Monday, January 4, 2010

The Undaunted

by Gerald Lund

Rated PG

I was thrilled to receive this book for my birthday, since I am a big fan of Gerald Lund's historical fiction. This one was as good as I expected. Telling a tale of unbelievable courage and perserverance in the face of incredible odds, The Undaunted is the story of a little band of pioneers called to settle and create order in the lawless land near the Four Corners area. To get there, they had to take their wagons and cattle where not even the most rudimentary trails existed. This meant carving roads through rock, up and down cliffs, and over rolling stone topography, sometimes with nothing but picks and shovels. 

Spicing up this bit of history are Lund's fictional characters, who bring the pioneer story to life by giving us a glimpse of how love, friendship and family all mean a little something different when you're living out of wagons together for several months. But for me, the best parts were the real-life stories and miracles woven into the story from the journals and biographies the author studied as part of his research.

Highly recommended and completely clean. I only rated it PG because there are a couple close encounters with hostile native Indians along the way, but certainly nothing graphic.

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