I loved reading The Undaunted. I do agree with Gramma though, I was very surprised to be back in the mines also but I liked the background on the fictional characters. Learning more about our ancesters was the best though. I had pictured Jens Nielson short and cubby but now I have a better idea of what he truly looked like. I also found that he was an amazing man that I would like to learn more about. I was really impressed to learn that he was more crippled than I had realized and that he still went on this trek with determination to see it done. I liked reading the footnotes as much as I did the story.
I have since read The Hole in the Rock by David Miller. I was hoping to learn more about the people who went on the trek and how they felt and how they accomplished it but it dealt more with the day to day doings and not really much about the people. I did find it funny that all of the writings of those who traveled through the hole barely mention it. It was a very good book though.

The Undaunted by Gerald Lund

I was so excited to be reading about the Hole in the Rock pioneers, and then I find myself in the coal mines of England. I wasn't prepared for the chapters and chapters before we got to the "call to the San Juan." Not that I hated it, but I wanted the book to be about the trek. I really enjoyed it when it finally got to the historical part of the novel and enjoyed reading about your ancestors, but even then, I wanted more of the real people and less of the fictional. Notice the glaring typo at the beginning of Chapter 65, page 702. I can't imagine how that one got through the editors.