I couldn't bring myself to like this novel as much as the others in the series. As a bit of a recap, the series starts out with Elizabeth coming to America from England to be a school teacher. A self professed spinster, she is surprised when she falls in love with outdoors-man Nathaniel Bonner. She elopes with him in an effort to not only be with him forever, but also restore property rightfully to the people who own it. The next novel is a bit down the road and she has just given birth to twins. They are kidnapped and Nathaniel and Elizabeth must travel to Scotland to get them back. From here we journey back to America many years down the road. This story is more about Nathaniel's daughter from his first wife and her learning to be a doctor despite her mixed heritage and the fact that she is a woman.Finally in this novel yet another great many years have passed. Hannah has come back after losing both her child and her husband. Lost in spirit she only lives day to day in repitition. Lily, one of the twins is dealing with her own love life and whether she loves the dashing Scot Simon or the married man in town. She decides to go to Canada to study art for awhile and get away from everything. Meanwhile, her twin Daniel has gone off to join the war and fight. In doing so, he is captured and injured. Hannah and their cousin from Scotland, Jennet sneak in as nursemaids to help care for him and hopefully rescue him. There are some suspicious of them however, so they must tread carefully if they have hopes of saving him and the other prisoners.My biggest complaint about this book would be the lack of writing about Nathaniel and Elizabeth. This was originally their story and it seems like they have become merely background characters in it. Also, the characters I did care about, like Hannah are not themselves. Granted she goes through a traumatic experience in this book but there was not as much depth to her character as in previous books. The characters the book did focus on, Jennet and Lily, weren't really characters I cared too much about. I would have rather heard more on the characters I was attached to already.As far as plot goes for this book, it had some interesting ideas but I don't think they were well carried out. What happened in the novel should have been exciting, but instead dragged out rather slowly. I lost interest several times and caught myself skimming the endless "letters" included in the novel.On another note, I do always enjoy Donati's writing style. Her background as a linguist makes the accents interesting and fairly realistic. She also includes description, but not too much that you tire of reading the book. While she does allude to some risque things in her book, they are not heavily described so even more timid readers can enjoy the book.I'll continue reading the story of course, but I hope Donati goes back to what drew me to the story in the first place. She has a great set of original characters, and she should use them to her advantage.Fire Along the SkyCopyright 2004608 pages
After a bit of a hiccup with the third book, this series is back on track with the fourth. Set ten years after the last book, we find the Bonner children grown, Hannah returned from the west having lost her husband and son, and the family being caught up in the War of 1812. We see small snippets of the war as it played out along the border between New York and Quebec, but never the big picture, and while for me that is a little frustrating, I also appreciate that it is exactly the way war is experienced by those involved, only seeing a small part of a very big picture. As a Canadian, I found reading about the War of 1812 from an American perspective a little strange and very interesting. It's certainly not what we were taught at school, not that the War of 1812 gets much attention at school.Of course, with this series there is always romance, this time involving Elizabeth and Nathaniel's daughter Lily, and unlike the last book it is a real romance, not the rushed afterthought at the end of the book that saw Hannah marrying and leaving for the west. I have to say Lily is not my favorite character, but she did grow on me. My one complaint about this one is that I think there should have been another book between this one and the previous one. Ten years has passed, during which Hannah was living with an Indian husband in the west, during a period of much conflict between the Indians and settlers. While Hannah does not talk much about the traumatic events that led her to return to her family, we do learn that her husband fought with Tecumseh. This was a fascinating period in American history, and would have made a great book. I can only hope that Sara Donati will decide to address these missing years in a future book.
What do You think about Fire Along The Sky (2005)?
The novel Fire Along the Sky is the fourth volume of the six-part Into the Wilderness series by Sara Donati. Spanning the time that the newly independent United States was again engaged is a bitter struggle with England in the conflict known in history books as the War of 1812. This historical novel, as indeed all of the novels in this series, give reference to general historical events without placing either the characters or any events in any particular historical incident which, in my opinion detracts from the work as a whole. Nevertheless the story engrosses the reader in a world long past and never to be seen again. This tale is more than a historical novel but the story of first loves lost and true love found, family dedication, devotion and love. What particularly intrigues me is the author’s use of possessive adjectives in reference to characters. I have never heard it used before in an English speaking area. I enjoyed this story and look forward to reading its successor, Queen of Swords.
—Thom Swennes
Jennifer J. wrote: "Are you people discussing Shura? Why was I not notified?LOL!"Come on now, Jennifer...next time. Diane wrote: "See I never think of Jamie like I do Alexander. It goes to show you he's not really in the same category to me."I can't lie Di. That does sting a little.
—Paiman
Another stunning 5 star read in this series. I'm a bit of a history buff, so love the historical detail (although some liberties were obviously taken). As a Canadian, I also found it interesting to see the American view on the War of 1812. I had originally put off reading this installment, as after reading the blurb I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about Hannah's heartbreaking situation. Yes, some tears were shed on my part for sure as we learned further details, but I thought it was very well-handled. Loved that we were able to see her re-emerge as someone getting closer to the Hannah we have come to know. I think the one thing that I appreciate the most about Ms. Donati's writing is that, although the adventure is sometimes a bit over-the-top (this is fiction though, right?) her characters are nothing less than 3 dimensional, believable and very real people. For example, I've read reviews that complain about Lily and her self-centredness. Yes, she was self-centred...she's an 18 year old young woman! Having lived with one, I can tell you that the portrayal was spot-on. Her development was wonderful to watch, along with her realizations about Simon. Jennet is another character I love, and of course we get some lovely glimpses of Nathaniel and Elizabeth and Curiosity (one of my absolute favourites). And then I got to the end...and what? a cliffhanger? So glad I'm reading these after the entire series has been published...I won't have to wait to find out what happens!
—Charlene
