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Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.52
EAN num: 9780553276862
ISBN number: 0553276867
Label: Bantam
Manufacturer: Bantam
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 208
Printing Date: August 01, 1984
Publishing house: Bantam
Release Date: April 01, 1980
Sale Popularity Level: 40335
Studio: Bantam
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Product Description:
Son of a feared fighting man, Barnabas Sackett inherited his father's fiery temper, sense of justice and warrior skills. Declared an outlaw in his native England, Barnabas set his daring sights on the opportunities of the New World. The ruthless piracy of the open seas and the unknown dangers of the savage American wilderness lay before him. And so did the thrill of discovery and the chance to establish a bold new future if he survived.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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I have read many books of different genres, yet all were fantasy. My husband is a Louis L'Amour admirer and owner of the whole collection, so when he wanted to listen to Sackett's Land, I knew we would enjoy it immensely. A half cowboy himself it is only natural that he would have picked this author for our camping trip. We listened to the whole story and truly enjoyed it. It was different from what I love but nonetheless very well done and entertaining. It was truly a piece of art. If you love the old cowboys stories, you will love this one... we did.
Anna del C.
Author of "The Elf and the Princess"
The Elf and The Princess: The Silent Warrior Trilogy - Book One (The Silent Warrior Trilogy)
Rated by buyers 
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I've been told that Louis L'Amour wasn't trying to write literature, but was only trying to be a storyteller, someone with a place around the campfire. I can respect that, indeed I often find that the books the critics praise are rather poor, while the ones that the critics pan are sometimes excellent. As an example I genuinely enjoy R.E. Howard's books.
When I decided to read Louis L'Amour I went to websites that discuss his work, and I read the forum threads there too. Sackett's Land came very highly recommended, and since I don't really like Westerns I decided I'd give this a go. One day when I had nothing else to do I sat down and hoped I was in for a treat.
Was I ever wrong...
The story begins well enough with the hero discovering a hidden cache of Roman coins, and searching out a potential buyer. After the sale he goes through a village, where he spots a beautiful maiden, and offers her a drink of water. This makes the ladies suitor come down on him as a ton of bricks, a fight breaks out, and he must flee for his life aided by the mysterious stranger Jublain.
Now until this point the story seemed good, the coins gave this rather poor lad some money to work with, and the fight with the suitor (an important nobleman) gave him a reason to leave his home and look for adventure. In short I was willing to accept all the coincidences I'd seen so far.
The problem is that the coincidences never stopped! When the hero is accosted in the Globe Theatre and has to flee he just happens to seek shelter in the home of an important sea captain! The very first man he asks in a pub just happens to know where they can find a scribe that's good at looking up sea maps and unpublished accounts of English antiquities! He just happens to drift ashore, and climb over a sand dune, in time to spot the footsteps of the bad guys taking his love interest away! There's always a helpful stranger there to aid the hero, and for some inexplicable reason they're immediately completely loyal to him!
In fact this novel doesn't have a plot as much as it has a series of action scenes strung together by highly unlikely coincidences!
I could also add that the descriptions are so bare that I was often confused as to whether or not they were in the Americas, on the ship, or what not. If it happens once or twice I tell myself to pay more attention, but when it happens a dozen times or more I blame the writer, and it distracts from my enjoyment.
There's also the fact that most of the characters sound almost exactly the same, there's no unique voice for each character, nor any sign of a personality beyond their place in the plot.
It's not literature, fair enough, but it's not even a good story! If you lived thirty years ago, or twenty years ago, and books were your main source of entertainment on the go then sure this'll do. That's what it is though, dubious pulp fiction, and a great disappointment.
Rated by buyers -
I bought this book for a western lover. He enjoyed it very much and has since bought more Louis L'Amour books after I had turned him onto this one. He said it was entertaining, dramatic, thrilling, and adventerous. A good buy for western lovers (especially of the American type of westerns John Wayne types).
Rated by buyers 
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I spent a lot of time pondering Sackett's Land, the very first in L'amour's famous series about the winning of America. Sackett's Land is the story of Barnabas Sackett, a plucky fen-man (a man from the fascinating culture of the British swamps, long since drained) who journeys to America in the 1590s and explores the Chesapeake Bay. This book has one of the most exciting and well-written opening scenes that I've ever read in my life. I was immediately drawn in to the story of Barnabas and couldn't wait to see what happened to him.
Unfortunately, the book really lost focus after the opening. Written much in the style of a summer movie like Pirates of the Caribbean, it's one action sequence after another, with very little character development and almost no real plot. Even though the book was only 178 pages, I had to flog myself to get through it.
The best parts of Sackett's Land are when L'amour lets his own philosophy and knowledge of history shine through in brilliant little asides. I was amazed to learn about the different ethnic groups that existed in England back then. There's a great scene in which Barnabas and his friends loot an old Roman settlement, which L'amour slyly uses to comment on the ethics of digging up archeological treasures.
At heart the book is all about self-reliance, and I wish L'amour had given himself a driving plot to bring home this point that Barnabas makes so well:
I would not sit waiting for some vague tomorrow, nor for something to happen. One could wait a lifetime, and find nothing at the end of the waiting. I would begin here, I would make something happen.
Rated by buyers 
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No matter where you started with the Sackett books, go ahead and read this one now. For fans of L'Amour's work, especially The Walking Drum, you will be pleased.
Sackett's Land is a good and appropriate beginning for the entire saga. It may well stimulate you to read the whole history in order.
The book is important for yet another reason. It's style and depth are a window to what The Walking Drum has in store for you. Sackett's Land hints at what L'Amour was capable of beyond the pulp western market.
When we pick up a Louis L'Amour book of the standard pulp market size, we have a set of expectations. Good and evil will be clearly recognizable. Good will prevail. The story will be enjoyable and just instructive enough to make us feel that we grew from reading the book. Sackett's Land fulfills all these expectations.
Sackett's Land also holds an interesting place in popular literature. It is representation of a specific family (along with fellow travelers through life) and that family's initial transcontinental encounters. As one reads it, one is reminded of Edgar Rice Burroughs's stories of Lord Greystoke. In fact, as I was mentally remarking that Sackett's Land reminded me of Tarzan (books 1 and 2), I turned the page to find our protagonist marooned on the new continent. In this case, the new continent was the North America, not Africa, but the similarity was fun to notice.
Louis L'Amour was a man of his time, and while he could tap into Burrough's storytelling rhythms at times, L'Amour was ever more interested in depicting people as people, and a great respecter of human diversity. I believe descendants yesterday of American Indians and Europeans can read Sackett's Land and enjoy thinking about their own American families.
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