Added 12/13/13

2/4/14 - I am still trying to get through this book (in between other books). I'm on p.291 out of 832 pages in this paperback edition. Don't know if I'll stick with this book. Some of the GR reviewers say the last part of the book is better that the first part. Guess I'll stick with it and do a lot of skimming.

2/13/14 - I've decided to give up on this book. I read to page 388 and still wasn't enjoying it. Among other things, there were too many names without any real character development. The plot was very slow with too many uninteresting details.

The following comments in reviews by GR readers seem to be true about this book:
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"...this bit of over-researched fluff, McCullough desperately needs an editor."

"I have tried to read her books before and found them ponderous and excessive in description to make up for plot."

"Far far too long winded and still the characters remain two dimensional. Good story but could have been cut by two thirds"

"it's just too long, and with too many details."

"excessive information"

"McCullough often gets bogged down in period trivia"

"The first 2/3 - 3/4 of this book are kind of a grind to get through; the last bit is very readable."

" As always, McCullough captures the tenor of the times and dialogue well, but she appears overwhelmed by ephemera ... The book was as substantial as styrofoam, cumbersome, bulky, and in need of compression. More worth a skim than a full read."

Another said: "Well I finally finished the book. I took it up at the Australia part and really enjoyed it. I don't think that skipping the entire middle made any difference. Great Ending...just what I was hoping for."
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A week ago, it wasn't looking at all likely that I would finish this book in time to write this review. I felt as if I was reading the book in real time, as if by the time Morgan had been in gaol for a year, I had done my time as well So when he was condemned to seven years transportation, my heart sank, and I thought I might not finish the book until 2010.

Still, Christmas is a time for miracles, and the additional leisure time afforded by my Christmas break helped me to struggle through to the end. I'm afraid struggle is the right word because, despite the book addressing a subject in which I have a real interest (transportation to Australia), I found the level of detail tedious in the extreme.

Colleen McCullough's research for this book was, no doubt, impressive, but I think it led her into the trap of being unable to discard any of the fascinating (to her) information she had found out, whether or not it contributed to the story. There was lots of stuff I felt could have been left out and a bit of rigorous editing might have given the story a bit more pace. As it was, the story progressed by a series of frozen tableaux or lectures on 18th century life. The impression that the writer wanted to be writing not just any old story but hi-story was reinforced by footnotes explaining things that added nothing, such as the difference between Imperial and American measures. I'm not convinced people ever said things like "I am of a mind to see what is afoot", but even if they did, they don't now and I found the archaic words and constructions (vouchsafe, espouse, athwart etc) faintly embarrassing. I prefer my history to be historical rather than counterfeit contemporary fly-on-the-wall. The Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes would be (and is) my sort of book for enlightenment on the subject of transportation to Australia.

If I have to read 800+ pages about someone's life, someone like Richard Morgan would be very low on the list of lives worth the effort. Quite frankly, despite all the dramatic things that happened to him, he bored me. He bored me in the first few pages, when he dandled his son William Henry on his knee in the tavern, he bored me when he wrote his philosophical letter to Jem Thistlethwaite at the end and he bored me all the time in between. There was something horribly passive about him. Good family man who loved his wife, worshipped his children and was no doubt respectful to his elders. Yawn. Solid craftsman for whom happiness was a warm gun. Yawn. Honest citizen blowing the whistle on fraud. Yawn. Duped sap of the first sexy piece to cross his path. Yawn. I had a strong sense that Colleen McCullough made this guy up as she went along and he became what he needed to be at each part of the story. An example: I recall no mention of books in the first part of the story, yet in a later part books suddenly became the air that he breathed. There was no REAL development of Morgan as a character, he merely acquired qualities he needed just when he needed them, and these qualities were reported by others rather than derived from what went before. I reckon he was percolated through one of his own dripstones (yawn) and as lacking in charisma as filtered water is lacking in taste. I thought Morgan a very dull hero. It's people's weaknesses that make them interesting, not their strengths. I guess McCullough tried to make him more interesting by repetitive mentions of how "handsome" and by giving him rippling muscles? I wonder who will play him in the TV adaptation? I'd die of boredom with a Richard Morgan and was horrified to see from the author's afterword that she still has more to say about him. Enough! More is less. Let him rest in peace.

My biggest quarrel with the book is that it is so sanitised and romanticised. It reminded me of Swiss Family Robinson, Coral Island, Swallows and Amazons, Lost in Space. McCullough did try a bit of gritty realism, but it always looked superimposed. Whenever Morgan was getting a bit too saccharine with his polished walls, fresh vegetables or porcelain tea cups, she had someone flogged or something in an attempt to balance the books. But there is so much that seems to be missing. Despite the curious inverted snobbery that now makes it fashionable to have a convict ancestor, these were not all honest peasants who stole trifles when they were drunk or starving. There were real criminals too, who I think must have had much more of an influence on McCullough's brave new world. Apart from Kitty right at the end, no-one seemed too bothered about leaving England, no one was homesick. I'm sure that wasn't so, from what I know (a rather limited sample of one, I admit) the parting from family and friends was almost unbearable and dreams were dreamed of pardon, or of return home when a sentence was served. Funnily enough, I think there would have also been more humour, because it is one of the things that helps us to survive. The only humour here was the long-running sheep shagging joke, which wore very thin.

You will have gathered by now that I was not exactly enchanted by McCullough's tale. I thought it at least twice too long. For me, her hero was dull as ditchwater. The story was clumsily constructed, you could see the joins. No one bothered closing the curtains when the scene shifters came and went. But I must give her some credit. Her research seems to have been thorough and her writing seems competent. I expect those who enjoy this type of fiction will enjoy this very much. Unfortunately, I am not one of those and reading the book was something of a chore. The greatest impression left me by the book was relief that the reading of it was behind me and not ahead of me. Had it not been about transportation to Australia, I doubt I would have finished it at all.

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Reviewer's Afterword
There really was a Richard Morgan on board the Alexander when the First Fleet sailed. He was tried at Gloucester, Gloucestershire on 23 March 1785 for assault and stealing a metal watch with a value of 163 shillings. He was sentenced to transportation for 7 years and left England on the Alexander aged about 25 at that time (May 1787). He had no occupation recorded. He died in 1837. He married Elizabeth Lock on 30 March 1788 though he was probably married in England and when he was sent to Norfolk Island in 1790 he lived with another woman. (I actually feel a bit more well disposed towards McCullough for weaving a complex story around these few facts.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel by one of my favourite authors. he has her own voice for whatever she writes and this is no different; her voice was unique to this novel and not like her voice for the Masters of Rome series. The differences in voice - or maybe I should say style - between books/series' is very unusual I think

Iš aprašymo nusiteikiau, kad ši knyga turės visko - istorijos, nuotykių, jausmų, tad ir puslapių skaičius rodėsi tinkamas. O istorija tikrai ilga, virš septynių šimtų puslapių.
Pradžia skaitėsi sunkiai, įvykiai prieš veikėjui tampant katorgininku einasi labai lėtai. Daug politikos, šalutinių veikėjų, labai nepatiko Morgano žmonos paveikslas ir apskritai jų santykiai kažkokie netikroviški, be menkiausios šypsenos, tarsi tie gimstantys ar ne vaikai, būtų vienintelis juos dominęs dalykas.
Apie vidurį knyga daug geresnė. Pasakojama apie laivus, kuriais plukdomi katorgininkai, jūroje netrūksta nuotykių, atskleidžiamas žmonių šiurkštumas, smurtas, socialinė atskirtis, gerai nupasakotos mirtys.
Pasiekus tikslą knyga vėl smunka žemyn. Morganas kaip veikėjas man kažkoks minkštas, visada tvarkingas, pareigingas, sąžiningas... Per tobulas. Tiek, kad jau rodosi nevyriškas. Visi aplink geria, smurtauja, linksminasi su moterimis - jis niekada. Veda nėščią pažįstamą iš gailesčio. Tada vėl atstumia, nes, matai, jį pasivijo praeities šmėklos. Katytės (veikėja moteris) ir jo jausmai taip pat neįtikėtini, sunku įsivaizduoti tokius santykius, nors dramos aišku netrūksta.
Apibendrinant - jei patinka knygos ties kuriomis reikia susikaupti, kuriose viskas įsibėgėja labai lėtai ir traukia istoriniai nuotykių romanai - gal patiks. Tačiau jei tikitės istorinio meilės romano kaip P.Gregory istorijos ar Žiulio Verno tipo nuotykių tipo knygos apie keliautojus, tai čia nieko panašaus.

This was a challenging read. The author does SO MUCH historical research, and includes lots of period language, descriptions of items that I'm not familiar with, etc. This makes it slow going, but the story was SO good. The main character, Richard Morgan, was a real person sent from England as a convict to colonize Australia. Fascinating historical fiction.

Viena įdomiausių ir begalo įstrigusių knygų gyvenime apie tai, kaip susikūrė Australija. Negaliu po šios knygos ją matyti taip kaip visi :) Knyga parmeta istoriniais faktais.

Setting: Bristol, Gloucester & London, UK; Port Jackson & Norfolk Island, Australia. This is a lengthy historical saga which tells the story of Richard Morgan, a skilled craftsman living in Bristol who suffers several personal tragedies before becoming the victim of a vindictive aristocrat and a warped justice system which prevents him from presenting any defence to the charges against him. Sentenced to transportation at a time when the opportunity to ship convicts off to America is stopped due to the American Revolution, Richard finds himself part of the first convoy of convicted felons to be sent to New South Wales to set up a new colony. On the long voyage to Australia - over 12 months - Richard uses his skills and develops leadership abilities to protect his new friends from the worst vagaries and hardships of the journey and the initial problems on arrival at the new site for settlement. Eventually moved to Norfolk Island to set up a system of timber-cutting to provide the raw materials needed for building shelters, Richard thrives and finally comes to terms with the horrors of his past....
This was a good read and I learned much about the early days of Australian settlement, particularly the horrors of the lengthy sea journey to reach there, and also about the colonisation of Norfolk Island - based as it was on the life of the real Richard Morgan. However, I thought there was a bit too much detail at times and perhaps less drama involving the main character than I would have expected from a work of fiction so only rated this as 3 stars overall - 6.5/10.

I wanted to throw this book out of the window at least 5 times while reading it. Yet somehow I struggled to the bitter (horrible) ending. I have two main complaints:

1. Richard Morgan is seriously annoying. No real human is that perfect all the time. He has the perfect body, perfect mind, perfect manners, perfect skills for every situation and perfect ability to control himself no matter what happens. During hundreds of pages the man never does anything wrong and everyone adores him. Personally I couldn't care less what happens to him, which is already a bad sign in a book that revolves so heavily around one person.

2. The women in this book are either non-existent or completely unrealistic. There is not a single believable female in this story. The women in England are hysterical caretakers, who can't control their feelings. The female prisoners are sad victims who, if they are smart and understand their place, are being sexually abused by the men (not Mr. Morgan of course, he has no sexual desires...). The women who came to Botany Bay with the officers are only mentioned as providing sexual services to each other's husbands. At the end of the book we meet one woman who is described in more detail. Her main characteristic? Being hopelessly dependant on Richard Morgan. I find it hard to believe that this would be the whole truth about women in the 18th century. Without wanting to exaggerate, I would describe this book as anti-feminist.

In conclusion, I would have much rather read an honestly historical account about this journey.

Actually, I never finished it.... as much as I love The Thornbirds, this one was so boring that I finally put it down.

Žinomą australų rašytoją C. McCullough pažįstu iš kitų knygų - "Erškėčių paukščiai", "Giesmė apie Troją" ir "Prisilietimas". Nors ši knyga pasakoja apie įdomų istorinį įvykį, kaip Anglija XVIII a. kolonizavo Australiją, tačiau šį kartą tai nebuvo toks stiprus romanas kaip anksčiau minėti. Idėja gera - tvirta valia, darbštumas, padori elgsena leidžia išlikti žmogumi net labiausiai gniuždančiomis aplinkybėmis, tačiau antraeilių veikėjų, kurių vardai vienodi, ištemptas pasakojimas su skrupulingai pateiktomis detalėmis(pvz. išpjautų lentų ilgis, galandamo pjūklo dantų nuokrypis) šiek tiek vargino ir lėmė, kad tiesiog kai kuriais puslapiais nuslydau paviršiumi.

As an emerging writer, deep into learning the skills of the craft, I read a lot of professionals' advice. Most experts suggest that a novel be developed with a plot full of action. Not surprisingly, then, I find that most books - regardless of genre - follow this model. Not so with Colleen McCullough's Morgan's Run.

This historical novel, based on the founding of The Botany Bay colony, centers on the life of one man, Richard Morgan. Begun in the mid-1700s, the story tells of the ricochet effect on British citizens as the American Colonies gained their independence from England.

Times may be difficult for many in our world, but this book makes a case for calling the past anything except "the good ole' days."

I highly reccommend Morgan's Run for those who want to read a compelling story told in a unique voice.

This historical novel was a gripping read from beginning to end. I am not normally a fan of the historical fiction genre but I am a fan of Colleen McCulloch, and this book explains why. McCulloch manages to interweave fact with intimate story details in a way that makes history fascinating and gives the reader a profound sense of what life in the penal colonies must have been like in the eighteenth century.

The character of Richard Morgan is brilliantly depicted. He is a serious man with immense potential for leadership, although his qualities were mostly hidden while he was living as an ordinary citizen in England. Only when he is put to the test, wrongfully arrested and imprisoned in awful surroundings, transported to Australia in appalling conditions and made to suffer near-starvation as a convict in Port Jackson and Norfolk Island does he rise to the challenge and express his inner resilience and moral authority. He has his flaws, being a man haunted by grief and unable to let go of past loves, yet he has the tenderness of a father, which eventually reopens the way to his heart. Strong, handsome and determined to turn his life around, he inspires admiration and affection.

Morgan is surrounded by a cast of other equally interesting characters. From the aristocrat who engineered his wrongful arrest to the inimitable Lizzy Lock; the engaging Steven Donavan and the innocent Kitty, they move the story forward in a wholly credible and absorbing way. Even though the book is long and covers many chapters in Richard Morgan's life, the drama of the various relationships keeps the reader wanting to know more. I found it immensely satisfying in this respect.

What I particularly loved about the book was the frequent philosophical pondering of the characters on key events in the narrative. This added an extra layer of meaning to the book. Questions like, "What makes one person love another?" stand out in the text, giving insight into the author's own questions about life and her reasons for writing the story in the first place. From my perspective as a fiction author, this was intriguing. I felt that I came to know Colleen McCulloch better as a person through this aspect of the book, since it was here that her thoughtfulness and amazement at life's random connections came through.

An impressive book, well researched and beautifully narrated. Well worth the read.