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Anonymous
Posted April 5, 2005
If it suits your taste
HN is a definitely a strange breed of history and fiction. While reading the novel, I often found the story to be more enlightening than entertaining, with intricate historical detail. This worked for me simply because I'm a curious reader and I was fascinated with tidbits to enhance my understanding of this historical event. For those looking for a title that is entertaining in nature, I would suggest a different read. On the other hand, if this genre is your forte, then I would recommend it. The most disappointing detail would be the forced nature of the ending; the story concludes quite suddenly and leaves the reader a little confused about how suddenly wins the Revolutionary War.
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Anonymous
Posted April 19, 2005
A Georgian reviews Georgia History
I enjoyed this book, but I must say truthfully that I enjoy almost any books written about the colonial period in Georgia history simply because there are so few of them. The Debatable Land: A Novel of the Southeast. 1739-1746, Reap the Whirlwind: A Novel of Augusta during the Revolution and Rascals Heaven are the only three that come to mind at this moment. As a matter of fact, The Hornet's Nest is very similar in style and content to Reap the Whrilwind. I would recommend any of these titles to a reader interested in good historical fiction.
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Anonymous
Posted December 9, 2004
A Weak History
The subject and the characters are an important story, but the telling is less than professional. A nice attempt by President Carter.
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Anonymous
Posted September 22, 2004
Editing gaffs detract from otherwise enjoyable story
A reasonably effective attempt to tell the story of the Revolution in the South through the voice of real and fictional characters. While thoroughly researched in most instances, there are several obvious gaffs in historical names and places. For instance, Carter calls South Carolina patriot Thomas 'The Gamecock' Sumter, Francis Sumter and he tells the reader that the Battle of Camden took place in North Carolina. I enjoyed this book for the sake of gaining new perspectives on events in our history which have received little attention over the years, but agree with the readers who say that Carter lacks any real skill at developing a story to go along with his basic historical narrative.
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Anonymous
Posted June 9, 2004
Great Book!
I just finished The Hornet's Nest and thoroughly enjoyed it. As someone who rarely reads fiction, the book captured my attention from start to finish. The opposing views of the characters, combined with the often unexpected, yet brutality of the war, made for an interesting read. I definitely would purchase another historical fiction book written by our former president.
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Anonymous
Posted June 23, 2004
Underdeveloped
Expecting more from this book. A novel but not really developed. Jumps from one character to another, from one area to the next leaving you without ever developing a story that holds your interest. Many characters mentioned only to disappear. To many pages spent on very little development of historical material. Probably could have done as well in 100 pages. Just never got going on anything.
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Anonymous
Posted February 29, 2004
Fascinating history, impersonal style
I'm in the middle of the book, and I like it very much. It is definitely holding my interest. However, I do not feel at all involved with the characters. The author just tells what happens to them without embellishment. I would have loved to know what it felt like to BE Epsey Pratt! You feel like a spectator (or at least, I do). I hope Mr. Carter writes more novels, especially historical ones, but with better character development.
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Anonymous
Posted February 7, 2004
Interesting History, Poorly Written Story
Frankly I was disappointed. While I readily admit the historic facts were interesting and opened up a new view of the conflict, the fictional context it was written in was unsatisfying. I learned alot of new information about the politics, social issues, battles and the impact of the war in the deep south, but the characters did not interest me and I felt the dialog was much to oriented toward obviously giving the reader the historic background and in many cases was out of character with the speaker. Frankly nobody speaks that way except a history teacher in school. The book's pace was too irregular and I struggled to finish.
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Anonymous
Posted January 22, 2004
Lotsa talk, little action
Lots of talk, little action in this methodically researched work of historical fiction. And only 1 typo, which is outstanding by today's standards. The book does provide a glimpse into how we ever could have won the Revolutionary War, losing battle after battle after battle. However, we persevered and wore down the British through skirmishes and guerrilla warfare. The Vietcong and NVA returned the favor to the U.S. 200 years later in Southeast Asia. A good look into the Revolutionary War in the South for historians as well as the general reader.
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Anonymous
Posted January 7, 2004
Obviously written by an ex-president, not a fiction writer
Three stars for the extensive historical research, but no stars for the literary quality. I'm lamenting the lost opportunity for the 10 or 15 no-name novelists with talent whose careers could have been kindled with Carter's advance money.
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Anonymous
Posted November 19, 2003
Is Carter 'borrowing?'
The title is as intriguing as was the title when used by E.P.Roe in a novel of the same name when first published in 1886. The theme is eerily the same...American revolutionary war in the deep South,Whigs, and Northern settlers lately removed to the South.
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Anonymous
Posted December 30, 2003
Mel Gibson should have filmed this!
A book which shows that the American Revolution in the South was more like the first American Civil War than anything else. Families and neighbors were divided by real issues that they thought worth fighting and dying for, and the situation, as ably depicted by Mr. Carter, was full of complexity, drama, and sorrow. This is what the film 'The Patriot' should have been.
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Anonymous
Posted December 26, 2003
The Hornet's Nest - Great Revolutionary Novel
Great Novel of the Revolutionary War from the Southern perspective. Great characters - Ethan Pratt, Epsey Pratt, Kindred Morris, Thomas Brown and Elijah Clarke. How President Carter keeps the reader informed of the events in other parts of the colonies was a nice touch. Number of surprises, kept me turning the pages. Great background, character development interwoven with historical facts. Great descriptions of the conflicts between the Patriots and Loyalists. Reading this novel was a great pleasure.
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Anonymous
Posted December 12, 2003
a new outlook on a old war
this a different view about the first war here fought in the united states. thank you president carter for giving this view point on our american history.
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