"TO SOAR WITH EAGLES," by Gerald N. Lund, Deseret Book, $29.99, 522 pages (f)
A third volume in Gerald N. Lund's historical fiction series featuring the pioneering families of the San Juan mission in southeastern Utah links it to another series.
The new novel, "To Soar With Eagles," is the sequel to "Only the Brave" and "The Undaunted: The Miracle of the Hole-In-the-Rock Pioneers." It continues the story of Mitch Westland and Edie Zimmer, spanning 1888 to 1919 as they carve out a new life among the Mormon settlers in one of the harshest landscapes of the American West. In addition to establishing a new community, homes and ranches, the pioneers must face challenges involving Native Americans, competing ranches, cattle rustlers and nature, based on real historical events.
The title of the book comes from Isaiah 40:31, a scripture verse in the Old Testament, which promises that those who wait on the Lord will have renewed strength and "mount up with wings as eagles."
This series is connected to another Lund historical fiction series titled Fire and Steel, which follows a simple farm family from southern Germany during World Wars I and II. Characters from both stories cross paths in "The Storm Descends," the second volume in the Fire and Steel series, according to an author's note.
"Hereafter, the story of the Eckhardts and the Westlands will continue in future volumes of Fire and Steel, and there will be no additional volumes of Only the Brave," Lund wrote in an author's note in "To Soar With Eagles," which was released in May.
Lund is also the author of several novels, including the Work and the Glory series and the Fire and the Covenant series, along with nonfiction books For more information on Lund and his work, visit geraldnlund.com.
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