From Publishers Weekly
The second volume of this prolific western writer's Sons of Texas trilogy (after
Sons of Texas) is a colorful, if action-deficient, lesson in Texas history 1825–1826. Along with brothers Michael and Andrew Lewis, most of the characters from the first novel return and not much about them has changed. Michael has a family now, but is just as restless as in the first book; Andrew is still the steady one, a bachelor who longs for a wife. Owning adjacent farms in Mexican territory, the Lewises are trying to settle as legal immigrants, alongside hundreds of other Americans allowed by the Mexican government to live there. As Michael and Andrew struggle to farm Texas's forbidding terrain, they become involved in an Indian raid, rekindle a long-standing family feud and get tangled up in the complex comedy of the Fredonian Rebellion, "the earliest glimmering of the Texas revolution against Mexico." Fans may grow frustrated as this horse opera unfolds largely without gunplay—even the bad guys are reluctant to pull the trigger—but Kelton masterfully portrays the toughness of frontier life and the racial, cultural and political tension between Mexicans and Americans that eventually led to open rebellion. The final volume in this trilogy will include the battle of the Alamo; hopefully, there the action and suspense will catch up with the period detail.
(July) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Michael Lewis and his brother, Andrew, moved from Tennessee to Texas to become part of the first group of Americans to cultivate a life in the area defined by the Colorado and Brazos rivers. They are there at the whim of the Mexican government, which has decided that a limited number of Americans would help accelerate the civilizing of the untamed land. Michael is beset by wanderlust and often leaves his wife, Marie, and young son alone for weeks as he wanders aimlessly west. But brother Andrew lives nearby and fills in for his wandering brother even as he harbors a secret affection for Marie. But soon the brothers will act as one in the face of ominous movement on the part of their Mexican hosts, the appearance of three brothers from Tennessee with whom the Lewises have had a blood feud, and the ever-present danger of Indians. The second installment in the Lewis saga features Kelton at his best, combining a fascinating historical backdrop, complex primary characters, and a simmering undercurrent of danger. Entertaining and suspenseful.
Wes LukowskyCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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