Fire Along the Sky - Softcover

Moss, Robert

3.55

11 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0812535367 ISBN 13: 9780812535365

Publisher: Forge, 1995

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Shane Hardacre, an adventurous young Irishman, witnesses a pivotal time in American history when a great Ottawa chief rallies the Native American nations into a war of resistance and Sir William Johnson begins his efforts for peace. Reprint.

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From Kirkus Reviews:

A handsome young Irishman with theatrical leanings abandons the delights of George III's London to follow a melancholic friend to the Colonies, where he visits a kinsman and the restless Mohawks in upstate New York. Moss usually writes thrillers (Carnival of Spies; Mexico Way, p. 678, etc.), but he is welcome to write amusing, picaresque, period adventures anytime he wants. Bastard child of a rich Anglo-Irish mother and stepson of the real Celtic thing, Shane Hardacre has taken his formidable charms to England, where he plans to become a playwright when he is not busy pursuing pretty actresses. On a night out at White's with the husband of his current mistress, Shane meets a moody young baronet whose fascination with the dreamworld draws him to the mystic Indians of the New World. Shane, whose plays have not taken off, accompanies the baronet to Colonial New York, where Shane's cousin Sir William Johnson manages His Majesty's Indian affairs. Sir William has not exactly gone native, but he has come to understand and subsequently respect the resident Mohawks far more than the average Englishman. Shane's baronet friend sinks deeper and deeper into the spiritual world of the natives and eventually becomes lost in it. The more earthbound Shane joins his cousin's Indian administration and sets off for years of adventure at the edge of civilization in the wilds of Detroit and in the future suburbs of St. Louis. He nearly dies at the hands of the original Pontiac and engages in healthful activities with young ladies of both New and Old World tribes. There is not a single stuffy moment in this splendidly researched and wildly amusing historical adventure. Tom Jones as The Deerslayer. -- Copyright �1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Publishers Weekly:

In this stylish departure from his usual haunts, suspense author Moss ( Carnival of Spies ) presents the fictional journal of Shane Hardacre, in service to his distant relative Sir William Johnson, a historical figure who served as the king's superintendent of Indians in the years prior to the American Revoluton. This bawdy, violent and always engrossing tale rings with authenticity in both fact and spirit. Johnson strove to create an order in which the Indians could retain their hunting grounds and live side by side with white settlers; and Hardacre's adventures illustrate many of the reasons that destined that noble plan to failure, from conflict between cultures to the nearly insatiable land-hunger of many pioneers. With his death-obsessed traveling companion, Sir Robert Davers (whose Indian name gives title to the book), Hardacre is witness to, and just barely a survivor of, Johnson's struggles to hold the peace and the eventual uprising led by Chief Pontiac. Enhanced by an extensive appendix, this splendid piece of storytelling offers the added delight of a likely sequel set during the American Revolution.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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