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The Soldier's Seed
Southern Skyes
Sharyn Bradford Lunn's landmark saga of adventure and romance, spans almost 200 years of family history set against a backdrop of the rich and rugged wilds of Australia.
In this sweeping story of love and loss, fortune and fate, this masterful storyteller recounts the journeys of the McCabe and Skye families, along with the people who shape their lives, as they strive to make good in the penal colonies of New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land during the early 1800s. The saga chronicles the two families’ trials and triumphs, joys and injustices, and the inner torment as their lives come full circle and old secrets are revealed.
The epic begins with the love of a soldier in the New South Wales Corps for a high-spirited convict woman, but tragedy leads him to the arms of a beautiful native woman. From these unions arise generations of proud Australians who play their part in forging the Great Southern Land. The story of these courageous men and women, their dreams, their dynasty, and the heritage they share is as unique as the land from which they sprang. Southern Skyes brings Australia's history to life with compelling characters, rendering the Australian landscape in all its rugged magnificence.
The Soldier’s Seed – Book 1 of Southern Skyes
The Soldier’s Seed, the first book of the Southern Skyes family saga, is a novel that captures the wide range of relationships between colonial, convict, and indigenous families during the tumultuous events that defined the early penal colonies of Australia.
Nicholas Thomas, a soldier in the New South Wales Corps, loathes his life in Sydney Town and through a series of events of his own making he finds himself running from his past to what could be an even worse fate. While pioneering a new settlement that encounters one problem after another, he struggles to find his true self and identify what he really wants from life . . . until he meets a woman a soldier shouldn't love. When tragedy strikes, he is forced to make choices that will affect his descendants for decades to come.
The Soldier's Seed is a heart-rending adventure and an exciting introduction to Australian history and the epic Southern Skyes series.
PLUS a Bonus Chapter! Take a sneak peek at Southern Skyes Book 2 – The Divergence
Sharyn Bradford Lunn's landmark saga of adventure and romance, spans almost 200 years of family history set against a backdrop of the rich and rugged wilds of Australia.
In this sweeping story of love and loss, fortune and fate, this masterful storyteller recounts the journeys of the McCabe and Skye families, along with the people who shape their lives, as they strive to make good in the penal colonies of New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land during the early 1800s. The saga chronicles the two families’ trials and triumphs, joys and injustices, and the inner torment as their lives come full circle and old secrets are revealed.
The epic begins with the love of a soldier in the New South Wales Corps for a high-spirited convict woman, but tragedy leads him to the arms of a beautiful native woman. From these unions arise generations of proud Australians who play their part in forging the Great Southern Land. The story of these courageous men and women, their dreams, their dynasty, and the heritage they share is as unique as the land from which they sprang. Southern Skyes brings Australia's history to life with compelling characters, rendering the Australian landscape in all its rugged magnificence.
The Soldier’s Seed – Book 1 of Southern Skyes
The Soldier’s Seed, the first book of the Southern Skyes family saga, is a novel that captures the wide range of relationships between colonial, convict, and indigenous families during the tumultuous events that defined the early penal colonies of Australia.
Nicholas Thomas, a soldier in the New South Wales Corps, loathes his life in Sydney Town and through a series of events of his own making he finds himself running from his past to what could be an even worse fate. While pioneering a new settlement that encounters one problem after another, he struggles to find his true self and identify what he really wants from life . . . until he meets a woman a soldier shouldn't love. When tragedy strikes, he is forced to make choices that will affect his descendants for decades to come.
The Soldier's Seed is a heart-rending adventure and an exciting introduction to Australian history and the epic Southern Skyes series.
PLUS a Bonus Chapter! Take a sneak peek at Southern Skyes Book 2 – The Divergence
ebook
First published July 18, 2012
40 people are currently reading
29 people want to read
About the author
Sharyn Bradford Lunn
12 books20 followersAfter reading Alex Haley’s Roots, Sharyn developed a passion for genealogy and history that deepened with the ensuing years. This went hand in hand with another newly discovered interest: writing. And so her first series was born, Southern Skyes, an Australian historical fiction family saga.
Now, after writing six books in the series, Sharyn has turned her attention to another writing passion: the good old-fashioned mystery. You can find those in the Cody Costin Cozy Mysteries and the Jami Laramie Mystery series, where this book, Deep Blue Death, is the opener.
When not writing or researching, Sharyn can be found enjoying time at home in Sydney, Australia, with family and friends, swimming, hiking, walking her dogs, reading, painting, tracing someone's family tree, or enjoying a rock concert. She digs a good rollercoaster ride as much as a trail bike ride. To round out her adventurer’s spirit, she embraces the joy of travel and learning about other cultures.
Look for more books from Sharyn in the coming months and years as she further develops her current mystery line-up, and tinkers with other ideas along the way.
If you enjoy her books, please spread the word and consider leaving a book review … they are always very much appreciated.
Now, after writing six books in the series, Sharyn has turned her attention to another writing passion: the good old-fashioned mystery. You can find those in the Cody Costin Cozy Mysteries and the Jami Laramie Mystery series, where this book, Deep Blue Death, is the opener.
When not writing or researching, Sharyn can be found enjoying time at home in Sydney, Australia, with family and friends, swimming, hiking, walking her dogs, reading, painting, tracing someone's family tree, or enjoying a rock concert. She digs a good rollercoaster ride as much as a trail bike ride. To round out her adventurer’s spirit, she embraces the joy of travel and learning about other cultures.
Look for more books from Sharyn in the coming months and years as she further develops her current mystery line-up, and tinkers with other ideas along the way.
If you enjoy her books, please spread the word and consider leaving a book review … they are always very much appreciated.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 13, 2012
As the fictional story of Nicholas Thomas unfolded before me, I realized two things:
One, I was completely entertained by Nicholas' innate sense of righteousness (thanks, mom) and optimism in the face of depressing, comical, and trying situations.
Two, I was a history student again. This book is a creative lesson in Australian and aboriginal history from the early 1800s, keeping you ticking from top to bottom!
And what of the Soldier's Seed? Ah, what a crop!
One, I was completely entertained by Nicholas' innate sense of righteousness (thanks, mom) and optimism in the face of depressing, comical, and trying situations.
Two, I was a history student again. This book is a creative lesson in Australian and aboriginal history from the early 1800s, keeping you ticking from top to bottom!
And what of the Soldier's Seed? Ah, what a crop!
August 16, 2014
Spanning decades, Lunn brings Australia’s history to life among both the colonists and the original tribes that inhabit the islands.
Read full review in the 2013 July/August double issue of InD’tale Magazine.
Read full review in the 2013 July/August double issue of InD’tale Magazine.
January 16, 2013
The Soldier's Seed is Book 1 of Sharyn Bradford Lunn's historical fiction novel series Southern Skyes.
The Soldier's Seed opens in Sydney Town, New South Wales, 1803, with Nicholas Thomas, an English farmer turned soldier in the New South Wales Corps. The Corps' mission is guard transported convicts and colonize. The Corps and the Royal Marines, who arrived a year earlier, have a bitter rivalry. The Marines, unwilling to supervise convicts, were replaced by the Corps a year later.
During the 14 year stint in Sydney Town, the Corps became a powerful operation, with the acting governor allocating large land grants to his officers, who, in turn, became rum traders bringing wealth and influence. This does not sit well with the Royal Marines, who are more than delighted to inform the Corps they will be moving out to Van Diemen's Land to establish a settlement to ward off rumors of French colonization. The worst of the offenders will be transferred to Van Diemen's Land, including those who previously conspired and failed to seize control of Norfolk Island.
Nicholas hates Sydney Town, New South Wales and the Corps. His dreams of wealth and adventure turned to dust in the inhospitable climate and prominent corruptness. His only goal is finish his term in one piece and return home to Kent to a pastoral life of farming. With the impending result of his indiscretions with the local shopkeepers wife due in mere weeks, Nicholas volunteers to transfer to Van Diemen's Land. It's not his first choice but, given the circumstances and shopkeeper's threats, it seems the lesser of the evils.
The Corps on Van Diemen's Land will be under the command of a young Lieutenant Bowen, a former Royal Marine. Nicholas has not meshed well with his fellow corrupt Corps, who are quite happy to lay a beating on him and verbally berate him given an opportunity. This move to Van Diemen's Land could prove the solution to all of his problems in Sydney Town. Governor King is in a hurry to beat the French to Van Diemen's Land and this suits Nicholas perfectly. Staying in Sydney Town holds no promise of gaining wealth and he's not eager to stick around should the shopkeeper's wife's baby prove to be his child.
The voyage from Sydney Town to Van Diemen's Land is miserable on an overcrowded whaler and plagued by incessant seasickness. Nicholas is so physically and emotionally depleted he is prepared to die on the deck, but a black freed slave turned whaler doesn't permit him the option. Buck and Nicholas become fast friends, although it is obvious it will be of short duration. Before they part, Buck gifts a carved whale tooth to Nicholas, which will have meaning in the far future.
Bowen's orders from Governor King is to establish a new colony and this is what he sets out to do. Shelters and gardens are established and free settlers begin to work their land. Convicts, however, true to their previous history are uncooperative with authorities until the threat of reduced rations and lack of shelter finally inspires them to act in their own interests. Once they have built themselves housing, they return to their recalcitrant state.
As the settlement grows, disharmony between officials and rum conspiracies amongst the soldiers are reminiscent of Sydney Town. Occasionally, aboriginals are spotted, but they seem merely curious and harmless. Little does Nicholas know the part the aboriginals will play in his life.
Nicholas is a slow learner and has a liaison with a free settler's wife until the day he sees a beautiful convict named Maggie working the gardens. She becomes pregnant, but Nicholas' request to marry her is denied. He sees no option other to run away with her. He know the penalty for desertion, but his love for Maggie and her child overpowers the consequences if caught.
The Soldier's Seed is quite literally titled, as it follows Nicholas and his child's destiny. However, it isn't until the second half of the novel that Lunn begins to focus on Nicholas and his life. Much of the novel up to that point is a rendering of the historical inception of Tasmania which, although thoroughly researched, does not move Nicholas' story forward.
Personally, I feel that if The Soldier's Seed had focused primarily on Nicholas' story continually, with the colonization of Tasmania more of a background story, this novel would have more cohesion. I found myself waiting and wanting to read more about Nicholas, which took too long to delve into.
The Soldier's Seed opens in Sydney Town, New South Wales, 1803, with Nicholas Thomas, an English farmer turned soldier in the New South Wales Corps. The Corps' mission is guard transported convicts and colonize. The Corps and the Royal Marines, who arrived a year earlier, have a bitter rivalry. The Marines, unwilling to supervise convicts, were replaced by the Corps a year later.
During the 14 year stint in Sydney Town, the Corps became a powerful operation, with the acting governor allocating large land grants to his officers, who, in turn, became rum traders bringing wealth and influence. This does not sit well with the Royal Marines, who are more than delighted to inform the Corps they will be moving out to Van Diemen's Land to establish a settlement to ward off rumors of French colonization. The worst of the offenders will be transferred to Van Diemen's Land, including those who previously conspired and failed to seize control of Norfolk Island.
Nicholas hates Sydney Town, New South Wales and the Corps. His dreams of wealth and adventure turned to dust in the inhospitable climate and prominent corruptness. His only goal is finish his term in one piece and return home to Kent to a pastoral life of farming. With the impending result of his indiscretions with the local shopkeepers wife due in mere weeks, Nicholas volunteers to transfer to Van Diemen's Land. It's not his first choice but, given the circumstances and shopkeeper's threats, it seems the lesser of the evils.
The Corps on Van Diemen's Land will be under the command of a young Lieutenant Bowen, a former Royal Marine. Nicholas has not meshed well with his fellow corrupt Corps, who are quite happy to lay a beating on him and verbally berate him given an opportunity. This move to Van Diemen's Land could prove the solution to all of his problems in Sydney Town. Governor King is in a hurry to beat the French to Van Diemen's Land and this suits Nicholas perfectly. Staying in Sydney Town holds no promise of gaining wealth and he's not eager to stick around should the shopkeeper's wife's baby prove to be his child.
The voyage from Sydney Town to Van Diemen's Land is miserable on an overcrowded whaler and plagued by incessant seasickness. Nicholas is so physically and emotionally depleted he is prepared to die on the deck, but a black freed slave turned whaler doesn't permit him the option. Buck and Nicholas become fast friends, although it is obvious it will be of short duration. Before they part, Buck gifts a carved whale tooth to Nicholas, which will have meaning in the far future.
Bowen's orders from Governor King is to establish a new colony and this is what he sets out to do. Shelters and gardens are established and free settlers begin to work their land. Convicts, however, true to their previous history are uncooperative with authorities until the threat of reduced rations and lack of shelter finally inspires them to act in their own interests. Once they have built themselves housing, they return to their recalcitrant state.
As the settlement grows, disharmony between officials and rum conspiracies amongst the soldiers are reminiscent of Sydney Town. Occasionally, aboriginals are spotted, but they seem merely curious and harmless. Little does Nicholas know the part the aboriginals will play in his life.
Nicholas is a slow learner and has a liaison with a free settler's wife until the day he sees a beautiful convict named Maggie working the gardens. She becomes pregnant, but Nicholas' request to marry her is denied. He sees no option other to run away with her. He know the penalty for desertion, but his love for Maggie and her child overpowers the consequences if caught.
The Soldier's Seed is quite literally titled, as it follows Nicholas and his child's destiny. However, it isn't until the second half of the novel that Lunn begins to focus on Nicholas and his life. Much of the novel up to that point is a rendering of the historical inception of Tasmania which, although thoroughly researched, does not move Nicholas' story forward.
Personally, I feel that if The Soldier's Seed had focused primarily on Nicholas' story continually, with the colonization of Tasmania more of a background story, this novel would have more cohesion. I found myself waiting and wanting to read more about Nicholas, which took too long to delve into.
November 3, 2013
I would have enjoyed this book a lot more if it had less errors in it. I consider over 3 errors to be lacking and I found 13, not counting knits like sailing vessels anchored having "bare masts" when they probably meant "furled sails". It also needs a better detail map of the areas surrounding the main harbor and river in the story. I had trouble envisioning just where I was at any particular time. This book is also obviously part of a series, which was clearly stated, but to leave some of the characters hanging was frustrating. Other than that, it was a fun read and would have been rated a solid 4 stars without the errors. I later had an e-mail conversation with the author and she accepted my errors and has corrected them. Now rated a solid 4-5 stars.
September 19, 2018
this book sounded intriguing. the writing is simple and moves the story along at a fast pace. it took me a few chapters to like Nicholas, but as he changed to be a better man I enjoyed where life took him.
it is a love story, but more of people loving each other than romance. my heart broke for Nicholas and a handful of other characters with cards they we're dealt.
I bought the next book because I want to know what happens to Nicholas's family.
it is a love story, but more of people loving each other than romance. my heart broke for Nicholas and a handful of other characters with cards they we're dealt.
I bought the next book because I want to know what happens to Nicholas's family.
November 17, 2016
Great read!
Roam the high seas and explore the empty lands called Australia and New Zealand. This novel takes you to the early years, the hardships of those people, the courage that it took to sail thousands of miles to a new land.
Very good story line and the characters are well developed. You won't be disappointed. Looking forward to getting the next in the series.
Roam the high seas and explore the empty lands called Australia and New Zealand. This novel takes you to the early years, the hardships of those people, the courage that it took to sail thousands of miles to a new land.
Very good story line and the characters are well developed. You won't be disappointed. Looking forward to getting the next in the series.
September 9, 2018
The story took place in the penal colonies of Australia. Much of the land was uninhabited. I always love to read anything during this period and this book did not fail me. I look forward to reading the sequel!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews