After discovering six gold Roman coins buried in the mud of the Devil’s Dyke, Barnabas Sackett enthusiastically invests in goods that he will...
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reviews
Aug 02, 2010
Mike (the Paladin)
rated it: 
I read this long ago and I have it (in an omnibus edition with several other L'Amour books...I have a few other omnibus editions). This will not appeal to some of you, it will not appeal to some who have liked other books we agree on. But I like it. I was introduced to L'Amour's books at a time when I had limited access to books. I found that in general I like his work.
Louis L'Amour is probably best know for his westerns and his best known westerns are probably the ones that have to More...
Louis L'Amour is probably best know for his westerns and his best known westerns are probably the ones that have to More...
May 21, 2009
Jeb
rated it:
I have read every Louis L'Amour book he wrote. That's something like 125 stories. I have them in a box in my garage...just in case I need to have a two hour western read.
I'm not sure you can say that Louis L'Amour was a great writer..in fact, I'm pretty sure that would be a hard to defend statement.
But, I can confidently say that Louis L'Amour was an important writer.
For better or worse, I used his stereotype of a man as a model for how I wanted to approach th More...
I'm not sure you can say that Louis L'Amour was a great writer..in fact, I'm pretty sure that would be a hard to defend statement.
But, I can confidently say that Louis L'Amour was an important writer.
For better or worse, I used his stereotype of a man as a model for how I wanted to approach th More...
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Dec 12, 2007
Yvette
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No one writes a western like Lamour! I read all of Lamour's books while living in Arizona (you can't live somewhere like Arizona or New Mexico without reading a Louis Lamour book - it's like living in Florida without reading Carl Hiaasen). Reading his books brought the Arizona desert to life - everywhere I looked, I could relive his books. And the Sackett books, by far, are my favorites by Lamour. And, yes, testosterone flows through these books (but, hey, it's the wild west ya'll!)
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Mar 10, 2009
Jenny
rated it:
By now I have figured out that I can't manage to read as eclectically as I used to because lately I get on reading jags and can't seem to get away from certain genres.
So the genre of this season is apparently going to be westerns. Yup, you heard me right. I wouldn't have ever thought I would be admitting that to anyone, but it's true.
Why westerns? It's a question I've often wondered, and I finally feel like I have a good answer.
Westerns are the only truly A More...
So the genre of this season is apparently going to be westerns. Yup, you heard me right. I wouldn't have ever thought I would be admitting that to anyone, but it's true.
Why westerns? It's a question I've often wondered, and I finally feel like I have a good answer.
Westerns are the only truly A More...
Jan 12, 2012
Caleb0199
rated it:
I've intended to read this series since high-school. One of my resolutions for this year was to start finishing books, and I thought this might provide a good basis for building momentum for that goal.
This is well done adventure fiction with a stronger intent to reflect historical context. While L'Amour is known as a writer of Westerns, this story begins in the England of Shakespeare's time, and will follow a man and his descendants to the New World, and, presumably, their move across More...
This is well done adventure fiction with a stronger intent to reflect historical context. While L'Amour is known as a writer of Westerns, this story begins in the England of Shakespeare's time, and will follow a man and his descendants to the New World, and, presumably, their move across More...
Mar 26, 2009
Tyler
rated it: 
This is my second Louis L'amour book I have read. It was ok about like the first one. Im getting kind of bored with the Louis L'amore books though to be completely honest, so I might pick a different book next time. This one is called Sackett's Land. It is about Barnabas Sackett a native England man who is going to the New World. The setting of the book is 1599 around the time when the New World was established. It is a suspenseful book. I reccomend this book to anybody who has read a Louis L'a
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Jan 30, 2008
Jenessa
rated it:
next time you take a roadtrip, do yourself and your fellow passengers a favor - buy as many of the sackett books as you can find at truck stops and read them aloud. maybe not super intellectually stimulating, but wonderful stories of frontier-style adventure.
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Aug 29, 2007
Evan
rated it: 
Slapdash writing at a plodding pace, despite the hasty descriptions and jarring leaps forward in the plot. Just terrible.
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Aug 17, 2009
Steven
rated it:
Barnabas Sackett is a farmer of the fens (agricultural lowlands in Eastern England) who has a run-in with a member of the minor nobility. Fortunately, he has also just discovered several ancient Roman coins and seeks to parley them into trading opportunities in the New World. Unfortunately, his first trip to the New World is as a prisoner. From the Fens to London, out to sea, and in the New World, Barnabas' trianing and education from his father stay him in good stead.
Not your typica More...
Not your typica More...
Jul 05, 2008
Richard
rated it:
It is the first book in a series of books about the settling of this country by a series of fictional characters with the last name of Sackett. The book I checked out of the library was well worn, having been checked out many times since 1982 when it was put into circulation. It isn’t a long story but tells of Barnabas Sackett’s first trip to America in 1599 as a captured seaman and his escape from the hands of his captors and return to England. I liked it, not a great book of literature bu
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Feb 08, 2010
Adrianna
rated it: 
I just can't get past the apparent conceitedness of his characters- the too-good-to-be-true hero and the way things always seem to fall into place perfectly for him. In this book at the end, the girl is telling him she wants to come to America with him despite the fact that she will often be alone. Then she says, "But not for long. If you are half the man you appear to be, I will have a family soon." Are you serious?!! *barf* The story is usually good, but I just can't swallow the shal
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May 14, 2011
Gary
rated it:
I've been meaning to read Louis L'Amour's Sacketts series for a LONG time.
My reasoning is a bit cloudy. First, I remember liking a movie based on the series that I watched when I was 11 or 12. Perhaps I didn't like it as much as I was pleased I could sit through the entire thing without getting bored and antsy. Second, I'm pretty sure one of my grandfathers had read a few of L'Amour's books, and its my belief anything he found interesting is worth paying attention to.
I fin More...
My reasoning is a bit cloudy. First, I remember liking a movie based on the series that I watched when I was 11 or 12. Perhaps I didn't like it as much as I was pleased I could sit through the entire thing without getting bored and antsy. Second, I'm pretty sure one of my grandfathers had read a few of L'Amour's books, and its my belief anything he found interesting is worth paying attention to.
I fin More...
Dec 14, 2009
Celeste
rated it:
I absolutely LOVED this book. I have read several Louis L'Amour books, mostly westerns. This book is considered a Western, but it begins in England during the time that the New World in America is still largely inhabited by Indians. It is a bit of a swashbuckler, which I find more interesting than Westerns.
I plan on reading the entire Sackett series, which I think is over 40 books total. I look forward to being entertained as L'Amour takes me through generation after generation of th More...
I plan on reading the entire Sackett series, which I think is over 40 books total. I look forward to being entertained as L'Amour takes me through generation after generation of th More...
Feb 11, 2011
Aubrey
rated it:
Well, I picked this one up because Louis L'Amour is said to be one of the classic Western writers and I had to read a western for my class. This was my first western and I didn't like nor dislike it. He writes in a much older writing style. He does keep the pace going but I found it rather predictable. I wonder if I read it when it came out (70s) that I may have a different opinion of it. Overall, it was okay, but mostly I didn't care for it. Though I'm glad to have tried a western read. I won't
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Aug 28, 2011
Tyler
rated it:
I finally got around to reading the first book of the Sacketts series and ... it was lame. I've read lots of Louis L'Amour books and loved many of them. Maybe he was still learning his craft when this one was published. Maybe he tried to cover too much ground in a short novel. But the characters are undeveloped and unbelievable. The action is disjointed and contrived. The geography is unintelligible. My advice is skip it.
Sep 08, 2011
Benjamin
rated it:
great book, a man named Barnabas Sackett is a fugative becuase he makes a fool of a popular british future-king. This obviously makes the man angry so he send soldiers to kill barnabas. luckily, barnabas is kidnapped and taken to america where he starts a camp there and lives. i read it becuase my grandpa reccommended it to me. Louis L'amour is a FANTASTIC author and I highly reccomend this whole series.
Dec 07, 2008
Dottie
rated it:
My dad brought me a book by Louis L'Amour when I was 15 and in the hospital, I have read almost every book he has published. What I liked most about his writing is his descriptoins of each location he has been there before. He talks of names of places and cities that I see as I travel and I think WOW, Really, thats how it got its name or that really happened there. Amazing
Feb 26, 2010
Jess
rated it:
Louis L'Amour is listed in my top ten favorite authors for many reasons, among them being his authentic, sensible voice and terse descriptive powers. He creates strong, likable characters and paints vivid word pictures. The Sackett saga has been one to which I've returned many times over the years, always with pleasure and enjoyment.
Aug 31, 2007
Rachael
rated it:
I list this not so much because I think it's the greatest book ever, but because I think everyone should read at least one Louis L'Amour, and at least one of the Sackett novels. Kind of an American tradition. I confess that a L'Amour novel is to me what chocolate is to someone else--a guilty pleasure that I have to indulge in every so often. Just a fun read, and one made more interesting when reading in conjunction with a McCarthy novel or another piece of modernist literature about the West.
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Jan 09, 2009
Tina
rated it:
Not great literature, but a good story. However, I thought that Sackett was a bit too lucky for a character. Fortune seemed to smile upon him too much and he defeated his foes way too easily.
I really liked L'Amour though because the heroes are good people and the stories are "clean".
I really liked L'Amour though because the heroes are good people and the stories are "clean".
Jul 21, 2009
Jen
rated it:
I enjoy reading these as my leisure reading. I appreciate the core values emphasized and like that the good guy can be truly good (with some personal flaws, of course). That's refreshing. I just hope that this series is not like others that get repetitive after about book 5!
Nov 26, 2011
Sara
rated it:
This book was a good read. I liked learning about the different reasons why someone would want to come to live in the new world back in the day. The Sackett's are great men and women of honor and self-reliance. I am interested to read the rest of the series.
Nov 29, 2009
Nickie
rated it:
We read this as a family. Well actually I read and the family listened to the audio which I heard while reading. Did I get a double dose?
These quick little readings are a fine way for youth and even adults to get a quick view of the frontier starting around 1620's.
These quick little readings are a fine way for youth and even adults to get a quick view of the frontier starting around 1620's.
Mar 03, 2010
Kirt
rated it:
I didn't think this was as good as any of the other Louis L'Amour books that I read. It is one of his earlier ones and that might have been why I thought the writing was poorer. The story was ok but not great. It felt rushed in places and somehow without saying anything or doing anything he makes quick friends that will follow him to the ends of the earth risking their lives.
Apr 08, 2009
I've heard of this Author my whole life, mostly from older men. Ereader offered the first book free, so i got it. I really enjoyed it. Mostly it is historical fiction about a man that moves to the new world. And of course the adventures while there.
Jul 04, 2009
Louis
rated it:
This was the first Louis L'Amour novel I ever read. I was excited to learn that a western could be set in a time and place other than the 19th-century West. I read several of his novels in the next few years, but this remains one of my favorites.
Dec 10, 2010
Mom
rated it:
it was a great story glad to finally hear the beginning of the sackett saga, have seen movies of the later sacketts in America, their story is a true western, My Dad read Louis L'Amour, so kinda neat to enjoy the same books my dad did
Dec 09, 2010
Mackay
rated it:
Sacketts were never my favs of L'Amour, somehow.
I noticed my friend Mark was reading LL, and realized I'd neglected to add him (and so many others) to this list. Went through a real Western phase many moons ago, and read most of LL.
I noticed my friend Mark was reading LL, and realized I'd neglected to add him (and so many others) to this list. Went through a real Western phase many moons ago, and read most of LL.
Jun 11, 2011
Julie
rated it:
I always liked Louis L'Amour's westerns, but I absolutely fell in love with the Sacketts. My grandfather was also a big fan of L'Amour and I have many fond memories of reading side-by-side and discussing the books we'd read.
Jul 10, 2009
Ryan
rated it:
The short novel makes for a fast pace, sometimes to a fault. Also, the author does a bit of preaching about the New World towards the end of the book. Not in character with Sackett. All in all, it's a fun read and a page turner.
