Title: The Golden Age
Author: Walter Jon Williams
In: Dead Man’s Hand (John Joseph Adams)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Superheroes, Weird western, Wild west
Dates read: 17th November 2020
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Titan Books
Year: 2014
5th sentence, 74th page: He whirred right over my head, and I felt the breeze from his cape on my face.
The days of the Gold Rush are over. And, somehow, they have been overrun by a bunch of completely insane superheroes and supervillains running around in capes on their own personal crusades.
I could not stop laughing all throughout this short story. It was quirky and weird. And filled with a great humour that left me grinning. After all, it’s ultimately about a bunch of superhero-type characters running around the wild west. Actually, it’s more supervillains… but the humour and entertainment is still the same.
I absolutely loved that this story focused on the Gold Rush and the lack of law in the land at the time. But, then to overlay this, there were mortal enemies, insanity and all sorts of questionable decisions. There was also a constant discussion of the fact that they are all mad. It’s just a special kind of madness, running around, donning a persona and just generally wreaking havoc and mayhem. A madness that I can 100% get behind by the way.
The Golden Age is a really funny, cute and light short story. It had me giggling and smiling throughout the entire story. There was great wit and entertainment to the shenanigans throughout this. I would most definitely read this again and again whenever I need a light pick me up.
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