilar than the current war in Iraq. All of the usual cast of characters. Particularly warming is the growing relationship between Fonthill and 352. While they bear a striking resemblance to Sharpe and Harper, the main characters continue to work. Sure the book is formulaic: incompetent British officers, dastardly Arabs, a hero who can get out of the worst messes with seeming ease. Yet, in the hands of a master, it works. I would at some point appreciate an index of the various wounds Fonthill has suffered. His body must look like a pin-cushion! So, get your annual fix, buy The Guns of El Kabir and prepare to be entertained!