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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
informative
inspiring
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
You've got to admire, or at least smile at, this founding document of the fictional Sackett dynasty, not only for its main character's, Barnabas Sackett's* minute consciousness of the fact that he is a founder of a dynasty, but for how he (again, very consciously) goes about doing so. For while, as his companion Jubain tells him early in the story "some of the great families of the world were founded with nothing but a sword and a strong right arm," Barnabas is all about establishing something other than just another coat of arms for his descendants to polish and admire and lord it over the neighbors over in Britain.
He knows there's more out there in the newly discovered Americas. And he's going to do something about that.
But first! I love that what really starts Barnabas moving towards Illustrious Ancestor status is the discovery of a small cache of ancient coins, which leads to the discovery of a small cadre of people who are devoted to acquiring and studying them. So thus L'Amour's fictional exploration of where the settlers who took over and exploited the American West came from is starting with people who are interested in exploring where they came from, all the way back to the pre-Roman Iceni.
I'm reminded a bit of Edward Rutherford, in a way, he of the 10,000 year story-line. But that's not really what L'Amour is up to. He, like Barnabas, is chiefly interested in the past as a springboard into the future; those coins Barnabas finds are worth a life-changing amount of money, which would make for a pretty interesting story right there, but it wouldn't really make for a L'Amour story, would it?
For a real plot-propeller, L'Amour turns to the good old angry aristocrat. The day Barnabas brings his coins to a local antiquarian enthusiast also winds up being the day he witnesses one doing something dumb in front of a pretty lady, and if there's one thing such types hate more than the Laughter of Women, its having witnesses when they provoke it. The fact that said aristocrat already has reason to hate Barnabas (unknown to Barnabas at the time) doesn't help.
Barnabas has to Get Out of Dodge. Which he does, though not in the way that he planned.
What I like best about Barnabas, and this first Sackett novel, is that this Big Damn Hero could very plainly accomplish his goals by following in his mercenary father's footsteps; Barnabas is "as strong as two men" and his father taught him every sword-fighting trick in the book.
But Barnabas is determined to succeed by his wits instead. Even if sometimes it seems a bit perverse of him to do so.
It's as if Jayne Cobb decided to knuckle down and master business administration. Who wouldn't want to read that? And who wouldn't want to know what happens next?
*And as a matter of fact, no, I was not, in fact, able to stop thinking of Barnabas Collins through this, and yes, kept expecting him to meet a vampire on his journeys. Why do you ask?
He knows there's more out there in the newly discovered Americas. And he's going to do something about that.
But first! I love that what really starts Barnabas moving towards Illustrious Ancestor status is the discovery of a small cache of ancient coins, which leads to the discovery of a small cadre of people who are devoted to acquiring and studying them. So thus L'Amour's fictional exploration of where the settlers who took over and exploited the American West came from is starting with people who are interested in exploring where they came from, all the way back to the pre-Roman Iceni.
I'm reminded a bit of Edward Rutherford, in a way, he of the 10,000 year story-line. But that's not really what L'Amour is up to. He, like Barnabas, is chiefly interested in the past as a springboard into the future; those coins Barnabas finds are worth a life-changing amount of money, which would make for a pretty interesting story right there, but it wouldn't really make for a L'Amour story, would it?
For a real plot-propeller, L'Amour turns to the good old angry aristocrat. The day Barnabas brings his coins to a local antiquarian enthusiast also winds up being the day he witnesses one doing something dumb in front of a pretty lady, and if there's one thing such types hate more than the Laughter of Women, its having witnesses when they provoke it. The fact that said aristocrat already has reason to hate Barnabas (unknown to Barnabas at the time) doesn't help.
Barnabas has to Get Out of Dodge. Which he does, though not in the way that he planned.
What I like best about Barnabas, and this first Sackett novel, is that this Big Damn Hero could very plainly accomplish his goals by following in his mercenary father's footsteps; Barnabas is "as strong as two men" and his father taught him every sword-fighting trick in the book.
But Barnabas is determined to succeed by his wits instead. Even if sometimes it seems a bit perverse of him to do so.
It's as if Jayne Cobb decided to knuckle down and master business administration. Who wouldn't want to read that? And who wouldn't want to know what happens next?
*And as a matter of fact, no, I was not, in fact, able to stop thinking of Barnabas Collins through this, and yes, kept expecting him to meet a vampire on his journeys. Why do you ask?
Decided to take a look at these books after my trip to Arizona as I had now seen the setting. I did not realize that books actually started in 1600's England. Enjoyed the story as usual. Barnabas Sackett (or his father) is certainly the person to build a lineage for the West. I like the glimpse into what kind of people were coming to America and their backgrounds. Makes you understand how we rebelled too.
I read this for my “western” for Book Riot’s Read Harder challenge. It's not really very Western. Part of it takes place in England and part on the East Coast. It's kind of a prequel to a Western. It was more of an "adventure" book.
The writing reminded me a bit of the first Tarzan which I thought was pretty good.
Ironically, I find the adventure genre a bit boring. I could have done without the "insta-love" too. It was not terrible though, and it was mercifully short so I'm undecided on whether to try another Sackett series book.
The writing reminded me a bit of the first Tarzan which I thought was pretty good.
Ironically, I find the adventure genre a bit boring. I could have done without the "insta-love" too. It was not terrible though, and it was mercifully short so I'm undecided on whether to try another Sackett series book.
My grandpa read L'Amour's frontier stories to me when I was a wee gal sitting at his knee on the back porch of his West Virginia home so this is technically a nostalgic re-reading for me.
This is the story of Barnabas, the grand-sire of The Sackett legacy, and how forces beyond his control wrangled the young man from the English fens to set him on the western path to America.
An evolved dime-novel with fast-paced action and a hero whose can-do attitude always helps him win. L'Amour never intended to write literary wonders but told stories reminiscent of campfire tales or oral folklore. Sometimes outrageous and requiring suspended disbelief, this is a foray into pure imagination of bygone times.
This is the story of Barnabas, the grand-sire of The Sackett legacy, and how forces beyond his control wrangled the young man from the English fens to set him on the western path to America.
An evolved dime-novel with fast-paced action and a hero whose can-do attitude always helps him win. L'Amour never intended to write literary wonders but told stories reminiscent of campfire tales or oral folklore. Sometimes outrageous and requiring suspended disbelief, this is a foray into pure imagination of bygone times.
This is one awesome! I like stories of discovery.
The first of the Sackett books. I always think of Louis L'Amour as a writer of westerns. This is not a western. Instead I got sward fights, pirates, Good Queen Bess, Indians, Earls, and more. It was a book that kept my attention, and I read it almost non-stop in one afternoon. A few times I was attracted to a sentence that I really liked, but most of the time I lived in the book watching the scenes take place before me. I knew things had to come out right because Barnabas was telling his own story, but at times I wondered how that "right" would come about.
There were some words that needed to see the whiteout, but not many.
There were some words that needed to see the whiteout, but not many.