Queen of Swords

A Novel

By: Sara Donati

Narrated by: Kate Reading

Length: 21 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

It is the late summer of 1814, and Hannah Bonner and her half brother Luke have spent more than a year searching the islands of the Caribbean for Luke’s wife and the man who abducted her. But Jennet’s rescue, so long in coming, is not the resolution they’d hoped for. In the spring she had given birth to Luke’s son, and in the summer Jennet had found herself compelled to surrender the infant to a stranger in the hope of keeping him safe.

To claim the child, Hannah, Luke, and Jennet must journey first to Pensacola. There they learn a great deal about the family that has the baby. The Poiterins are a very rich, very powerful Creole family, totally without scruple. The matriarch of the family has left Pensacola for New Orleans and taken the child she now claims as her great-grandson with her.

New Orleans is a city on the brink of war, a city where prejudice thrives and where Hannah, half Mohawk, must tread softly. Careful plans are made as the Bonners set out to find and reclaim young Nathaniel Bonner. Plans that go terribly awry, isolating them from each other in a dangerous city at the worst of times.

Sure that all is lost, and sick unto death, Hannah finds herself in the care of a family and a friend from her past, Dr. Paul de Guise Savard dit Saint-d’Uzet. It is Dr. Savard and his wife who save Hannah’s life, but Dr. Savard’s half brother who offers her real hope. Jean-Benoit Savard, the great-grandson of French settlers, slaves, and Choctaw and Seminole Indians, is the one man who knows the city well enough to engineer the miracle that will reunite the Bonners and send them home to Lake in the Clouds.

With Ben Savard’s guidance, allies are drawn from every segment of New Orleans’s population and from Andrew Jackson’s army, now pouring into the city in preparation for what will be the last major battle of the War of 1812.

©2006 Sara Donati (P)2006 Books on Tape

Critic reviews

"A smoothly written, engrossing adventure." (Booklist)

Enjoyable

This book was harder for me to like than the previous ones. Mainly because of all the French names & locations. French is a difficult language for me & I am thankful for the list of characters.
Also, quite a few chapters about the war.

Kate Reading's narration is PERFECTION!

There are some books that lend themselves to the narrated format. Without question, the Wilderness series falls into that category. I have just finished "Queen of Swords", the 5th in this 6 book series and I am in awe. Kate Reading's vocal talents capture every element of a stellar performance: accents, genders, age, emotions, vocal character distinction, and more. As much as I love this series, I don't know if I would have managed to get through the first installment had I been introduced to it in the written format. I owe my enjoyment of this entire saga to Kate Reading's narration.

Of course, even the best narrator can't turn a poor story into a good one. Sara Donati weaves a masterful plot and develops multi-dimensional characters, both lead and supporting. This is a true series. One needs to read these books in order. I read the first three installments of the series before setting it aside for over a year. When I returned to it with "Fire Along the Sky", I felt like I was missing some finer points in the story-line due to this period away from it. A year and a half following my last listen, I found I could no longer recall the details surrounding the history between and among the many characters in the series. In fact, I listened to "Into the Wilderness" (book 1) again, after I finished "Fire Along the Sky" (book 4) but before I started "Queen of Swords" (5). I had planned to listen to the entire series again; but I was so anxious to move forward with the story that I had to abandon that plan entirely.

Readers often mention the similarities between Donati's "Wilderness" saga and Gabaldon's "Outlander" series and I concur. Each resembles the other in both style and story. I would love to see a production company purchase the rights this story and make it into a cable TV series as well. Who knows? There is an intersection of Donati's and Gabaldon's characters early on in this particular series. That strikes me as the perfect opportunity for a 'spin-off'!

I'm hooked!!!

If you could sum up Queen of Swords in three words, what would they be?

Love Love Love

Who was your favorite character and why?

Ben, he's such a great man!

Which scene was your favorite?

I can't give it away but, I loved Ben's comment after Hannah asked the important question!

If you could rename Queen of Swords, what would you call it?

Don't want to- the name is perfect!

Any additional comments?

I'm going to be very sad after I finish the next and last book, I've become very close to this family. This NEEDS to be made into a movie!!!

Best one yet

Hands down my favorite book in the Wilderness series. Could not stop listening. Starting the next one right away.

enthralling

I loved the book. I couldn't stop listening. Everything hairbrush vividly in my head. I love that!

Love this series!

I have truly enjoyed all the books on this series. The storytelling is superb as is the narration.

I Love the wilderness series!

I have read this entire series multiple times. I love Donati’s style and flare. I think it’s great that she follows up so thoroughly on her characters with each book in the series.

Gifted narrator and beautiful story

Thank you Donati for these friends and I am sad this seems to be it for now.

just do not care for French

This book contains too much French. Hard to follow the story and keep the characters straight.

ldb

Wonderful story...Well read... A very close 2nd to Outlander (Diana Gabaldon). Problem is that it is the last written in the series. While it stands on it's own, there are references to earlier events that leaves you "wanting to know". I HOPE THEY GET THE ENTIRE SERIES!!!!