The Reluctant Commander
The Neophyte Warrior Series, No. 2
By Richard Patton

     This is the second book in the Neophyte Warrior series, following His Majesty's Envoy (also reviewed on this site) detailing Washington's early campaigns. Although he is only 22, Washington finds himself promoted to Commander and is nervously feeling his way with such an elevated rank, as conflict with the French seems imminent over who settles in the Ohio Valley. Still dreaming of the charms of Sally Fairfax and guided by several older and more experienced men, events move inexorably towards the confrontation at Great Meadows, which will start the French and Indian War.

     This is what the book is about, but if you are expecting a mere tale of derring-do or a straight biographical history lesson, you are in for a treat. Patton gets under the skin of his characters, and although Washington is the central figure he is by no means the only personality that shines. There are the insane excesses of Stump Neck the white shaman, the fascinatingly compelling enigma that is Buffalo Hair, the wealthy and brave Robert Stobo and the basically decent Contrecoeur. This is a series that deals almost as much with the Native American point of view as the British one, and although the French are obviously the villains of the piece, many are shown to have redeeming qualities, although for a truly disinterested novel about people and war I felt they could have been shown in a more sympathetic light. In the first novel, the Shawnee village was almost as central to the action as Washington and his men, but this time they are more in the background and the onus is on our hero and his campaigns. If book one reminded me of Robert J Conley, this second novel is evocative of James Carlos Blake: two novelists whose work I much admire for their uncompromising grittiness, readability and historical verisimilitude. This is one of those novels that stay in the mind long afterwards, and I can't wait to read the concluding volume.

     I chose His Majesty's Envoy as my choice for the best general historical novel of 2002.