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Barry Sadler's Casca: The Liberator

Barry Sadler's Casca: The Liberator

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Haunting and imaginative
Review: A book I would normally not have picked up to read as a female, but inspired by a very good friend to give it a try. I was impressed by the power of the words which left me in pain, gasping for air, searching for strength, and tasting the ageless saltwater till the bitter end. Not having read any Barry Sadler books before, I found that this imaginative character will always have a lesson for us all; that life is difficult, never dull, and always rewarding, if you look in the right places.

Thank you to the author for sharing his vision of a never ending life that continues to fight knowing that there is no end in sight.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The saga continues
Review: An exciting continuation of the Casca series. The new author, Dengelegi, brings back the series with a book that you won't be able to put down. Casca returns once again and the scenes are detailed and full of action. This is a must read for anyone who's adventurous!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent Start
Review: Barry Saddler conceived of such a wonderful idea to explore military history through the eyes of a fictional character who is immortal, but just a common soldier. He couldn't write them fast enough for me. He awakened a hunger for history in me that I have pursued for 15 years since. Mr. Dengelegi seems to understand this. He seems to have captured the essence of Casca's personality. I felt I knew this character as an old friend. He did not quite feed me with the historical detail I crave in this series, but it's a good start. The proofreaders missed a few more things than I would normally recognize in a book, but not enough to deter me from anxiously awaiting the next book. Write fast Paul.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: You keep writing them. I'll keep buying them
Review: Barry Saddler conceived of such a wonderful idea to explore military history through the eyes of a fictional character who is immortal, but just a common soldier. He couldn't write them fast enough for me. He awakened a hunger for history in me that I have pursued for 15 years since. Mr. Dengelegi seems to understand this. He seems to have captured the essence of Casca's personality. I felt I knew this character as an old friend. He did not quite feed me with the historical detail I crave in this series, but it's a good start. The proofreaders missed a few more things than I would normally recognize in a book, but not enough to deter me from anxiously awaiting the next book. Write fast Paul.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A dissapointment for Casca fans.
Review: Barry Sadler never was one of the great writers, or even one of the great storytellers. Neither was Conan Doyle, but both created characters that in their own way, transcend their author's limitations.

As a collector of Holmes pastiches, I'm well aware of the problems faced by authors taking on a well loved character - the failures are more frequent than the successes. Yet our hearts continue to beat a little faster at the thought of a new encounter with an old friend, however poorly told.

Like many others who have reviewed this book, I've read all the Casca books. Some of them are lame, and should not have been published (as is true of some of the Holmes and Nero Wolfe stories). I'm definitely not holding Sadler up as a paragon, but when he was on form, he was very, very readable, and created an enduring and often engaging character, with some wonderful historical quirks thrown in for good measure (being buddies with Lao Tzu - instead of Sun Tzu - is an excellent irony). But when he was off (at least a third of the time), he, like he often said of Casca, was simply dragging his ass.

Dengelegi understands the Casca premise, and chose an interesting setting, but he simply could not make his Casca come alive. His Casca is humorless, introspective, and grossly repetitive. His book is a hopeless read, badly in want of a blue pencil. It's hard to imaginge Sadler enjoying this book.

Were that not enough, the book has many, many production errors that look like spell-checker problems. Whatever became of proofreading?

Jove books - please get Dengelegi an agressive editor, and spare us this uphill battle next time. Yes, we want Casca books; no, we don't want them like this - bloated and pompous. Casca fans deserve better for helping you milk a cash cow. This doesn't need a Tolstoy, or a Shaara - just a workmanlike writer (as was Sadler) with a feel for a unique character.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: WAY OFF THE MARK
Review: Being a long time Casca/Barry Sadler fan, I was quite excited when I saw and bought this one. Oh my! This book is so off the mark from the orginal series is almost made me ill. I must admit I was unable to finish the thing. I will grant you that some of Sadler's work, some of the later books, were not up to the standard of his first four, but they were never the less interesting and readable. This one is not. You would think that the publishers could come up with something better than this to continue the series with. If you are along time Casca fan, you will be quite disappointed with this one...I would recommend you not even read it and certainly don't buy it..borrow it if you must. All in all, a really bad work.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: 'New' Casca off to fair start
Review: Having got all 22 Barry Sadler Casca books, I was interested to see what Paul Dengelegi would make of it. One thing for sure, he wouldn't be Barry Sadler, nobody could ever be. I found the book to be good enough to read the way through, but there were times when I wished the author wasn't so obsessed with detail; this tended to bog the reader down, particularly in the middle. Having said that, the character of Casca was given more depth and deeper emotions, something perhaps the character needed after 22 books, and the action scenes pulled no punches, being, if anything, more graphic than Sadler's. Historically Dengelegi must have researched the Benin people for a man called Ewuare really did become their leader (in 1440) so the book seems to cover the period 1434-1440. Having said that, the author will have to take greater care with the Casca timeline as he made a couple of errors - particularly in the last chapter when he refers to Casca being with Vasco da Gama's voyage to India. Da Gama did this in 1497, but in Casca the Conquistador, Casca spends 1485-1518 as a guest of His Catholic Majesty's Spanish Inquisition in one of their no-star dungeons! More care, please, Mr Dengelegi! Otherwise not a bad stab for the first time, but I'd expect a better story next time out.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent Start
Review: I beleive Paul Dengelegi will continue the tradition..writing an excellent series about an excellent character...He is definitely a top rate writer in my eyes.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: The Return of the Eternal Mercenary
Review: I comend Dengelegi for taking on such a task. Casca is a tough man to capture. There were several times in the book that I felt something was missing. But he is very close. I will continue to read his books about Casca, I feel in another book or two he will fully capture the essince of Casca.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Liberator
Review: I comend Dengelegi for taking on such a task. Casca is a tough man to capture. There were several times in the book that I felt something was missing. But he is very close. I will continue to read his books about Casca, I feel in another book or two he will fully capture the essince of Casca.


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