I first heard about Louis L’Amour’s Sackett series from a hiking buddy, and I’ve wanted to read them ever since. This is the first one, and it takes place in the late 1600s with the ancestor of the Sackett clan, Barnabas Sackett, as he discovers the untamed wilds of America while on the run from people back in England who want him dead.
Like most of Louis L’Amour’s books, this is a quick, fun read. Lots of action, and never a dull moment. I also really liked the 17th century slang and mannerisms of speech—it felt like L’Amour really hit it on the head.
But the book’s strengths are also the flipside of its weaknesses. There’s a lot of plot and conflict, a decent amount of setting, and a little bit of character… and that’s about it. The story moved a little too fast to create a sense of immersion, and I also found it lacking in emotional resonance. It was a fun read, but I probably won’t remember much of it.
That said, it was a really fun read, and definitely lays the foundation for a very interesting series. The parts that did resonate with me were the ones that reflected my own family history. Several of my ancestors came to Virginia and the Carolinas during the colonial era, and I can imagine that they felt very much like Barnabas Sackett when he saw the blue mountains for the first time and yearned to go beyond them.
Fun stuff, especially you’re into historical fiction and early Americana. I give it 3.5 stars.
