Customer Reviews

The Dakota Cipher: An Ethan Gage Adventure

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I was wandering through a used bookstore and came across one of Mr. Dietrich's novels, Napoleon's Pyramids. It looked interesting so I gave it a go and couldn't put it down once I started. I quickly ran out and bought The Rosetta Key, thoroughly enjoyed that, then bought The Dakota Cipher brand-spanking new from Amazon.
Ethan Gage is an American adventurer, rogue, and really all-around good guy seeking fame and fortune for number one, when he is thrust, albeit unwillingly, into horrible and deadly situations not of his making.
I've read a lot of reviews that good folks have posted on here about all kinds of books, and some of those good people just analyze the crap out of the whole book. I read for fun and enjoyment, and Dietrich has injected fun and adventurous fictional life in the form of Ethan Gage into real history. Who cares if it's not totally accurate? It's easy to become invested in the characters and wonder what's going to happen next. The historical detail of people and places is very interesting without leaning too far towards history lessons, and the adventures and artifacts are plausible enough to believe in. I'm ready to pre-order the next Ethan Gage adventure right now. He's stuck out in the wilds of an unexplored United States right now; where will he go next?

Ethan Gage is enjoying his stay in Paris as Napoleon has forgiven him for the Battle at Acre. His goal is to enjoy the Emperor's married sister Pauline. However, after spending a delightful night with Pauline, thugs kidnap Ethan and tie him up to some fireworks. Thanks to melted chocolate in his sleeves and luck, he escapes and looks like a hero to the crowd as he appears to be holding the torch of liberty during the gala. With Pauline's help, accompanied by Norwegian freedom fighter Magnus Bloodhammer, who seeks Thor's Hammer to free his people from the Danes, he escapes to America.

The French who reclaimed the Louisiana Territory and President Jefferson want Gage to explore beyond the Great Lakes. A reluctant Ethan and Magnus begin the journey from DC to Detroit and from there across the Great Lakes towards the un-chartered Northwest in search of blue eyed light skin Indians, woolly mammoths and Thor's Hammer; allegedly brought by Knights Templar in the fourteenth century.

This fast-paced historical thriller engages readers from the moment that Ethan knows it is time to say au revoir and never slows down as he and the Odin look alike Magnus make the westward journey before Lewis and Clark. The story line is filled with action even when Ethan has them resting in New York waiting for the election of 1800 to be decided. The contrast between Magnus and Ethan is incredible as the former is dedicated to his quest and the memory of his beloved late wife while the latter is dedicated to the woman of the moment; in fact Gage's womanizing gets him into one dangerous predicament after another whether it is in France or on the Great Lakes and beyond. Readers will relish his coming home escapades while newcomers will seek his previous adventures overseas (see NAPOLEON'S PYRAMID and THE ROSETTA KEY).

Harriet Klausner

. . . this one was, I believe, the weakest.

This being said, once again, William Dietrich has produced a fun and frolicking read.

Unlike the previous two novels (and the fourth) the bulk of this novel takes place in North America. Our accidental hero, engaged in an illicit romance with Napoleon's married sister, is sent to the United States as sort of a "back-door" operative between Napoleon and the new American President, Thomas Jefferson. Once again, Gage finds himself with odd companions (an eccentric -- to say the least -- Norwegian) looking for an ancient artifact of power. And once again, Gage finds himself pursued by the members of the rather diabolical Egyptian Rite. In "The Dakota Cipher" we are also introduced to characters who will turn up again in "The Barbary Pirates".

No, this is not high literature, and should not be mistaken for such. But it is a fun adventure story -- and there is certainly nothing wrong with that!

Enjoyed and recommended!

William Dietrich has made a career of weaving history into high adventure. With THE DAKOTA CIPHER, readers will be enthralled once again by Ethan Gage, an American citizen who through the course of this series has found himself continuously changing allegiances. He always has had the best interests of his homeland in mind, but at times he has needed to make other allegiances depending on where he is and who he is with. We have seen him fighting with British forces as well as being part of Emperor Napoleon's troops --- covered in Dietrich's prior novels, NAPOLEON'S PYRAMIDS and THE ROSETTA KEY.

In THE DAKOTA CIPHER, the action takes place in the year 1800 deep within the Colonial United States at the beginning of Thomas Jefferson's presidency. Ethan Gage, a swashbuckling cross between Indiana Jones and Captain Jack Sparrow, is back on his home turf and accompanied by a large, one-eyed Norwegian warrior with the interesting moniker Magnus Bloodhammer. Ethan has never been one to keep still and has been caught in the middle of adventures that had him switching sides between British and French forces as well as bedding some "inconvenient" women like Emperor Napoleon's own sister. As Ethan puts it: "I may inflate my history to women, but no man can fault me for not keeping busy." Those who have met him know that this is not an understatement.

Ethan's current mission in the U.S. is two-fold. He is sent into the unchartered and unclaimed western territories by President Jefferson to uncover artifacts --- specifically, evidence of rare animals like the giant elephant or mastodon. He is also working for Emperor Napoleon to explore this same territory that would eventually become part of the Louisiana Purchase between Jefferson and Napoleon in 1803. Magnus Bloodhammer has a different agenda. As a representative of the ancient Norse group called the Forn Sior, or "Old Custom," Magnus serves as keeper of the past who seeks artifacts dating back to ancient Norse mythology as well as the infamous Knights Templar. This particular mission to the western U.S. territory is driven by a map that is supposed to lead them to Thor's Hammer.

As with every adventure of this type, the artifact in question is no ordinary hammer, and those in possession of it are said to be able to control the weather and lightning by unknown principles. Since Ethan made a number of enemies during his time abroad, he is more than willing to engage in this adventurous trek and has no idea to what new dangers he is exposing himself. As predecessors to the future endeavors of Lewis and Clark, President Jefferson sends Ethan on his travels and fully funds their mission in exchange for evidence of animal artifacts as well as confirming reported sightings of a tribe of blond-haired, blue-eyed Indians up along the Missouri River.

Ethan and Magnus cover a lot of ground in THE DAKOTA CIPHER, beginning their U.S. adventure in New York and heading down the Mississippi River to the area known today as St. Louis. Along the way they meet up with fur traders and trappers as well as other adventurers. One group they join is led by two Brits, Lord and Lady Somerset, and their companions Pierre, a French scout, and a hostile Indian tribesman known only as Red Jacket. It wouldn't be an Ethan Gage adventure without crosses and double-crosses, and the characters Ethan and Magnus meet along the way are not always reliable or trustworthy.

During their journey, Magnus shares with Ethan the real intentions of his quest. He not only wishes to locate ancient Norse artifacts but also desires to validate through this evidence that the Norseman may have discovered and settled in North America before Columbus and other explorers. Additionally, Magnus alludes to the fact that the Knights Templar themselves may have fled to America in an effort to create a Utopian society while leaving some of their own treasures. Ethan is always up for the opportunity to discover treasure and uncover ancient secrets, so Magnus's stories intrigue him. Of course, they are not the only ones seeking these treasures, and they soon find themselves in competition with the Somerset group as well as with some Native American tribes.

The term "cipher" has many definitions. For the purpose of this story, it represents a secret method of writing involving specially formed symbols (cryptology). Magnus's ancient map is supposed to bring them to an ancient slab of writing that is more commonly known today as the Kensington Rune stone. This tablet, which is carved with Norse runes or letters, should lead them to the site of the original Norse settlement and location of Thor's Hammer. Like all of Ethan's prior adventures, this quest is filled with treasure hunts, romantic trysts, battles and hair-raising escapes.

William Dietrich has once again combined several historical premises with the fictional quest of Ethan Gage and created an engaging and non-stop adventure story. I believe THE DAKOTA CIPHER has the most interesting concept yet by blending ancient historical lore within the young and newly formed United States that is just starting to make its own mark in the history books. I can only hope that this is not the last we see of this wayward hero.

"The Dakota Cipher" is a truly big book set in Colonial America. True to author Dietrich's record, the book is ambitious both in scope and plot. Ethan Gage, a favorite protagonist-spy-womanizer is up to his old tricks, in this case abandoning European and American diplomatic drawing rooms for the sprawling midwest of the new continent, a territory that is lusted after by all European nations.

In addition to the clawing of nations to outdo one another for hunks of the new land, the plot focuses on the struggles between social classes and ethnic groups including half a dozen native American tribes. And Ethan Gage wouldn't be Ethan Gage if there weren't a handful of beautiful women he'd fancy as paramours. The strongest vehicle carrying the plot is a Norwegian quest for a legendary "hammer" of the Norse god, Thor, which will empower Norsemen and establish a right to American land because it proves that Norwegians had a prior claim (14th Century) to the land later claimed for the Queen of England. Of course, the struggle for disposition of the Louisiana Territory is thrown in for good measure.

"The Dakota Cipher" is a dark, cynical work where evil seems always to have the upper hand. Still, Dietrich's clever use of language will cause you to chuckle, then stop to consider its verity: e.g., military men stand in battle "shoulder to shoulder with a rank of similar idiots just fifty paces distant, everyone blazing away. If the morons survive, it will be the highlights of their lives . . ." and "If you want to kill each other, there's nothing like a sunny day."

This book is easy to recommend for leisure reading and a look at American politics on the world stage late in the 18th Century. Protagonist, Ethan Gage is a witty, sexual, and likable rascal -- and scoundrel he is -- if sometimes too reliant on 21st Century colloquial speech for his best "zingers" which can interrupt the expected flow of a period novel. Still, there are moments of truly poetic images interspersed among the humor and punch lines, e.g., "when the wind blew the brown carpet of last winter's leaves rustled like tattered pages. It sounded like the forest was whispering."

Author Dietrich works with the plots and backstories like a master. "The Dakota Cipher" captures your attention and holds it from beginning to end and you leave with a satisfaction for having finished a five course meal from the hands of a gourmet chef totally in control of the flavors.

The continuing adventures of Ethan Gage continue to impress and excite. After tackling Egyptian mysticism, ancient relics and secret societies connected with the Great Pyramid, Jerusalem and other historic sites in Napoleon's Pyramids and The Rosetta Key, I didn't think it possible for another sequel to be as exciting - especially one that took place in boring old America. But I was so wrong.

More than the simple enjoyment of spending time with old friends, like Jefferson, Naploeon, and Lewis and Clark, The Dakota Cipher brings it all home, managing to infuse the unexplored American frontier with the same mystery and exotic intrigue Dietrich worked into the previous Ethan Gage novels. This time, the Templars still make an indirect appearance, but it's all about the Vikings here, as Gage teams up with a Scandinavian on a quest to the American interior looking for the ancient Norse artifact, the hammer of Thor himself. Working from the actual historical basis of Nordic rune stones discovered in Minnesota dating back to before the time of Columbus, The Dakota Cipher leads us on an adventure of discovery. And along the way we can expect even more of Gage's signature humor and wit, bad luck and womanizing that we've come to love. Thoroughly enjoyable, right through the electrifying conclusion.

Here's the thing about Ethan Gage and the books in which he is the protagonist: Sort of like Indiana Jones and Robert Langdon, a lot of things happen to Ethan on the way to wherever it is he's going (and he's usually up to no good). Unlike Robert Langdon, Gage does not take himself seriously, nor, apparently, does his creator, William Dietrich. They are just fun novels. They remind me a little bit of Forrest Gump in that Ethan is sort of a celebrity in his turn of the 19th century world, and that he gets face time with world leaders like Napoleon and Jefferson; if he was a modern day hero, there would be lots of photo ops.

Anyway, The Dakota Cipher is probably my least favorite of the three Ethan Gage novels simply because it galloped along so quickly that the characters were even more one-dimensional than usual. (The best of the three, IMHO, is still Napoleon's Pyramids.) It has its interesting points, and though over-the-top fantastic, it's still good enough that I kept reading, although the last quarter of the book is the only part that kept me reading past my bedtime.

My favorite part was Dietrich's invention of the gigantic ash tree and the weather that it generated. Wow, what a great imagination!

I do wish that Ethan was just a tad less randy and gullible. He's otherwise endearing, even if he is such a doofus.

This is the third in the author's Ethan Gage series, and the first set in North America. The whole series is quite a "campy," romp through history in the early Napoleonic (and Jeffersonian) era, and something of a send-up of the current wave of ancient-conspiracy books in the Da Vinci Code model. Gage, the antihero, passes through a highly improbable (OK, impossible) series of adventures, escapes, and intrigues set in a meticulously well-wrought historical background. An opportunist and enough of a disciple of Benjamin Franklin to pass himself off as a savant, Gage keeps changing sides from the French to the British to the Americans as circumstances require, and in the process the novels paint an amazingly well-detailed picture of the period, across several cultures, ranging from Paris to Egypt to the Middle East to North America and (in the next novel in the series after the Dakota Cipher) to the Barbary coast. Relax your grip on logic and reality a bit, and enjoy the romp. I guarantee you'll painlessly learn a lot about history and the personalities of the major figures of the era Napoleon, Jefferson, Admiral Nelson, etc.) along the way.

The best part of the book was the afterword, where the author gave a crystal clear, highly diverting, account of the historical background of the book (which was much more accurate than I would have imagined). He wrote entertainingly, but straightforwardly, and without any of the "Golly gee, Batman" tone that mars this series and makes these books irritating to read at times. I would dearly love to read a historical novel by William Dietrich in his own, more natural voice, since I get the impression that ever since The DaVinci Code, publishers are encouraging their authors to write in that wildly exaggerated style. And let add that Mr Dietrich is a much better writer than Dan Brown, and shouldn't feel the need to emulate him.

This series owes a lot to John MacDondald Frazier's Flashman series.This book was a little uneven.It still was fun.Take it on vacation or an airplane