"Cradle" by James Jackson is a thrilling and compelling historical fiction novel set in the early 1600's that I really enjoyed and found very interesting.
The author has created a brilliant story and brought to life a very vibrant and turbulent time in history when the first permanent British settlers colonised in the Americas. One hundred English settlers in 1607, deposited from three ships, erected a rudimentary wood fort in the wilds of Virginia and named it Jamestown. So began the battle for America....
The frontier setting of the story is fabulously described and truly sets the scene.
I loved the opening chapter, it truly drew me in... "The priests danced and death was close. It was the worst of times to be a prisoner of the natives......" Often quite brutal and violent, this story truly reflects how barbaric the native Indians were and understandably passionate about defending and protecting their land.
I did find the timeline jumped a little and that's the only criticism I would have about the writing style. The narrative is superbly written with some mighty strong characters including Captain John Smith, Realm and Christian Hardy.
James Jackson is well up there in the ranks of historical fiction writers who I believe is also a Sunday Times bestseller. I'd happily read more by him in the future and I may even look up some of his previous successful novels.
A definite 5 stars for this attention grabbing piece of history.
The author has created a brilliant story and brought to life a very vibrant and turbulent time in history when the first permanent British settlers colonised in the Americas. One hundred English settlers in 1607, deposited from three ships, erected a rudimentary wood fort in the wilds of Virginia and named it Jamestown. So began the battle for America....
The frontier setting of the story is fabulously described and truly sets the scene.
I loved the opening chapter, it truly drew me in... "The priests danced and death was close. It was the worst of times to be a prisoner of the natives......" Often quite brutal and violent, this story truly reflects how barbaric the native Indians were and understandably passionate about defending and protecting their land.
I did find the timeline jumped a little and that's the only criticism I would have about the writing style. The narrative is superbly written with some mighty strong characters including Captain John Smith, Realm and Christian Hardy.
James Jackson is well up there in the ranks of historical fiction writers who I believe is also a Sunday Times bestseller. I'd happily read more by him in the future and I may even look up some of his previous successful novels.
A definite 5 stars for this attention grabbing piece of history.