Title: Burn Him Out Author: Frank Bonham In: The Mammoth Book of Westerns (Jon E. Lewis) Rating Out of 5: 2 (Managed to read it… just) My Bookshelves:Westerns Dates read: 19th August 2020 Pace: Slow Format: Short story Publisher: Robinson Year: 2010 5th sentence, 74th page: Standing there, he felt moisture strike his hand and angrily straightened.
A western filled with discussion and just a little violence.
I honestly just couldn’t concentrate too much on this short story. It just wouldn’t quite catch my interest. Which was quite disappointing. But not all stories can be favourites…
This story seemed to be mostly about fighting. And it was just eh.
Having said all of that, I did enjoy the writing style of this story. It might not have been exactly the kind of story that I loved. But it was a style that I enjoyed.
Title: Command Author: James Warner Bellah In: The Mammoth Book of Westerns (Jon E. Lewis) Rating Out of 5: 3 (On the fence about this one) My Bookshelves:Westerns Dates read: 13th August 2020 Pace: Slow Format: Short story Publisher: Robinson Year: 1946 5th sentence, 74th page: It pleased Flint Cohill to be able to think Santee Sioux instead of plain Sioux, as everybody usually did back in the States.
Moving up the chain of command can be difficult. Especially when you’re not sure if you’re fighting for the right side or not…
I like that some of this short story is about questioning the whys and the whats of the war against the Indians. Or at least, that was my understanding of who the war was between. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure because I don’t know that much of the American West and the different groups which were in play during the time…
This story highlights all of the battles and horribleness which take place on the Western Front. It wasn’t exactly a nice, warm or fuzzy story. But it was a nice one that made me stop and think a little about the ways in which disagreements and war on a frontier would work and how some of the soldiers and those in command may feel.
This short story is all on horseback, with a constant internal monologue playing through the story. I think that once I know a little bit more about American history, it might be something that draws me in more fully. But, for now, it was pleasantly enjoyable and something that I would like to read again.
Title: Bookkeeper, Narrator, Gunslinger Author: Charles Yu In: Dead Man’s Hand (John Joseph Adams) Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect) My Bookshelves:Psychics, Weird western, Westerns Dates read: 7th August 2020 Pace: Medium Format: Short story Publisher: Titan Books Year: 2014 5th sentence, 74th page: And that, to my great and everlasting surprise, is where I come into the story.
They’re the narrator and the bookkeeper for their tiny little town. But, when an accidental slip of the tongue leads them into a gunfight… they also become a gunslinger.
I’ve been reading a lot of western short stories lately. Yet, weirdly enough, this felt like the first story which features a gunslinger. I’m not entirely sure how that hasn’t happened before now. But I definitely loved reading about a gunslinger. The fact that he’s a bit of a dweeby guy who is also the town narrator and bookkeeper… it just made me that, that, that much happier…
From the very beginning, there is something slightly different and weird about the narrator’s talent as a gunslinger. And I loved how the truth behind their new-found talent is slowly revealed. This slow trickling of information is seriously brilliant. And it made it all that much more difficult to actually put the book aside…
I love when the title of a story makes total sense once you read that tale. In this case, the title of this short story is completely self-explanatory and wonderful once you’ve read through it all. I loved that each and every role that the lead character filled was pretty much outlined from the very beginning…
Title: The Big Sky Author: A.B. Guthrie In: The Mammoth Book of Westerns (Jon E. Lewis) Rating Out of 5: 3 (On the fence about this one) My Bookshelves:Westerns Dates read: 6th August 2020 Pace: Slow Format: Short story Publisher: Robinson Year: 1947 5th sentence, 74th page: “That was for beaver.”
This extract from a bigger Western story feels just like being dropped into daily life on the frontier.
This short story just felt like being dropped straight into a scene from daily life. It’s not necessarily an enthralling, impossible to forget short story. But it was one that left you feeling really contented and comfortable. That left you thinking about all the trials and tribulations of daily life. In a way that most stories don’t tend to do.
That being dropped into the middle of daily life feeling kind of makes sense when you think about the fact that this short story is an excerpt from part of a bigger novel. Actually, the comfort and simplicity of this made me kind of want to add this book to my shelves… even if I wasn’t totally enthralled. It’s nice to have something that is just comfortable on your shelves sometimes…
Many of the stories that I’ve been reading lately have left me feeling somewhat uncomfortable, unsure and a little bit thought-dwelling. This is not one such story. It just left me feeling weirdly content and complete. I couldn’t tell you what truly happened in this story. But I can tell you that I enjoyed my time in this world. It felt something like sitting in a friend’s living room over a nice, big cup of tea….
Title: The Young Warrior Author: Oliver La Farge In: The Mammoth Book of Westerns (Jon E. Lewis) Rating Out of 5: 3 (On the fence about this one) My Bookshelves:Westerns Dates read: 23rd July 2020 Pace: Slow Format: Short story Publisher: Robinson Year: 2013 5th sentence, 74th page: His power would be destroyed, his eyes dimmed, his medicine would not protect him.
The young warrior of the plains is about to face a battle… wil he win?
This was an easy, light and pleasant read. It was a nice break within my reading of bigger, more complex books. The journey is fun, it’s easy to understand what is happening and just a generally well-written diversion. I didn’t find the story line intense and unforgettable (hence the lower star rating). But I did find the whole adventure very fun.
This is quick, sharp and shiny. Perfectly enjoyable and fantastically written. Something that I love in a good short story. You’re thrown into the action from the very beginning and pulled through the young warriors battle and journey. It’s a little open ended and in conclusive. Which is something that I do enjoy in a good short story.
You can imagine at the end of this story that the warriors continue on to battle yet another fight. Another day on the plains. Another moment in which they have to fight for a better future.
Title: When You Carry the Star Author: Ernest Haycox In: The Mammoth Book of Westerns (Jon E. Lewis) Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!) My Bookshelves:Westerns Dates read: 16th July 2020 Pace: Slow Format: Short story Publisher: Robinson Year: 2013 5th sentence, 74th page: The leagues rolled away to the distance, southwesterly into a horizon unbroken, northwesterly to a lien of hills even now beginning to fade behind an autumn haze.
When Linza’s friend begins to go off the beaten track it’s up to him, as the Sheriff, to hunt him down. But that’s what you do when you carry the Star.
This is a short story that features a friend hunting a friend. A man who is forced to do the distasteful in the name of justice and honour. It’s a little sad to be honest. I can’t imagine having to man hunt a friend, but it’s also got that quintessential feeling of a western – one that focuses on good guys and bad guys and where things are just plain right and wrong. Black and white.
I like the descriptions of Denton going “mad”. How he suddenly flipped his lid and went against everything and every code that he honoured. It was a little bit tragic and harsh. But I did like how the description of something that could have been heat stroke was described.
This story really focuses on the honour and power of a lawman. It highlights how the men of the law were focused upon protecting and upholding the law. Even if it means hunting down and killing ones friend. Which, admittedly was a little bit of a tragic ending…
Title: The Wind and the Snow of Winter Author: Walter Van Tilburg Clark In: The Mammoth Book of Westerns (Jon E. Lewis) Rating Out of 5: 3 (On the fence about this one) My Bookshelves:Westerns Dates read: 29th June 2020 Pace: Slow Format: Short story Publisher: Robinson Year: 2013 5th sentence, 74th page: He could still rembmer clearly, though, the winter he had stayed out on purpose, clear into January.
He’s an old cowboy travelling to a town he once knew very well. But what he finds there is not quite as he remembers it…
This short story had some seriously long-winded sentences and paragraphs. It was quite intense in many, many ways due to this lengthy description throughout. It also made the story seem like it was progressing a lot slower than other tales in the The Mammoth Book of Westerns collection. And somehow more descriptive and enthralling… it was a bit of a weird dichotomy because I don’t normally enjoy so many run-on sentences.
I did like the description of the weary old cowboy and the reminiscing. It didn’t have a great, impossible to put down story line. But it did make you feel like you understood the life that would have been lived much, much more. I actually really enjoyed that aspect – it was something that I think will be useful to remember in future western stories.
I didn’t really get the title until the very end. When he finally returns / arrives at his destination. And finds out that a lot of people are dead. You truly appreciate his age and loneliness in this moment. It is a little bittersweet, but kind of beautiful too.
Title: The Last Master of Aeronautical Winters Author: Larry D. Sweazy In: Westward Weird (Martin H. Greenberg & Kerrie Hughes) Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!) My Bookshelves:Demons, Weird western, Westerns Dates read: 29th June 2020 Pace: Medium Format: Short story Publisher: Daw Books Year: 2012 5th sentence, 74th page: It was like they were real, burrowing into my own eyes with anger and resentment or maybe doubt of my fortitude.
They’ve been friends and companions for years. But it isn’t until his secret identity gets out that their friendship is truly tested in this fun little Weird Western story.
This is a fun little short story which features an illegitimate heir and cowboys. Demon hunting and secrets. It’s an interesting mix that features your ideas of a western cowboy. But also partners that with ideas of the monarchy, which kind of took me a little bit by surprise. A good read and one that I would probably pick up again.
I really liked the idea of cowboys going demon hunting on the mean streets. That the gunslingers are the ones who are bringing down creatures from hell. It made for a fun little diversion and journey that I really wasn’t expecting and thoroughly enjoyed.
I seriously enjoyed this story. It may not be one of those that is crazy, rich with detail and intense. But it was most definitely an enjoyable journey. One that I look forward to embarking on again in the future.
Title: The Hell-Bound Stagecoach Author: Mike Resnick In: Dead Man’s Hand (John Joseph Adams) Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!) My Bookshelves:Humour, Weird Westerns, Westerns Dates read: 29th June 2020 Pace: Fast Format: Short story Publisher: Titan Books Year: 2014 5th sentence, 74th page: She indicated her basket.
Ben and Miss Alicia are travelling to the end of the line. Along the way, they pick up the Wichita Kid and another mysterious traveller. But when they realise that they don’t want to ride to the end of the line… things get a little… hell-bound.
I had a good giggle at this short story. Which makes sense, because I have frequently found myself giggling a little at Resnick’s writing. There is this incredibly satirical, dry sense to his writing that manages to fit perfectly into the genres he is writing in, whilst simultaneously highlighting some of the more ridiculous aspects of them.
At the beginning of this story, I didn’t really think much about the fact that Ben and Abigail were travelling in the same coach together. To the end of the line. It didn’t really seem like anything drastically surreal or monumental. Until the second man, the Witchita Kid got into the coach. Then I began to realise that maybe things weren’t quite what they seem in this story line… that’s when the smiling and giggling really and truly began…
The characters in this may be “bad”, but they were also completely delightful. They made you want them to win the final altercation. Even if it really wasn’t something that could be considered “for the best”. I love stories in which the “bad guys” are the ones you’re gunning for… pun and everything intended.
Title: My Antonia Author: Willa Cather Series: Word Cloud Classics Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect) My Bookshelves:Classics, Westerns Dates read: 26th – 27th June 2020 Pace: Slow Format: Novel Publisher: Word Cloud Classics Year: 1918 5th sentence, 74th page: Sometimes he was completely hidden by the clouds of snow that rose about him; then he and the horses would emerge black and shining.
Willa Cather’s novels brought the life of American settlers on the Great Plains to the forefront of the nation’s consciousness during a time when the lands west of the Mississippi were undergoing rapid transformation. My Ántonia, considered by many scholars to be her first masterpiece, tells the story of a young orphan, Jim Burden, who is sent from Virginia to Nebraska, where he grows up with his grandparents on their farm. He becomes friends with Ántonia Shimerda, a Bohemian girl who endures her own struggles as she enters adulthood. Rich in themes that will resonate with readers of all backgrounds, My Ántonia explores the struggles and triumphs of ordinary people in extraordinary times.
This is the first ever full-length Western that I’ve had the privilege to read. And it wasn’t as tedious as I kind of half expected. Mostly, I was expecting it to be a little slow like the short stories I’ve been reading in The Mammoth Book of Westerns. But, it wasn’t like that at all. In fact, I kind of completely loved this novel and just devoured it in one night – I found it really difficult to put down, put away and stop thinking about. Which was surprising, specifically considering the fact that I was a bit eh about her short story.
There is something about Antonia that should feel seriously tragic. And heart wrenching. And just, all round sad. Yet, even though there are moments throughout which do make you feel a little sad, there really isn’t an overall tragic feeling to this story. In fact, it’s almost hopeful and uplifting. Which, if I’m recounting this story, is not how I would be able to describe it. But something in Cather’sstory telling manages to make that feeling of hope and the future seriously come alive. It’s a little disconcerting and is probably one of the reasons why I enjoyed this book so much.
Like Cather’sshort story, one of the things that really stood out in this novel was the beautifully setting. It was a world in which you were completely immersed from the very first moment. And a really nice transportation into a moment in history that I never knew I was intrigued by. Definitely a very well written story. One which transported you to another world and another time. A world filled with different priorities and challenges, but ones which feel familiar regardless.
This isn’t a fast-paced, crazy storyline. It’s not a grip the edge of your seat kind of story, instead, what it is is just… fun. It’s a great story that transports you to everyday life and the ways in which we form and create bonds. The ways in which we change over time. And how some people are able to stand the test of time in their friendships, even in the most trying of circumstances.
Earth and Skye 