It took more than a year for Luke and Hannah to find and rescue Jennet, to dispose of her abductor. After so long in captivity, the Bonner siblings had no idea in what condition they would find their wife and sister, respectively. No matter what, though, they'd be able to finally go home, to leave the sea behind, and heal together at Lake in the Clouds. Only, there's more to do than merely save Jennet and dispose of her kidnapper; unbeknownst to Luke and Hannah, when Jennet was taken from them, she was carrying a child, a child that she, upon fearing for the baby's life, placed in the care of a stranger. To recover their son, their nephew, Luke, Jennet, and Hannah begin the second leg of their journey, traveling first to Pensacola and then to New Orleans. There, a maelstrom of complications await them, including the bemusing Creole culture, disease, and a looming battle between the Americans and the British, the war of 1812 raging around them. In order to be reunited with baby Nathaniel, the Bonners find themselves pitted against one of the first families of New Orleans - the cruel and sadistic Honore Porterin and his equally as crazed grandmother - and depending upon the kindness of old and new friends and strangers alike. It's a whole new wilderness for the Bonners to conquer, one that couldn't be further from the endless forest they know and love so well.From the very first pages of Queen of Swords, adrenaline starts pumping, and it doesn't let up. There are no lulls in this novel. Rather, it's constant action and meaningful suspense. While obviously a strength of the book, its true genius is in its setting. New Orleans, despite its balmy weather, breathed new life into this series. Though always enjoyable, the change in location allowed Donati to explore a new culture, putting the unique Bonner perspective to use in interpreting not only the relationships between Creoles and both Americans and the British but also their slaves, free blacks, free blacks who own slaves, quadroons, Indians, and those Indians of mixed race. Plus, New Orleans gave her a playground of new characters to introduce. Finally, by removing Luke, Jennet, and Hannah from everything they knew, the characters were allowed to grow, especially the two women. Jennet grew up, and Hannah was finally able to make peace with her past. She did this by moving on, by letting go, by returning to herself while rediscovering who she was, things that just didn't seem possible back in Paradise. By relocating the story to New Orleans, at least temporarily, Donati was also able to quickly and efficiently progress the story for the rest of the Bonners back in New York as well, relating what Luke, Jennet, and Hannah missed through letters. Combined, everything sets up for the next phase of this family's tale, now properly spiced with a little foreign flair and fresh blood as everyone reunites in The Endless Forest.
4.5 Stars. This is the fifth installment in Donati's Wilderness series, chronicling the lives of Nathaniel and Elizabeth Bonner and their children, and after spending some time on the backburner in the previous book, my girl Hannah is front and center again. She is, in fact, the Queen of Swords, according to her cousin Jennet's tarot cards:A woman possessed of keen logic and intuition. Forthright is she in manner, and well-armed.And the Queen of Swords is dealt the Ace of Wands: A new adventure that must be met with a bold spirit. A primal force released.This chapter of the Bonner family saga finds our friends in New Orleans. Sultry, sexy, steamy New Orleans. A city teeming with people of all races, of mixed races, of slaves and free persons of color. Hannah is herself half-Indian, but in her hometown of Paradise, a little village on the edge of the New York wilderness, whites, blacks, and Indians have learned to co-exist somewhat peacefully. This is not the case in New Orleans, and Hannah is faced with bigotry, disrespect, and danger as she works to aid both her family and the ailing Indian community.But she also finds solace and love. Hannah finally opens up about what happened to her husband, and though she still feels a strong connection to Strikes-the-Sky's spirit, she can't help but be drawn to a sexy and mysterious man who challenges her to own her identity and encourages her to open her heart again.This is yet another good adventure in a series I really enjoy, in fact, it's one of the better ones. I miss Paradise, but I've always been fascinated by New Orleans, and Ms. Donati does a terrific job of bringing the many facets of it to life. I do have a couple of minor quibbles: I found the scenario that brings them to New Orleans to be a little far-fetched and I'm still not a big fan of Jennet. I think she's reckless and selfish, but her actions do make for good story. And since this is the only book in the series that does not take place, at least in part, in Paradise, a lot of characters are missing from this story and we have to settle for just a few glimpses of them in letters. But when Hannah, Jennet, and Luke find themselves trapped in the city by the American and British armies with their enemies closing in on them, guess who shows up to save the day? (I think I actually stood up and cheered at that point :)
What do You think about Queen Of Swords (2006)?
Queen of Swords, the fifth book of the Into the Wilderness series by Sara Donati, got off to a painfully slow start for me. I read several books in between stops and starts of this book, but I was committed because I knew it would eventually be good. I wasn't disappointed once the book got going, which wasn't until about 20% of the way through, but then I could barely put it down. I still love the characters (this book primarily covers Hannah, Jennet and Luke) and was glad for the addition of Ben Savard. I enjoy historical fiction and loved the back drop of New Orleans during the Battle of New Orleans. It was an interesting take on the culture of the times. There was great drama with the Poiterins and the war, and loved the added romance as well between Hannah and Ben (not to mention Kit Wyndham). Bringing in the letters from home as well as Nathaniel and Runs from Bears at the end was a great way to include Paradise in this story. I had several tear jerking moments in this and loved the ending. For fans of this series, if you can get through the beginning, you can will definitely enjoy it
—Ronna
I must begin by saying that I am terribly fond of Donati's writing, and the Wilderness Series of books she has written. Due to a series of simple mistakes I have actually read all but one of the books in this series, book four, but I read them out of order. I began with Endless Forests (book 6); not realizing it was the conclusion of a six book series, followed by books one, two, three, and five (which I had mistaken for book 4). Presently the only book of the series I haven't read is book 4, Fire in the Sky, which I hope to rectify shortly. Despite the willy nilly methods I employed while reading the series, thus far I've enjoyed each of the books. I'll admit to a bit of confusion about how certain characters came to be in their present circumstances, and why some characters were better explained than others (to avoid repetition because Donati had introduced them thoroughly in other books). Although the books could each function as stand alone novels, I think that you would enjoy them more, if you read them in the order they were intended to be read. It would definitely help you avoid the confusion I suffered.Queen of Swords was set during the early stages of the American War of 1812, and much of it takes place in New Orleans (Video of Battle of New Orleans above) shortly before, during, and right after the Battle of New Orleans. Donati does an amazing job of painting a picture of a time when the cultural lines between redbone slaves (Native American), black slaves, free people of color, free red bones (Native Americans), Americans, and Creoles were extremely controversial and politically charged. New Orleans included an incredibly diverse population even then, and the racial divisions, both real and imagined, played a huge part in the way the people of New Orleans interacted with one another.Donati also manages to clearly portray the dangers to women, especially women of color, during that tumultuous time. Her writing transports you to a place and time in history reminiscent of Diane Gabaldon's Outlander series. In fact, in a few of Donati's books her characters meet Gabaldon's characters, for any Outlander fans who cannot get enough of Clare and Jaime. If you enjoy historic fiction, I recommend that you try out Into the Wilderness, the first book of Donati's Wilderness Series. I don't think you'll be disappointed.http://jenireadabook.blogspot.com/201...
—Jeni
In the fifth book of the Wilderness series, Donati picks up very closely to where she left off in the 4th. I was pleased to see that she did not let the cliff-hangers from the previous book drag out too long into the 5th. Instead, she tied up most of the conflicts and created a few more. This book focused almost exclusively on Hannah, Jennet, and Luke, as well as the new friends and characters they meet during their time in New Orleans. I enjoyed the story, but found myself missing Paradise and the many characters there. I greatly enjoyed (spoiler alert) Daniel and Runs from Bears' appearance toward the end. The fact that they killed an alligator to bring home because no one would believe such a creature existed without some sort of hide to show was very funny. I would have loved to see how that particular hunt went down. I'm eagerly anticipating the start of the final book in this series, which I intend to pick up tonight. The author promises to tie up all loose ends, which I am happy to hear. I also really hope they'll give Hannah some happier story lines. Right now she's like the Kelly Taylor of Paradise - she's been attacked, raped, left in a burning building, and lived in a compound with a strictly native ideology (not exactly a cult, but you can see the parallel). She freely dispenses laudanum, but has not yet developed a drug habit. So, let's hope that things get a little easier for her. She's earned it. I think I'll be sad to see this series end. It's kept me captivated from the start, but I recognize the need to end something at the proper time. I will definitely miss all of these characters!
—Erin
