REVIEW: Independence!

Independence!
Wagons West #1
Author: Dana Ross Fuller

As part of my quest to re-read my favorite series, I decided to jump back into Dana Fuller Ross' Wagons West books! I first read this series when I was about 14 years old. I loved it as a teenager! There are 24 books in the series. Back when I started reading, there were only about 12...so the last half will be new to me! :)

Independence! starts the journey west. The wagon train forms at Long Island, NY for the first long leg of the journey. They will travel west to Independence, MO, where some of the travelers will leave the train and others will continue on towards Oregon. At Independence, they will re-stock supplies and take on a new wagon master. Russia and England both want the Oregon Territory....so agents from both nations have signed on to sabotage the trip in an effort to prevent settlement in Oregon. Along the way they face challenges, take on new wagons, and learn to survive.

All in all, I enjoyed re-visiting this story. I'm just as obsessed with the pioneer era and Old West as I was way back in the '80s.  As an adult re-visiting this book, I found some of the plot to be too melodramatic or romanticized and the characters a bit too stereotype. I wanted more realistic action and a lot less romance. One of the main female characters acts spoiled and jealous for nearly the entire book, but still manages to catch her man. *eye roll* I do see why my 14-year old self loved this book. But, as a 50 year old, I found the plot a bit too simple and centered around the ridiculous romance angles. I wanted more pioneer and less pouty lips.

I'm going to stick with the series to the end though. Back in the early '80s, I read through all the books that were published at that time. But then I got busy with high school, followed by college....and I just didn't have time for much fiction reading. I lost track of the series until now. So, my goal is to read through the entire series....I have to know who makes it to Oregon and the other territories in the end! :) There are some spin-off books as well that I will read if I can find them.

I'm going to give this a 4/5 rating mostly for nostalgia. The book is an entertaining read, but the plot is very cliche. The characters are very sterotypical...and the romance is cheesy. Entertaining -- yep. Great book? Not really. It's pretty much like a pioneer soap opera.

I got lucky and my local library had the first book in audio (Brilliance Audio) on their digital site. I enjoyed listening to the story as I worked in my garden. :) Narrated by Phil Gigante, the audio is almost 11 hours long. Gigante has a nice voice and gave a great performance. I have hearing loss, but was easily able to hear and understand the entire audio book. Unfortunately, the library only has the first book. I have books 2 and 3 in paperback. After that, I will have to hunt the titles up and read as I can. Might take me awhile to get through all 24...but I'm determined! :)

On to the next book -- Nebraska! :)