Book Review: Dawn's Early Light, by L.C. Lewis

I am so happy to finally have all three volumes of L.C. Lewis's Free Men and Dreamers series together in one place. For a couple of years, volume one was in one place, and what I thought was volume two was in another. To my horror, upon finding and looking at volume two, it was not the book I expected, but one from some other author's series altogether. While that's not entirely horrible, it was a let-down. Then I was able to purchase volume two, and the other day, volume three, Dawn's Early Light arrived in the mail. Yippee!

The reason I'm so excited is that I read Dawn's Early Light as an advance reader copy, and once I located/purchased the first two volumes, I knew I could start the whole series and learn all about the main protagonists, Jed and Hannah, from the beginning.

L.C. Lewis is a masterful writer, drawing the reader into her book with rich characterization and a keen eye for detail. The subject matter is not bad, either. This series, after all, is set against the panorama of America's early history as a nation.

Many years ago, a great writer told me that each historical novelist has his or her own favorite war. Mine is the Civil War. Laurie Lewis focuses on The War of 1812, when our resolve to be a nation was tested by Great Britain. She includes much about the state of the western world, weaving her characters into the broad tapestry of world events. She does an excellent job. I'm looking forward to volume four.

Since this book can stand alone, if you're a lover of historical fiction, you'd do well to order it from Amazon, Deseret Book, Seagull Book & Tape, or your favorite bookstore.

FTC Disclaimer: I received a copy of Dawn's Early Light for my review.