This has been an interesting book, but definitely not my favorite of the series. It seems everything in this series has been going south for all the characters. The Kent family just isn't getting a break in this book, and at times it's difficult for me to read considering my penchant for happy endings. I liked the character of Luis Cordoba, a Mexican soldier that saves Amanda Kent de la Guera from the aftermath of the Alamo and General Santa Anna's wrath and sires a son named Louis Kent. Amanda's life isn't very pleasant for the most part, and she trades her humanity in the pursuit of the myth of the Kent family. She virtually ignores her son at a time he needs her most, turns her back on her values in order to pursue the vision of the Kent family reunited that she has dreamt about all her life and finally has reached a point where it might be possible to bring it to pass. But as a result of her actions she doesn't guide Louis properly and it looks like he is going to turn into a ne'er do well and not become someone who could live up to the Kent name (so far, no one has. Philip Kent the benchmark his descendants are striving to emulate, turned into a curmudgeon at the end himself. Hopefully somebody redeems this family at some point because so far no one has really lived up to the ideals that the family is supposed to embody. Maybe Jared Adam Kent comes closest so far, he warns Amanda that what she wants to pursue will destroy her, and he seems to have retained all his genuine emotions throughout the journey of his life, not becoming soured by time, and he has had the graciousness to bless his son Jeptha even though he decided to walk a path different than what Jared envisioned for him. I enjoy the history I get to experience through this series, but often it seems like the plot is just a vehicle in order to display the panoply of American history rather than to give a cohesive picture of the Kent family (indeed, this series was sold as a package to commemorate the American Bicentennial, but still...)