Dakota!

Wagons West #11

by Dana Fuller Ross

From the rugged beauty of the Badlands to the epic sweep of the Great Plains, the Dakota Territory offered a wealth of opportunities for those who dared to tame it. But with the arrival of settlers came the war cries of the Sioux. Now the red nations are united in blood to defend their scared grounds against all newcomers.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Westerns, Fiction, Romance, Historical

306 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 1, 1983

About the author

Dana Fuller Ross is a pseudonym used by Noel B. Gerson and James M. Reasoner.

Noel Gearson specializes in historical military novels, westerns, and mysteries. He also writes under the pseudonyms, "Dana Fuller Ross.", Anne Marie Burgess; Michael Burgess; Nicholas Gorham; Paul Lewis; Leon Phillips; Donald Clayton Porter; Philip Vail; and Carter A. Vaughan. He has written more than 325 novels.

James Reasoner (pictured) is an American writer. He is the author of more than 150 books and many short stories in a career spanning more than thirty years. Reasoner has used at least nineteen pseudonyms, in addition to his own name: Jim Austin; Peter Danielson; Terrance Duncan; Tom Early; Wesley Ellis; Tabor Evans; Jake Foster; William Grant; Matthew Hart; Livia James; Mike Jameson; Justin Ladd; Jake Logan; Hank Mitchum; Lee Morgan; J.L. Reasoner (with his wife); Dana Fuller Ross; Adam Rutledge; and Jon Sharpe. Since most of Reasoner's books were written as part of various existing Western fiction series, many of his pseudonyms were publishing "house" names that may have been used by other authors who contributed to those series

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Way back when, this was the first Wagons West book I read. The main plot is the trial of Beth Martin who is accused of murder because she shot the man who imprisoned and raped her. Though it is interesting to not that the word rape is not used.

Also what is it with this series and prostitutes with hearts of gold?

But the issue in this book, is the character of Gentle Doe and the depiction of the Sioux. It's true that in this series, any Native American tribe that is shown is always controlled by men with the only women being named those who have relationships with white men. So that's hugely problematic. The function of the Sioux tribe in this book and punishment is radically insane in its presentation. And finally, here's Gentle Doe who doesn't want the chief of her tribe but then minute she sees Toby Holt, she is willing to open her legs just because he was nice to her.

And then there is Toby Holt who is rich without having to run or do anything in terms of his various businesses, and who justifies cheating on is wife with "I'm a man, she was there".

I know, historical fiction, but I now really know why i never liked Toby. There is a change since the California volume which gets sharper, and sharper.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, these characters sure get around. In this installment of the Wagons West series, the author sends us all over the western United States, including California, Oregon, Montana and even the Badlands of Dakota. The protagonists are dynamic and have their faults. The antagonists are colorful, unflinching and unrelenting. The book continues the adventures of Toby Holt, Andy Brentwood, Beth Martin and others. These are the next generation of the original pioneers who began this wonderful series in the first wagon train to Oregon, and now, the third generation is being born. One grows very familiar with the characters of the book so that their triumphs and tragedies are truly shared by the characters and the reader as well. Read this book. Better yet, go back to the beginning and read them all. I'm really enjoying the ride.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I realize that I'm thinking way too hard about fictional historical characters written through a lens of the 1970s. But I've now read about three thousand pages of this schlock and I'm invested. I'll read all 24 and be happy for it. I also watched "Days of Our Lives" through the whole "Marlena is possessed by the devil" era, so my tolerance for schlock is pretty high.

That said: WTF TOBY.

I'm circling back to this after finishing the next books, so the fallout from his questionable decision on the road is already resolved (spoiler warning: it's solved by "boys will be boys, get over it".), but I'm STILL mad that he was such a bonehead and justified it by "I love my wife but she was there".

For a supposedly sharp guy, he's an emotional bowling ball, and it made me hate the character and be not as fond of this chapter of the series, to be honest.

Infidelity and animal abuse are usually light-it-on-fire dealbreakers for me, but I'm so sucked into this series that I'm still here, several volumes later, still holding it against a fictional character that his writer seemed to think this was a valid subplot for the supposedly-heroic main character.

ARGH.

The rest of it was the same glorious soap opera/carnival of bad decisions and worse writing as the others, and you bet your sweet bippy I'm going to read them until the end. :)

[Mgsmith · Rating 4 out of 5]

May sound somewhat repetitive here but I got hooked on the first book and it was like an addiction.
The author shows how the westward movement affected families and individuals while placing them within history itself.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the 11th book in the wagons west series...a saga of pulp fiction frontier drama tracing american history from the original wagon trains, through the civil war, to building railroads, settling the american west,etc...

They are a continuing saga...and anytime you have a lengthy chronological series like this, some in the series end up being transformational: adding new characters, villains, heroes, new settings, new plot lines...while others end up being more maintenance: having set up a bunch of characters, we just need to grind out their current story lines.

This one, while enjoyable, felt like maintenance....a conduit between the last couple of books and what comes next.

In this one, Dakota, the civil war is over and our main characters are continuing their work surveying the frontier for the transcontinental railroad. Skirmishes with native Americans ensue but are resolved. In fact, most existing plot lines seem to be in their twilight, either having been resolved or fading away.

So, as noted, it was enjoyable...but doesn’t quite compare to recent predecessors which were transformational...

Of course, if you look up the author, Dana Ross Fuller in Wikipedia, you find that’s not a person but a pseudonym for multiple authors hired by the publisher to crap these out. I could be observing differences in author styles.

[Gene Heinrich · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed book 11 in this series. It moved fast, had a great murder and trial concerning one of the main female characters (man, it was brutal being a woman in the wild west!), and everything just flowed from character to character without much backstory (previous novels would give you at least a page of each characters backstory because there are so many... maybe, at this point in the series, the authors have finally realized that we know who everyone is). The only negative thing about it was how the Indians were treated. Yes, I know it was a dark piece of history for them, but still... they weren't all blood thirsty savages.

[Robin Reynolds · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is probably my least favorite of the series so far. I knew early on I was likely not going to enjoy it as much just because I have no interest in reading about wars between the white men and the Indians cuz, yeah, the white men invaded and treated the Indians like shit so it's hard to root for the settlers.

And then I was irritated at Beth for being such a naive fool. I was mad at Toby for cheating on Clarissa and then rationalizing "she was a woman who made herself available to me, and I was a man".

[Amanda Eiden · Rating 3 out of 5]

toby!! what are you DOING? when you want to be like your dad so much that you have an affair to pull it off… but honestly, if it didn’t happen, i would’ve been irked. it’s hilarious that he used to be so naive bc he gets around the most haha.

i think this is Rob + Beth on the book cover

[Amanda-Has-A-Bookcase · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am flying through these books! This one was everything that I expect from a wagons west book! One of my favorites so far

[Lisa Marks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great book! While Toby tries to convince the Indians that peace is the best decision, Beth needs to find the strength to tell the truth.

[David A.]

Upon starting this book, I imediately felt that I had read it before, although it is not indicated here at
Good Reads. The further I got into the book the more certain I was that I had read it in the past.
I finally quit reading it, feeling there are so many other books I have yet to read.

[Partridge Public]

Ross, Dana Fuller PB

[Cws]

W Ros

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my 1st Wagons West book, and immediately fell in love with all the characters! I was hooked instantly, and wanted to read the entire series:)

[Billye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent series

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

My mother-in-law suggested this series. I've enjoyed every book so far. Excellent series!

[Debbie West · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story! The author is very good at bringing his readers up to the present book; and that's not an easy task, as this is #11 in the series.

[Michael Garreffa` · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great Series: Reading it for the second time.

[Riley Beale · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was great, until I got half way through, and reached an overly detailed description of an extremely disturbing sexual assault scene. Don't read this book. I abandoned it for a reason.

[Sherie Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent series of books.