The Sky-Liners [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Louis L'Amour (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 299 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (1972)
• ISBN-10: 0854561439
• ISBN-13: 978-0854561438
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,708,359 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

"I think of myself in the oral tradition--as a troubadour, a village tale-teller, the man in the shadows of a campfire. That's the way I'd like to be remembered--as a storyteller. A good storyteller."

It is doubtful that any author could be as at home in the world re-created in his novels as Louis Dearborn L'Amour. Not only could he physically fill the boots of the rugged characters he wrote about, but he literally "walked the land my characters walk." His personal experiences as well as his lifelong devotion to historical research combined to give Mr. L'Amour the unique knowledge and understanding of people, events, and the challenge of the American frontier that became the hallmarks of his popularity.

Of French-Irish descent, Mr. L'Amour could trace his own in North America back to the early 1600s and follow their steady progression westward, "always on the frontier." As a boy growing up in Jamestown, North Dakota, he absorbed all he could about his family's frontier heritage, including the story of his great-grandfather who was scalped by Sioux warriors.

Spurred by an eager curiosity and desire to broaden his horizons, Mr. L'Amour left home at the age of fifteen and enjoyed a wide variety of jobs, including seaman, lumberjack, elephant handler, skinner of dead cattle, and miner, and was an officer in the transportation corps during World War II. During his "yondering" days he also circled the world on a freighter, sailed a dhow on the Red Sea, was shipwrecked in the West Indies and stranded in the Mojave Desert. He won fifty-one of fifty-nine fights as a professional boxer and worked as a journalist and lecturer. He was a voracious reader and collector of rare books. His personal library contained 17,000 volumes.

Mr. L'Amour "wanted to write almost from the time I could talk." After developing a widespread following for his many frontiers and adventure stories written for fiction magazines, Mr. L'Amour published his first full length novel, Hondo, in the United States in 1953. Every one of his more than 120 books is in print; there are more than 300 million copies of his books in print worldwide, making him one of the bestselling authors in modern literary history. His books have been translated into twenty languages, and more than forty-five of his novels and stories have been made into feature films and television movies.

The recipient of many great honor and awards, in 1983 Mr. L'Amour became the first novelist to ever to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by the United States Congress in honor of his life's work. In 1984 he was also awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Reagan.

Louis L'Amour died on June 10, 1988. His wife, Kathy, and their two children, Beau and Angelique, carry the L'Amour publishing tradition forward with new books written by the author during his lifetime to be published by Bantam.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The story of the Sacketts is continued in "The Sky-Liners", May 29, 2002

By 

Priscilla Stafford (Yokohama, Japan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sky-Liners (Sacketts) (School & Library Binding)

Flagan and Galloway are not only brothers, they are Sacketts. After crossing paths with Black Fetchen and coming out of the ordeal alive, they knew it was best to keep away from him. But when they are asked to escort young and pretty Judith Costello to her father's ranch, they couldn't refuse. Unfortunately, Black Fetchen has had his eye on Judith for a while and wants to marry her. Judith being young also wants to marry him, not knowing what is good for her. So when the Sacketts leave with Judith, Fetchen follows them along with his gang of hired guns and troublemakers. But Fetchen also has another reason for following them out west... and Flagan and Galloway are never the ones to stay away from trouble, no less back away from a fight.

One of my favorite Sackett novels, which is saying a lot since all of the books are fantastic! Louis L'Amour captures the West to perfection in all of his books, making you really get into the story and get to know each and every one of his characters. "The Sky-Liners" differs in some ways from the other Sackett novels in which it has some very humorous parts! From the very first page I guarantee you'll be laughing (I always do!). I'm serious, the first maybe three or four pages where Flagan and Galloway face the Fetchens is hilarious! But the book has its serious and grim parts, with plenty of action and gun fights.

If you loved "The Sky-Liners", I surely do recommend "Galloway", which continues the adventures of the Sackett brothers. But all-in-all, all of the Sackett novels should be read. A few other of my favorites are "Jubal Sackett", "Ride the River", and "Sackett". Other Louis L'Amour greats are "Crossfire Trail", "Westward the Tide", "A Man Called Noon", "North to the Rails", and "Hills of Homicide".

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In the Louis L'Amour tradition, another great Sackett story!, November 12, 1997

By 

[e-mail] (Kalamazoo, Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sky-Liners: The Sacketts (Paperback)

If you're a L'Amour fan all you need to know about this book (to want to read it) is that it's a "Sackett" story. If you like westerns in general this book can be your introduction to the world of Louis L'Amour, the greatest western writer of all time. The story, in itself, is not that unique but the telling of it is L'Amour gold. The Sacketts featured here, Galloway and Flagan, give you more laughs than other Sackett characters and even at their most serious, they entertain. This is a typical L'Amour read which is to say it is NOT a typical western. L'Amour's characters, and especially the Sacketts, show bravery, endurance, loyality and strength. Throughout this book, and any other by this author, you will find profound thoughts, wisdom and ideals to live by - all of this and more is in addition to an action oriented story that will keep you turning pages to the end. If you like this book, you'll want to read "Galloway" and all of the other Sackett novels. Louis L'Amour books become best friends to be revisted again and again. I've been reading his books for 35 years now and still find them exciting and somehow new.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An exciting saga of danger, dramatically narrated, November 16, 2003

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sky-liners (The Sacketts) (Audio Cassette)

The Sky-Liners is a gripping western audiobook by the celebrated author Louis L'Amour, about brave gunfighters from the Sackett clan who have their work cut out for them simply surviving against the deadliest and most expensive hired enemies. An exciting saga of danger dramatically narrated by Jason Culp, The Sky-Liners fully engage the listener in the thrill of combat, the taking of personal risks, and the determination to persevere no matter what. A "must" for all Louis L'Amour fans, as well as an ideal acquisition choice for community library audiobook collections, The Sky-Liners is a complete and unabridged, with four 1 hour cassettes in a sturdy book-size plastic shell casing.