"Novels set during Maori Wars 1840s?" Topic

Does anyone know of any novels set during the Maori wars of the 1840s? Something that could form the basis of perhaps a skirmish, utilising Empress miniatures latest releases.

Thanks

Not familair personally with nay books, though there are bound to be several. I do know of the film Utu, but saw it as a kid. I recall it being quite watchable, with plenty of action and excitement (and kiwi accents).

I think the closest you'll get are the trilogies by Errol Brathwaite and Maurice Shadbolt, more 1860s.

One of the Shadbolt novels is set in the 1840s Northern Wars.

Movie: The River Queen, set during the Maori Wars, not sure which one. Limited distribution.

The New Zealand Wars Trilogy by Maurice Shadbolt cover the 1840's-1860's (haven't read it, myself):
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The Bat's Nest by Anne De Roo is a children's novel covering (presumably) Ruapekapeka (again, I haven't read it):
British redcoats, with their cannon and rockets, march to subdue the Maori tribes in the north led by the fearless Chief Hone Heke. Fourteen year old Jacky, living with Heke and his people becomes caught up in a bewildering and violent conflict between two cultures – that of his Maori mother, and that of his British father.
Unlike his three adventurous and daring Maori cousins, Jacky does not want to follow Hone Heke and the other warriors into battle. And as he discovers more about his father and makes friend with a plucky young drummer boy and a 'cowardly' soldier, he wants even less to fight.
Torn between loyalty to brave Hone Heke and to his father's people and his new found Pakeha friends. Jacky is confused and frightened. As he watches fearfully, the grisly fighting surges to its terrible climax in the tragic battle of Ruapekapeka, the bats' nest – the final and bloody conflict of the war in the north.
An exciting and fast paced historical adventure story set in the 19th century New Zealand, that will give young New Zealanders a poweful awareness of their country's early history.

The Greenstone Door (1914), available from the NZ Electronic Text Centre, :
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River Queen, I think, was set on the Wanganui river as part of the Titokowaru wars – late 1860's.

Have ordered a whole bunch of the Empress mini's as well – the attention to detail (Hone Heke's cap, the mere tucked into the belt of one warrior, the pukana from another warrior) are fantastic.

The fancy Jack Crossman novel is set in that era.

Some of these seem to be fiction.
link

That Crossman novel is set in the later wars, not the 1840s.

And I can't say it was a good book at all, neither as an exciting (or even just vaguely interesting) story nor as an accurate representation of anything about the place, period or people.

Not a book but "Utu" (which means revenge) is a great movie. Bruno Lawrence was a great actor.

Cheers
Kieran

Isn't UTU set much later?

Yep, Cooper etc. "Utu" certainly wasn't the 1840s.

I read a Bryce Courtney novel where the two main characters (half brothers with same mother – one black and oen white) were adopted into a Maori tribe and fought in the Taranaki wars. Can't remember what it was called…part of a long series.