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)

Queen of Swords

I can't believe that I enjoyed this book as much as I did. Recently, I've been reading a lot of George R. R. Martin, J R. R. Tolkien and Diana Gabaldon. This book surprised with its historical reality and it's love stories that aren't so mushy. These characters are writtne like real people with real faults and yet, unlike Reality TV, it's still the place you can escape. Thanks Ms.Donati for a wonderful read--now, Audible, please get the rest in unabridged?

I love this series

Since I first discovered "Into the Wilderness", the first book in this series I have been a fan. Each book has been very well written, well researched and throughly enjoyable. The Queen of Swords is no exception, I loved it and was very sad when it came to an end. If you love historical novels you will love this one. This book stands alone, but I am very glad that I read all of the other books in this series before reading this.

I want to also mention that the narrator did an incredible job, as usual. You will not regret downloading this book.

MY LEAST FAVORITE BOOK IN THE SERIES

As soon as I realized that New Orleans was the setting of this book, I knew the storyline would be one of hardship after hardship, but holy, moley, this novel is just exhausting. The author does not allow the reader a break from adversity. I very much enjoy the history woven throough the story, but the characters are continually beaten up, (often literally). I am currently on a personal program of avoiding unnecessary stress. I avoid media and television as much as possible. I read for pleasure and relaxation. This novel provided neither. I actually found muself skipping forward when characters were nade to endure physical abuse. I must be very thin skinned these days, but as much as I really love this series, I will be glad to finish this book. I must say that Kate Reading has easily risen to the top of my personal list of favorite narrators. She is nothing less than amazine.

Well written AND Well read

I listened to my first period romance novel with the Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon (Awesome listen by the way!!) and can not get enough of them. After listening to a few other dissapointing books I found the "Queen of Swords" - FINALLY!! Very good story, well researched with accurate and believable information of the times and read by a narrator that I have grown to love (I think that she also plays the female psyc doctor on Law & Order but I could be wrong).

Sara Donati's favorite word is "Curiosity"

I swear it's used more than any other word in all of her books so far. I trudged through this book because I've made it through the series so far and had to know what happened to Jennet after the previous book. I keep waiting for this series to turn into something epic like the Outlander series it's compared to so often. I think the author has attempted to emulate Diana Gabaldon's writing style and has even "borrowed" a lot of her terms and phrases from her, but does not weave a story near as well. The characters do not have enough depth and despite keeping me interested enough to finish the book, the storyline is too flat.

Entertaining segment of the Bonner tale

You will get to know Hannah as well as a family member in this book. The use of letters throughout the tale help pick up the pace and add different perspectives to the story. There are a lot of details to the personalities and you need to take your time reading this to fully absorb all the aspects.

The reader is wonderful at keeping the voices of the different characters distinct and believable. I really enjoy listening to her.

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!!!!

the story is interesting but a bit annoying...

i don't know if it's the story or the narrator but the female characters of this book are so annoying at times the is difficult to pay attention...

Disappointed

I didn't realize this book had prequels when I started. So it probably would have been helpful to read them first. I enjoyed the historical background but at times I found it hard to finish the book- it just didn't have the meat. The story line had potential but the action fell flat.
Kate Reading did an awesome job!

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.