Flashman fans were no doubt hoping that before G M Fraser died he would have time to pen Flashman’s adventures in the Civil War or Mexico, both of which Flashman repeatedly referred to in previous volumens. Instead the last one released before Fraser’s death was a story set during the Abyssinia War of 1868 – a rather odd choice considering Flashman referred to this very little in other books and considering the campaign was a thorough British triumph. (I gathered from interviews that Fraser just plain got sick of people asking him for the Civil War book and was a bit apprehensive of writing something considering the lunatic Civil War enthusiasts out there; his Mexico adventures are sketched in some detail during the introductory passages of this one).
It’s not a bad Flashman; it suffers from several of the flaws of later books in the series, like over-referencing previous adventures, a lack of story (like John Brown’s Raid in Flashman and the Angel of the Lord, there really isn’t enough here for a whole book), and what story there is is a bit over-familiar (another mission, another putting on disguise, another randy princess) and Flashman never seems in a lot of peril. Also there’s a bit at the end where Flashman has the chance to escape to safety but doesn’t do it, which I found false to character, and Fraser is unable to resist a dig at the Blair government during his introduction. On the bright side it deals with a period of history I knew little about so I found it illuminating; also there are some fresh action sequences (dangling over a cliff, falling over a waterfall) and the Emperor Theodore is one of the most fascinating real life characters in the series. It feels as though this should have been one half of a work, like Flashman’s Lady or Flashman at the Charge – the Mexico adventure plus this, now that would have been a real top Flashman.
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