Fire of the CovenantIn the summer of 1856 three companies of handcarts were outfitted and sent west from Iowa to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake All went well and they arrived without undue incident But two additional companiesone captained by James G Willie and the other by Edward Martinleft England late in the season When they arrived at Iowa City they were long past the time for safe departure across the plains By the time they left Florence Nebraska with still more than a thousand miles to go it was near the end of August As if that were not serious enough President Brigham Young thought that the arrival of the third company ended the migration for that season and ordered the resupply wagons back to Salt LakeFire of the Covenant is the story of those handcart pioneers and their exodus to the Salt Lake Valley Author Gerald N Lund has used the same techniques present in The Work and the Glory series to blend fictional characters into the tapestry of actual historical events making this a story filled with all the elements of great dramatragedy triumph pathos courage sacrifice surrender and faithTo learn what happens to Jens Nielson and others read about what happens after they reach the Salt Lake Valley in The UndauntedUndauntedThe journey was impossibleBut they had no other choiceAt the call of their prophet they left wellestablished farms and businesses to strike out yet again into the untamed wilderness A small band of men women and children formed the 1879 pioneer companyTheir mission stand as a buffer between lawlessness and civilizationTheir road only what they created themselves blasting out a perilous trail over slick rock and through desolate cliffsTheir hearts UNDAUNTEDWhen it comes to creating spellbinding historical fiction nobody does it quite like Gerald N Lund In The Undaunted he transports readers first to the coal mines of Yorkshire then across the ocean and the plains to the territory of Utah where even in 1879 there is pioneering to be doneA littleknown and perhaps even lessappreciated chapter in the Churchs history comes to life in this gripping story of a stalwart group of Saints called to create a settlement to serve as a buffer between the established communities of Utah and the lawless frontier of the Four Corners area Their challenge will be enormousbut the biggest part of it just may be getting there in the first placeSkillfully interweaving historical figures and events with fictional characters Gerald Lund takes us through the Hole in the Rock and over miles of uncharted country that even today is impassable without allterrain vehicles His account of the adventure romance and sacrifices of these undaunted pioneers will resonate with readers who love a good story as well as those who want to better understand the incomparable legacy and unconquerable faith of those valiant Saints