Jason Smiley Stewart - My Life Story
Volume 3 - FullCircle
What Readers have written about 'Full Circle'
I have had so much pleasure from this historical novel John, and with the final part set partly in NZ, it has had a special impact for me as New Zelander. My ancestors travelled by ship to Dunedin in 1882, then settled in Central Otago, Kyeburn, 100 kilometres from the Lindus River area. The story has held my interest thru the 3 novels. I have again been held in anticipation of the adventure and did not want the adventures to conclude. You should be extremely proud of this work and I wish you well. Thank you so much for asking me to read this 3rd novel, it has been a pleasure, and an extremely enjoyable book.
Full Circle is the third volume about Jason Smiley Stewart’s life story written by John Milton Langdon. After a tragic personal stroke, the protagonist is lead to 19th century Australia and New Zealand, where new and adventurous challenges await him. The reader, travelling with Jason through down-under, can almost feel the sea breeze blowing into his face, while being able to witness Jason’s journey through life. As in the first two volumes, the author surprises using unexpected twists and not only interesting, but well researched technical and historical details. A book full of adventures and emotions that cannot be put down, right from its very first pages.
Having looked forward to Vol. 3 of John Langdon’s novel, I wondered whether my interest in Jason Smiley Stewart’s life story would be reborn after a lapse of time. I need not have been concerned. I was immediately immersed in his adventures and, at times could hardly put the book down.
The author has cleverly contrasted the grief of the first chapter with the lead up to an all too brief happiness and the possibility of a future in Scotland. One has to know what caused this misery and how it would be faced.
Faced reluctantly it certainly is but the pace quickens and Jason’s journey from depression to purpose during his voyage to Australia and eventually to New Zealand is skillfully and dramatically described. One does not for a moment entertain the notion that he will not survive but the life threatening events keep one reading far into the night in my case.
I was kept guessing as to who and what would be Jason’s final destiny and the re-appearance of a voice from the past proved a very satisfactory illustration of the title of this volume. All three volumes form a whole to be savored and treasured.
Full Circle by John Milton Langdon
Master and the Commander meet Robert Lewis Stevenson in the final instalment of this three-part adventure story. Full Circle takes our hero to the new territories of Australia and New Zealand, which gives the author ample opportunity to display his nautical knowledge. Domestic scenes of courtship, marriage and colonial administration interweave with swashbuckling scenes of high seas and base knaves. By the end, our hero has completed his transformation from Jason Smiley, blacksmith’s son, to Jason Smiley-Stewart, captain’s son, to Viscount Strathmilton, heir to a Scottish estate. The full circle also refers to the return of his first love after the tragic death of his wife. The polite and formal Victorian dialect conjures a former era of duty, service and honour—and heroes.
The third installment continues the story of Jason Smiley-Stewart. Again, the pace of storytelling is slow and relaxed. Langdon enjoys taking his time. The language has a certain old-fashioned elegance which one misses a lot in modern literature.
The reader feels like being a passenger on one of the ships Langdon describes. Nostalgia, the sense of adventure and truly lively characters are the ingredients that make this novel a true pleasure to read!
Jason Smiley-Stewart tells his story, a story about private happiness, tragedy, and happiness again. As in the first two volumes, the course of action takes the reader on a journey around the world. The hero of the novel encounters gunfights or escapes from a sinking ship, only to be united with his love in the end.
One cannot help but admire Langdon’s stamina to create such a wide-spanning series of books!
A truly gripping novel!
Full Circle – A short review
The opening line was quite abrupt, straight off a coach and up the gang way. I even had to read it again to get the sense of stepping off the coach straight onto the ship. No messing about, very direct and straight into the new series of adventures. I was surprised at the start how surly our hero had become in the opening pages and the reasons became well apparent. It was a good opening . The story line flowed well, and having set the scenes and the characters in the earlier books it was no longer necessary to give either a lot of details about many of the characters, or about the time and places. Your style has mellowed and matured with your earlier novels, and it was enjoyable and easy reading. The build up to the wedding and resolving the family feuds was excellent, then the joy of the forthcoming birth, and the abruptness with the death of his new wife in child birth, and so round to the new beginning and at sea again.
FULL CIRCLE Volume 3 of a Novel by John Milton Langdon
Having read two volumes and already familiar with the hero Jason Smiley Stewart one is used to his very detailed descriptions of even minor events and things. The story speeds up with the arrival in Australia and the commission to New Zealand. The dramatic climax is a crime story and its solution, and the reader, now caught in suspense as to the outcome does not drop the book until the riddle is solved. As the book ends with his first love Mary returning back into Jason’s arms without explanations, one can already now look forward to Volume 4.