Rating: 
Summary: An Entertaining Curiosity
Review: I really enjoyed this book, which is a curious mixture of contemporary gay porn and descriptions of the rough life on the frontier in the late 1700's. The hero, John, is an introspective jittery type, getting into bad situations and having to be rescued, searching for a decent life. I rather doubt gay men did so much thinking and self-analyzing back in those days!!! John meets Daniel, has hot sex, escapes and settles down on a land claim where he meets Palmer, has hot sex, and they meet Gwennie, the straight female friend. All are menaced by a psycho killer until a Friday the 13th type ending. In between the neurotic self-analysis are marvelous descriptions of the hard primitive frontier life - cutting up an elk in the snow, watering the garden in a drought, dealing with the desperate, nosy people in the settlement. The ending may as well have had "End of Part I - Look for the Sequel Soon" added on. All in all, quite different and enjoyable. Beware the casual cruelties to animals! Sadly a movie will never be made of this book, but I would cast a younger Hugh Grant as John, Marilyn fm Northern Exposure as Gwennie, Leonardo DiCaprio as Palmer, and (why not) Tom Selleck as Daniel/Zach, the psycho killer. Hurry up with that sequel, Michael Jensen, there's a whole lot more to Johnny Appleseed's life !!!
Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful! Destined to become a classic.
Review: One of the finest books I've read in quite some time. Frontiers is destined to become a classic. Michael Jensen has produced a work of art. He tells a story of a young man's struggle against society, against the wilderness, and most importantly, against his own internalized hatred for being gay in a time when expressing these feelings could get you imprisoned or even killed. I immediately connected with our hero, John Chapman as he finds himself fleeing for his life into the promise of freedom in the Pennsylvania wilderness. Clinging to the hope to start a new life for himself he finds himself fighting just to survive. The novel has some very romantic passages that will tug at your heart with just the right touch of eroticism. The characters John encounters are all well developed, each with their own personality, convictions and hang-ups. Setting the book in the late 18th century adds a touch of fantasy to the entire novel making everything seem unreal yet familiar. This novel has it all, love, deceit, romance, lust, murder, revenge, adventure and the added bonus of giving you a glimpse into the past where life for a gay man was different from, yet the same as, many of the lives gay people lead today. I recommend this book to anyone with any interest in either historical novels, erotic novels, romance novels or gay ficton.
Rating: 
Summary: Sexy and romantic, exciting and thought-provoking
Review: One of the most frequent questions I receive from people is why I wrote such an unusual novel. My reply is that I wrote what I wanted to read. Not necessarily a romance or even a historical novel, but something that wasn't set in LA, NY, or San Francisco and wasn't about young gay guys dancing all night and arguing over whether Madonna or Cher was the better role model. (Or if wasn't about young guys, it was about old gay guys bitter they were no longer the young guys.) I was ready for something different! I also wanted to read something that wasn't a chore to get through. I don't think being entertaining and thought-provoking are mutually exclusive concepts. And finally I wanted a story that was sexy, but romantic as well. I gather from the reviews I might have succeeded!One final note: One of the few criticisms Frontiers has received pertains to the seemingly "contemporary" views of my protagonist, John Chapman. John is based on an actual historical figure (you might know him better as Johnny Appleseed!)and he did hold the views I ascribe to him. That's part of what made him such a remarkable man and why I wrote about him. I can promise you one thing about Frontiers--you haven't read anything else like it.
Rating:
Summary: Frontiers - Fantastic!
Review: "Friendships never came easy for me. Perhaps embarrassment over my drunk, traitorous father compelled me to keep people away. Possibly I feared that my longings for other boys would be discovered if I let anyone too close. Or maybe it was because I had nothing in common with people who discussed little other than how the next crop would yield...Still, like a flower somehow blooming in the middle of a well-trod road, a friendship occasionally happened anyway." Michael has managed to mirror my life as well as other gays in this well written book. I was immeadiatly excited by the concept of gay life on the "Frontier" - something I hadn't run across until now. A great harmonious blend of Action, Adventure, Suspense, and of course great Romance! Well done Michael! Hope to be reading more by you.
Rating:
Summary: Works its way up to a rip-roaring conclusion
Review: The first 40 or 50 pages seemed uneven to me; there were rapid plot and character developments, followed by long dry spells. But by the middle of the book, it began to look as if the author may have matched the plot's development with that of the main character, John Chapman. As Chapman gained greater confidence, the plot moved faster. By then, Chapman was capable of handling situations that would have destroyed him earlier in the book. I enjoyed this book very much, both as historical fiction and an excellent novel about a gay man.
Rating:
Summary: A fascinating trip back in time
Review: As a budding little gay boy, I was always intrigued with "the olden days"..."Bonanza" on TV, Knotts Berry Farm, even history lessons in school. But the most wonderful way for my imagination to soar was to read...some of my favorites were the Laura Ingalls Wilder books (the "Little House on the Prairie" series). While reading "Frontiers", I couldn't help but feel that same old rush of excitement as all of the historically accurate details painted a picture for me that kept a flame alive in my consciousness, illuminating what life was like two centuries ago. Unlike Laura Ingalls Wilder, however, Michael Jensen portrays a side of life so rarely explored anywhere before in the context of this period of American history: queer love. It's raining gay men...hallelujah! ALL the characters were great, and the story itself utterly believable. Whether cheering for the hero, hissing the villain, or being drawn in by the supporting characters, I was riveted from cover to cover.
Rating: 
Summary: Hold Tight For the Adventure
Review: What can be said of a novel that grabs you from the beginning, takes you on a wild ride fraught with peril and struggle and finally releases you back to reality? I would call it "Frontiers". Michael Jensen has taken colonial America in the guise of John Chapman and transformed it into a living history filled with love, hope, despair, sorrow, and finally rebirth. Mr. Jensen skillfully develops the story as he builds the characters into real flesh and blood people. He shows how pious the early settlers had become and how intolerant they were of anyone who was different from them. John Chapman must also hide his true feelings because of fear of prosecution. Isn't that a strange parallel to today's events. Hasn't anything been learned in all this time? Mr. Jensen uses the flashback sequences to effectively develop the main character, much in the same way that Michael Lowenthal did in his novel, "The Same Embrace". The research that Mr. Jensen did for the constructing of this novel is evident throughout. It is history in a way that history should be portrayed, with perspectives from those that have been previously ignored. Open your mind and read a novel that deals with issues that haven't been dealt with before, and be gloriously entertained as well.
Rating:
Summary: A great read! I couldn't put it down all weekend.
Review: This is an imaginative story that includes the best in adventure, suspense, sex, and an intelligent story line. Mr. Jensen does a great job with all his characters, especially John Chapman. I started the book on Friday night and just sat glued with it all day Saturday. I've always hated the phrase "page turner", but it certainly applies here. This is a wonderful book; I almost hated that it ended.
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Summary: I wrote Frontiers because I was looking for something new
Review: First off, thanks to everyone who has already read and responded to Frontiers. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your support. During my book tour I've often been asked what led me to write such an unusual novel. The fact is I wrote Frontiers because I was tired of much of gay fiction. It seemed almost every book was set in New York, Los Angeles, or San Francisco and was about young gay guys dancing all night, shopping at IKEA and arguing over who made the better role model--Madonna or Cher. Or the books were about older gay guys bitter they were no longer the young gay guys. Don't get me wrong. I've read some terrific books set in those cities, but I was ready for something else. It also seemed to me that the history of gay people started in Greece, then vanished and didn't reemerge (with a few exceptions) until the 1960's. I wanted to set the record, er, straight. The frontier was often a place to where refugees from "civilized" society would flee. (By the way, Frontiers is being called the first gay western. It is western, but not in a "cowboy and Indian" sense. The west in 1797 was along the Ohio River.) It only made sense to me that people with same-sex attractions would head to the place where they were most likely to be left alone. Larry Kramer recently wrote that he was frustrated by how little gay men and lesbians (and the rest of society) know about our own contributions to the history of this country. When I started Frontiers I set out to write an exciting, sexy, and fast-paced story, but I'd like to think that maybe I also helped contribute to doing away with the myth that only heterosexual people founded this country.
Rating:
Summary: Do not miss this book!!!!
Review: I have just finished this book for the third time in two days. The details are not only accurate, but show an insight into the human condition which is missing from a great deal of fiction. Frontiers will have barriers to face by being branded a "gay" novel, but hopefully its readers will open up to the fact that homosexuality is not only a fact of nature, but of human nature. The themes of love and betrayal are universal, but difficult to portray so vividly and heart-renderingly. Also, I appreciate greatly when historical details are accurate as these are. With any luck, Michael Jensen will continue to write for many years to come.
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