Customer Reviews

The Sands of Pride: A Novel of the Civil War

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The two most recent reader reviews of the trade paperback edition of SANDS OF PRIDE were very gratifying; my thanks to the readers. For reasons too opaque to explain here, the book's hardback publisher made a plausible *marketing* decision NOT to include the words "Volume One" anywhere in the text (although the clear implication at the end is that there MUST be a sequel coming.) This was my only serious argument with Carroll & Graf and my superb editor, Mr. Philip Turner, during an intense four-year relationship, so I did not dig in my heels about the matter.
But, just so you'll know: Yes, there is a sequel; I just finished revising the ms. on July 27, and yes indeed, it will carry the story of these heroes, rogues, and Steel-Magnolia ladies through the second half of the Civil War. The title is THE FIRES OF PRIDE, and hardback release date is mid-November. All the myriad strands and characters' fates do finally converge in the epic battle for Fort Fisher (late Dec. 1864 - early Jan., 1865), the largest amphibious campaign in US Navy history until Guadalcanal. I hope you'll find the climax suitably thunderous...
... Thank you for your kind attention.

Bill Trotter

It's fascinating to me that a small charge of nautical (and semi-nautical) Civil War novels has recently reached the book store shelves after the subject's near neglect for decades. Mr. Trotter's first book of a new series does justice to the subject and alongside of James L. Nelson's "Glory in the Name" will serve to sate any Civil War nautical buff on the subject. Mr. Trotter quite obviously has the historical chops as well as a the knowhow to construct an engaging characters and a moving, riveting plot. The follow up to "Sands of Pride" is due out any day now, so grab them both. The second in Nelson's series is also due soon, so now is the time to cast anchor with a host of great American characters and two great writers.

I enjoyed reading about the Civil War from the perspective of North Carolina since most of the attention in books from this era is usually focused on Virginia or South Carolina. The only problem I had was the number of characters to keep track of--good thing there was a "Cast List" in the front. Even though the text was a bit technical at times, the prose was refreshingly adult. Can't wait for the conclusion!

A sprawling, epic novel, THE SANDS OF PRIDE details the lives and exploits of several dozen characters--both Rebel and Yankee--during the conflict in North Carolina between 1861 and 1863. Many of the main characters are actual historical figures, rendered both realistically and dramatically, with as much care as any of Trotter's (many) fictitious characters. The author's treatment of historical fact is colorful and exciting, and even the passages that are obviously speculative read as authentically as those which are factually documented. Trotter draws upon the vast well of knowledge he has gained over many years of research (first evidenced in his CIVIL WAR IN NORTH CAROLINA trilogy--easily the most extensive and best-documented nonfiction work ever published on the subject) and infuses as many details as possible into the novel--usually seamlessly and in appropriate measure to the context of the narrative; there's no squealing of brakes so the author can go off on a binge of self-indulgent detailing of his expertise.

There's more to come, for a sequel is in the works, which will (hopefully) wrap up the threads left open in SANDS, and take us to the end of the war. I can give this book no higher recommendation, and I also suggest checking out Trotter's WWII novel, WINTER FIRE, which is as gripping in its context as SANDS is in its.

I would give this book 3.5 stars, but since I don't have that option, I'll go with four. I enjoyed the North Carolina aspect, since I haven't read much about that part of the war. I also thought the author did a good job of portraying the caste system of the South outside the plantation/slave portrait most people are familiar with. His battlefield descriptions were also very good. He does write like a historian though, so the prose isn't anything special. There are also parts of the book that read like he just dropped his research into the pages. Still, I am looking forward to the sequel.

I just finished this book. Initially I was skeptical, sort of judging a book by its cover but I persevered. The book is long, just the way I like 'em, something you can sink your teeth into and stay with for a while. I was rewarded with a brilliantly researched and very well written book. The author does create characters you come to care about and or hate. In addition the author also provides us with an education on Civil War's coastal and naval ordinance, as well as the art of fortifications. My hat is off to this author, the research is fantastic and then is well presented on the page.

It is also worth noting that the author has chosen what is considered a Civil War Backwater as the scene of his novel and he brings it to life very nicely, making it interesting indeed. I mean who needs another novel about Gettysburg? Seems to me that Michael Sharra has covered that for the ages with "The Killer Angels". Other facets of the war that are well presented in this book are the absolutely paltry industrial capacity of the Confederacy and it's implications and inevitable consequences. The declining life style of the citizens of the Confederacy is also worked in where in many other books it is almost a footnote.

I have read William Safire's "Freedom" and Tom Wicker's "Unto This Hour", which in my opinion are two of the best of the more recent fiction offerings on the American Civil War. This book can stand with those, though it's scope is much wider. I recommend this book.

Finally, I was glad to see the author posting here and saying that of course there will be a sequel. I for one, am looking forward to it's arrival.

This is a great novel which gives the readers a lot of historical depth, a huge buffet of viewpoint characters, well realized dialogue, and a dizzying array of story threads to keep you entertained. Trotter's writing is superb and it's about time someone detailed North Carolina's exploits during the Civil War. My favorite parts were about the adventures of a young Yankee naval officer, Wil Cushing, and about Gov Zeb Vance. Vance especially has so much personality, you can feel it oozing off the page. This is wonderful fiction; don't be intimidated by the book's heft. Just sit back and enjoy it. Before you know it, it's all over with much too quickly.

I was looking forward to this. After all, the author is a reputable historian. He ought to know his stuff.

And I was forcibly reminded how much knowing your stuff isn't enough to enable you to tell a story. This book is LONG, and it's SLOW. Chunks of exposition fill every paragraph. Can't imagine a Civil War book with almost no action? We have one here. And, in its 600-odd pages, it only takes us up to 1863!

If you read far enough, you'll get to a really ugly rape scene. I don't recommend reading that far.

Language is basic, mundane. Every phrase seems to be something I've read before, somewhere. Here and there, in jarring contrast, purple melodrama sneaks in.

Characters are multiple, and I think perhaps that's the problem with the book's tension. We don't get to know any character well enough to care about him or her, and every character and his/her setting require new loads of exposition to add to the book's already groaning burden. This is not fascinating historical information, you understand. It's more like memorizing the imports and exports of a place you never want to visit. They also aren't very interesting characters -- they don't have much to make them unique -- though one of the women is named Largo Landau, which was good for a chuckle. I wonder if her nickname is "Slowcoach".

There aren't errors, that I can see -- the research is what one would expect it to be with the author's qualifications. On the other hand, I never felt drawn into the period.

I can't recommend this.

Trotter has written several books on the war in NC, which I have not read, but I do appreciate the effort as NC (then as now) gets pretty short shrift from the Virginia-centric civil war crowd. And his knowledge of history is the strong point of this very lengthy work of historical fiction. At about 700 pages this book ends abruptly in 1863, with a second volume for those who think they can stand it. I certainly cannot.

I'm not a generally a fan of historical fiction, and this book exemplifies the reasons why. Most writers in this genre seem to be unable to construct literary devices such as characters or plot on their own, so by using historical events and characters they relieve themselves of that burden. Harsh as my criticism is for Mr Trotter, his editor did him a severe disservice. Cutting out the 6-8 weakest plot threads and halving the length of this obese volume would have vastly improved this work. For example, the whole plot line about Ben Butler and the Union navy securing a secret blockade running base on the Sounds of NC is just terribly written and conceived, an editor worth $7.25 an hour would have deleted all of it. As well the beautiful confederate spy transporting unstated "secrets" via blockade running ships is both extraneous and gratuitous. Less would have been more. And a lot less would have been even more.

There was potential here for quite a good book, indeed, a sharp pair of scissors is nearly all it would take.

Of course, for those who might enjoy a book where the Confederate officers spend their evenings discussing Shakespeare and Sir Walter Scott over a fine glass of port, while the Yankee officers engage in flatulence, whoring and buggery, this is 5/5 stars.

All that being said, I liked a lot of this book particularly the portrayals of historical figures such as Zebulon Vance and William Cushing. Another plus is the depth of the historical backdrop in regards to blockade running, coastal defenses, confederate politics in regard to use of sparse rescources, and the campaigns along the NC coast.

650 pages into this 750-page historical sprawler, momentum is developing. The handful of parallel plot lines is drawing together, construction of the mega-fort to protect the Cape Fear River is moving ahead in spite of those anti-Carolinian machinators in Richmond, an ironclad is being built on the cheap and on the sly, war criminals are (some of them) getting their just deserts -- all is well! Then, in one of the most spectacular abandonments of one's own boiling pot in the history of historical fiction, it all just stops. If this is the set-up for a sequel, it will be interesting to see of the faithful reader is not too disaffected to buy it. Maybe Mr. Trotter died, perish the thought, and this was the best his literary executor was able to do. SOP would have been a 4 1/2 star historical novel without this odd, almost brutally truncated ending that leaves virtually every thread untied-down.