I've been reading historical fiction and "ship books" since a few years after I could read. I went through all of the Patrick O'Brien books, and some of them twice. I've been a fan of Kenneth Roberts, Thomas Costain, MacKinlay Kantor, James Carlos Blake and more. But the absorbing, page-turning historical fiction is few and far between. Which is why I started reading O'Brien all over again. So it was a nice bonus to discover this "old" book, and enjoy it so much

I'm a sucker for that historical period, and this being the first white settlement in Australia, it didn't take a strong or nuanced character to draw me in. But Richard's a good guy, someone whom we all aspire to, and what better character to take you along to pre-white settlement Australia.

McCullough is good at insinuating historical detail into the narrative without belaboring it. You don't stop and say, wow; you just keep reading.

I'll take heart in figuring there's more undiscovered historical fiction out there, since it doesn't seem like much is coming out now.