Customer Reviews

The Titans (Kent Family Chronicles)

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

 

 

The Titans begins at the very beginning of the American Civil War and continues until 1862. Louis Kent, son of Amanda Kent, has taken control of the family business and fortunes, but, despite being his mothers son, is turning out to be a heartless, profiteering opportunist.Jephta Kent is working on the familys newspaper when, through dramatic circumstances, he meets his son Gideon from whom he has been separated for many years. His former wife has remarried to an actor named Lamont, who is a fanatical supporter of Southern rights and who is secretly plotting to seize the fortune left to Jephtas sons, to further the Southern cause. As America is drawn into a war between the North and South, Gideon becomes a cavalry officer and takes part in many terrible battles. The book ends with the news that Gideon is missing in action--can't wait to start Book 6-The Warriors.

John Jakes charges onward in his chronicles of Kent family, jumping ahead a few years for the fifth book (Amanda's son Louis is now a grown, married man) but slowing the pace down and really digging in. It's no wonder -- the setting for this one is the Civil War, and Jakes keeps it mainly at the beginning of the war, 1861.

Whereas the fourth book was fully Amanda Kent's story, "The Titans" trades off with her cousin Jephtha -- seen only in letters and brief encounters until now -- and his ex-wife Fan, her new husband Edward, and Jephtha's oldest son Gideon Kent, now a soldier following, certainly, the family legacy. On the ugly battlefield, Gideon comes of age and learns his true merit in much the same way Philip Kent did a hundred years earlier. Woven through the story of Gideon and the young lady he loves, Margaret Marble, is an argument on the brutality, honor, but seeming futility of war. Unlike Anne Ware, who had only admired Philip after he uniformed up, Margaret can't stand the thought of Gideon taking to the battlefield, seeing it as the most foolish form of self-destruction.

Even more important than this issue of war, though, is the idea of truth being revealed, of deceptions being uncovered, as Jephtha struggles to reconnect with the sons he's been separated from. The redemption of this "fallen" clergyman (now serving as a journalist, of all things) is cathartic for several people.

I'm loving this series, and I'm charging onward, myself, to the sixth book ...

Not bad reading. It gets confusing trying to keep up with characters from book to book.

The Titans, by John Jakes: This is the forth in the series The Kent Family Chronicles. This and the others in this series should be required reading in our American Schools. Though novels they give realism to our American history from the very begining . Jakes has used real people and events and spiced it with the "Kent" family participating in the growth of our country. I'm only sorry making a living precluded my reading earlier in life.

The entire American Bicentennial Series by John Jakes is exciting, especially for someone who is interested in American History.Once you start you won't be able to put them down. The Titans is #5 in The Kent Family Chronicles and takes you through the troubles of the Kent Family during the Civil War: Raging with the hearbreaks and tragedies of our nation's darkest hours, this passionate saga follows a dynamic generation of Kents through the hell of Civil War---As the story begins, the Kent dynasty has fallen into the hands of the late Amanda's opportunistic son,Louis...and Jephtha Kent has come North, leaving his three sons at home in the South. A nation torn asunder by holocause and devastation..a family divided by hatred and greed. Where one battle ends, the other begins, in this turbulent, unforgettable tale of "THE TITANS"

This book was one of the best I've ever read. Not only were the characters interesting, but the historical backround was extensive. I learned and understood many more facts about the Civil War that will help me in school. I finished it quickly and was disappointed to see it end. I have not read the other books in the series, but I will now. It would make a great movie. This is the perfect book for anyone intersted in history, scandals, or conspiracy.

Finaly the Civil War has come. I found the last book in the series was a hugh dissapointment in the series butt his one was just liek the rest full of action romance and adventure. I would not say it's the best of the series but it's still entertaining from start to finish. We see the hatred of the North and South. We see a nation crumble, we see romance on it's highs and lows of the war. One of the best emotional book of the series we see how the people delt with the war. Cant wait to read the other ones.

the entire series was great....would be a terrific mini-series.