Rating: 
Summary: The worst book/historical fiction ever written
Review: Was I ever primed for this one. As a living historian who portrays the Southern campaign I could not wait for the book to arrive. It was obvious from Carter's Larry King interview he had read the right books, had a firm grasp on the salient issues and understood the long-overlooked importance of the Southern front. What he could not do was tell a story, write a passable piece of dialogue or engage his reader at all. It was in short a book as disasterous as his presidency. In fact, I am convinced were he not a former president, short of self-publishing, this could never have been printed. 134 used copies from as low as $4.59 right here on Amazon says it all.
Rating: 
Summary: A War Within A War.
Review: After eight previous published books written by our former U.S. president (one co-authored with Rosalynn) he has been a busy man writing an over-long novel purportedly about the South's particiapation in the Revolutionary War. He wrote journals, poems, meditations, a primer on aging, memoirs, and some inspirational pieces. This, however, is totally fiction (more than 900 pages in the LP version). He uses letter to the militia to keep up morale from the Governor's agent. He involves the Creeks and Cherokees in this eight year war (1775-1783) taken place in Georgia of all places.He and Rosalynn build houses for the poor working class, and I wonder when he has time to write. This can't compare with CITY OF DREAMS, which was based on many years of research. He mentions the brutality of this war. There is great brutality in any war, even when the American Indians are not the enemy. His ending, "For the next half century, legal and military battles would be fought over the conflicting claims for land, and the ravages of slavery and its aftermath would affect the nation for another 150 years." His next novel, no doubt, will be about the underground railroad in which the Southern blacks were secretly moved to the North, the atrocities of the Civil War and its aftermath in the South, or maybe he will do a bit of research and write about THE TRAIL OF TEARS in which our beloved Cherokees were forced to relocate to Oklahoma. The Creeks, I think, stayed in Florida. Maybe his home state of Georgia.
Rating:
Summary: The Hornet's Nest - Review
Review: I have great respect for Jimmy Carter. He is a wonderful human being. His kindness, understanding, vision, and willingness to do what must be done are outstanding positive examples for human growth. I am grateful for his book about the South's role in the Revolutionary War. Historians fail to mention their contribution to the success of this conflict. However, I don't understand why he chose Ethan Pratt as his main character. To say that Ethan's character flaws are deficient is to say the least. I understood Ethan's inner conflict with the war. Initially, he was a pacifist that eventually grew into militarist. But, he proved himself a coward in several situations. How could he sleep on the eve of his brother's horrific execution? Why didn't he attempt to rescue him? Or, at least talk of the desire to save him? How could he separate with his wife and have an adulterous affair with his neighbor's wife. He abandons , pretty much, his wife Epsey and impregnates his neighbor Mavis on the heels of the murder of his and Epsey's son Henry. Carter's choice of this man as his main character diminishes his attempt to deliver the passion and fervor of the southern mind during this time in our Nation's history.
Rating:
Summary: It works as a history, but not as a novel.
Review: I have tremendous admiration and respect for former President Carter. I am truly sorry I can't post a better review of his first novel, but - well, here it is.
The book's greatest strength is the tremendous amount of research that went into it. It works wonderfully well as a history of the American Revolution in the South, and that's certainly a neglected viewpoint. It is also, exactly as I would expect, well written from a technical standpoint.
Presented as nonfiction, I'd have found it enjoyable reading; but for me it didn't work as a novel. Its characters speak in stilted, pedagogical voices, imparting information to modern readers when they should be interacting with each other in believable fashion. The endless pages of detail would be appropriate in a history book, but in fiction they make excruciatingly slow reading because they fail - most of the time, anyway - to move the plot along. Getting lost in the story and caring about the characters might happen for some other reader, but it wasn't possible for me. I learned from this book, but I can't say that I was entertained by it.
Rating: 
Summary: The Revolution in the South
Review: I might not have read this book if I had not gone to a book signing by President Carter. I had not been particularly interested in the subject.
I gave it four stars rather than three for two reasons: President Carter's research is astounding, and the book did keep my interest throughout.
I do agree with most reviewers that it is a history book trying to be a novel. But I did not mind. I acually found Ethan, the fictional protagonist, to be a flawed but sympathetic human being, like most of us.
"The Hornet's Nest" shows the ugliness and brutality of the American Revolution. There aren't too many "heroes" here (a much over-used word anyway). It gives one pause for thought about who the American people really are.
I do hope President Carter writes a sequel or at least a history of the next 20 or 30 years in the South.
Rating: 
Summary: A Revelation to the Revolutionary War
Review: I never fully understood or appreciated the Southern United States' pivitol impact on the Revolutionary War until I read President Carter's supurb and eye-awakening novel. He provides the reader with arcane yet crucial knowledge and perspective into how Southern America's people, geography, and events, all uniquely combined to have a decisive role in the Revolutionary War's outcome.Upon Reading Carter's book, I am amazed historian's have given so little attention to the South's critical influence on the war. Do not expect to read a historical, prototypical text book account. Carter conveys the information in the form of a novel, which makes the reading much more colorful.
I believe this is President Carter's 17th book, and the first ever novel written by a President. On a personal note, my review is somewhat biased based upon my deep respect and admiration for President Carter. What a first class president he was and world renowned, respected leader he remains and will always be.
The President adroitly combines his Southern heritage, presidential experience, writing skills, hard work (seven years of research), and love for country and world to create an interesting and historically valuable account of Southern America's vital role in the Revolutionary War.
Rating:
Summary: Great First Effort!
Review: It is obvious that President Carter did thorough research to fill this book full of interesting details about the Revolutionary War Days. One gets a feeling for the viciousness of this period...of the hate of the British and the vast misunderstandings among the people that led to tragic bloodshed.
Through his main character, Ethan Pratt, one sees the good, the bad and the ugly of the period. I enjoyed most what Ethan through of the confusion around him, and how he dealt with war and family issues. Character development could have been a little stronger, but it was a great first effort!! I'm a big Jimmy Carter fan. He was one of my favorite US presidents, if not my favorite. I remember during my high school and college years watching Carter on TV and hoping his decisions would turn out to be the right ones. I was really pulling for him and felt so proud of the efforts he made in the middle east. Nice guys sometimes finish last, but they can still be good role models. Carter is a great model for what a president can achieve following his presidency, a full and very productive post-Washington period of time. Jeffrey McAndrew
author of "Our Brown-Eyed Boy"
Rating: 
Summary: A painful read...
Review: Love Jimmy Carter but I wish he would have put his years of research on the subject into a non-fiction work.
Genuinely wretched dialog.
Rating:
Summary: A Worthy First Novel!
Review: President Jimmy Carter's The Hornet's Nest is an exciting first novel. Carter introduces his reader to the Revolutionary War in the South, a subject rarely broached in most American History classes and texts, and tells the story of Ethan Pratt, a Philadelphian who sets out for the south to build a life. Ethan Pratt is the novel's focal character, although the reader often loses sight of him among the other historical characters. The early events which culminate in the execution of Ethan's brother Henry in North Carolina seem oddly similar to Carter's autobiographical tale of governmental corruption in his earlier book Turning Point. Pratt moves from being a loyal British colonist to a concerned citizen opposed to colonial corruption to a militia member ready to execute British prisoners of war in an act of revenge. The historical background is one which seldom has been told. Although the Battle of Kings Mountain is often noted in history texts, the fact that the Revolution in the South was largely fought American colonist against American colonist is rarely mentioned. Execution of prisoners, rape and pillage and murder, terrorist actions are all part of the scene in this novel. Carter tells the story well and introduces lots of new material. The cast of characters reads like a list of counties in Georgia and South Carolina--probably because the counties are named for these individuals. Now, the complaint . . . the work needed a better editor. So many individuals are introduced that it is often difficult to keep track of the action. Occasional errors enter into the text, for example, on page 437 General Andrew Pickens mysteriously morphs into Pickett (the Civil War General?) at the bottom of the page and then changes back to Pickens. This is a minor error, but there is so much action and so many characters that small errors can quickly cause confusion. Ethan Pratt is often left out of lengthy sections of the story, leaving the reader wondering where Pratt has gone. Finally, there are times when Carter uses a page to traverse several years of action and other times when a similar amount of space is used to describe Ethan's construction of a chair--a case of too little detail, followed by too much detail. Still, this is an admirable work for Carter. Should he choose to write another novel, I'll read what he writes and I am certain I'll find something there worth my time!
Rating:
Summary: I give it a C+
Review: The Hornet's Nest will have a place in literary history because it is the first fiction book writen by a former president but the book is more than just a trivia entry. Hornet's Nest is a decent work of fiction. It's a little dull in places and no-one can compare this to John Jakes's stuff. People won't be reading it 40 years from now but that's okay. The book has sturdy, business like writing. Most of the details are correct. Carter doesn't try to make his hero sound like a 21rst century man and except for one silly mistake (Nobody wore trousers back then. Men wore breeches and they were always tight) it works. This isn't the greatest fiction I've read this year but it's far from the worst.
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