Growing up, my elders were reading this series and by the time I was in middle school I began reading them myself. Four decades later I still occasionally make a read thru the series, and sometimes buy missing copies from eBay due to not wanting to wait. The books were published between 1979 and 1989 with various quality.
The various periods:
Original Wagon Train (Independence! to Oregon!): The first four novels were the only ones guaranteed to be made. There is a solid narrative throughout, althro the main focus characters changes as the books unfolded.
Between Years (Texas! to Nevada!): The next four dealt more with specific historical events, but the author had a hard time keeping track of the passage of time, and each were practically one-shots, with characters that only appeared for a book or two, maybe do a cameo in the following novel, and then disappear. Colorado! repeated many of the beats of the previous novel, but done to a lesser degree, and thus easily skipable.
Next Generation (Washington! to Idaho!): The children of the Oregon wagon train take over the series, in particular Toby Holt. There is a strong narrative thru the series.
River Years (Missouri! to Tennessee!): The original author's last four books, and definitely not of the quality of what was prior, especially Missouri!. Tennessee! isn't a bad one-shot, and while the rest are skipable reading this one keeps one from wondering how certain things came to be once they read Illinois!
Toby & Henry (Illinois! to Celebration!): A different author took over, and Henry became the secondary protagonist. Many side characters are put on the bus and never mentioned again.
Literature An epic journey
Growing up, my elders were reading this series and by the time I was in middle school I began reading them myself. Four decades later I still occasionally make a read thru the series, and sometimes buy missing copies from eBay due to not wanting to wait. The books were published between 1979 and 1989 with various quality.
The various periods:
Original Wagon Train (Independence! to Oregon!): The first four novels were the only ones guaranteed to be made. There is a solid narrative throughout, althro the main focus characters changes as the books unfolded.
Between Years (Texas! to Nevada!): The next four dealt more with specific historical events, but the author had a hard time keeping track of the passage of time, and each were practically one-shots, with characters that only appeared for a book or two, maybe do a cameo in the following novel, and then disappear. Colorado! repeated many of the beats of the previous novel, but done to a lesser degree, and thus easily skipable.
Next Generation (Washington! to Idaho!): The children of the Oregon wagon train take over the series, in particular Toby Holt. There is a strong narrative thru the series.
River Years (Missouri! to Tennessee!): The original author's last four books, and definitely not of the quality of what was prior, especially Missouri!. Tennessee! isn't a bad one-shot, and while the rest are skipable reading this one keeps one from wondering how certain things came to be once they read Illinois!
Toby & Henry (Illinois! to Celebration!): A different author took over, and Henry became the secondary protagonist. Many side characters are put on the bus and never mentioned again.