A Sword of the Old Frontier a Tale of Fort Chartres and Detroit

by Randall Parrish

""A Sword of the Old A Tale of Fort Chartres and Detroit"" by Randall Parrish is a historical fiction novel that takes place in the late 1700s. The story follows the adventures of a young man named Robert Lennox, who is a soldier stationed at Fort Chartres in Illinois. When Lennox finds himself caught up in a dangerous plot involving the French and British armies, he must use all of his skills and courage to protect himself and those he cares about.As Lennox travels from Fort Chartres to the bustling city of Detroit, he encounters a variety of characters, including Native Americans, French traders, and British soldiers. Along the way, he falls in love with a beautiful French woman named Am�����lie de la For������t, who is also caught up in the dangerous political intrigue of the time.Through vivid descriptions of the frontier landscape and the complex political climate of the era, Parrish brings to life a fascinating period of American history. ""A Sword of the Old Frontier"" is a thrilling adventure story that will keep readers on the edge of their seats until the very end.1905. Being a plain account of sundry adventures befalling Chevalier Raoul de Coubert, one time Captain in the Hussars of Languedoc, during the year 1763. The book It was a queer old town, that Kaskaskia, even then seventy years established, a typical French village of the far frontier. However, I was destined to gain merely a glimpse of it before the sun sank, for the message that had brought me thither was most urgent, nor was I in any spirit to waste time with idle sight-seeing. There are few things that quicken action like an empty purse. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

Genres: Historical Fiction

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1906

About the author

American journalist and dime novel writer

Reviews

[Tweety · Rating 4 out of 5]

Congratulations Mr. Parrish! The ending took me completely by surprise.

I am pleased that the "predictable ending" wasn't quite as predictable as I was expecting. I did not know the whole deal and that brought this book up in my books.

I'm sorry to say I've forgotten everyone's names, the Hero was French, the heroine is English but has a ridiculously odd name (to me). But, I did really like the hero, he was less biased towards English, Indians and Coureur de bois. Yes, this book has many French phrases, I ended up making a list. All I can say is, I hope it'll help me learn French. But, I must say, if you can remember that sacré (Sacrébleu) is a French swear, or at least that's what Google told me, you will know about as much as you need to know in the French phrases since that is the one repeated the most. That and, Mon Dieu! (My God)

Yes I did enjoy this! It was so, so different from Contraband , and I actually liked the development better in Contrab, mainly because I could see what attracted the Hero and Heroine to each other, in this one, I don't quite know what the hero saw in the heroine, she was beautiful, but cold as ice and rather haughty. Thankfully, she changed by the end.

But, my favorite character was a doctor we meet in the last chapters, he's unusual and views everything that isn't part of his work as a waste of his time. But he was so alive that I wished he was the main character, or that there would be a book with him in it more.


So, this isn't my favorite book by him. I enjoyed the French-Canadian angle but at times, I got a little tired of his belittling of other language groups. The French viewed the English as pompous bed-wetters while the English viewed the French as Dandies. Then the Indians! Need I say they were all scumbags? Yes indeed, and some Pastor was slimy, cowardly and a cheat.

While this isn't a normal review, it's all I can think of for this book.

[Perry Whitford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Captain de Coubert, an out of favour French nobleman disguised as a coureur de bois (woodsman), couriers a deceitful message to the Ottawa chief Pontiac from the commander at Fort Chartres.

Making the same journey separately is a haughty Englishwoman named Alene Maitland and her vivacious companion Rene. Also in the mix are a puffed up cockerel of a commissary called Etienne Quilleriez and a mixed-race messenger named Black Peter.

By characterising this novel as vigorous for its genre I mean to say that the action had a genuinely visceral quality usually lacking in such stories, the scenes in the swampy wastes surrounding the river were particularly authentic. In addition the two leads didn't turn into a pair of set blankets every time they spoke to each other either, the scourge of many a romance.

The action culminated in the Battle of Bloody Run, a brave defeat for the British. On the debit side, the period racism was appalling (the 'half-breed' is innately treacherous, I lost count of the demeaning epithets aimed at the Indians) and the surprise ending was both telegraphed and narratively suspect.

It was still a bracing read for all that.