Gunfight On Europa Station, David Boop, 2021
This is a fun collection of space Western short stories. The quality of the stories varies a bit although it’s generally fairly high. If you can get used to the idea of space suits coming equipped with lassos, the style of stories here is wide enough that you may find something to enjoy.
Highlights for me included:
The Penultimate Stand of Pina Gracchi by Michael F. Haspil, an amusing retelling of the classic “new sheriff in town” tale. Great characters and a cool story–plus, Haspil uses “penultimate” correctly.
Alex Shvartsman contributes Winner Takes All introduces us to a special operator with a heat of gold who has to choose how far she’ll go to get her woman.
Riding The Storm Out by Martin L. Shoemaker has two frontier sheriffs bringing in a wanted man – with the usual complications of Martian gravity, storms, and lack of air.
Jane Linskold’s Claim Jumped is about, well, exactly what it says on the tin. Mystery and murder mix with asteroid mining and a sinister hidden hand.
The rest fell somewhere in the middle. Only two stories really didn’t do it for me. Wil McCarthy updates another classic to Doc Holliday 2.0–I don’t know if it was not being able to get Val Kilmer’s picture out of my mind, but it felt too forced. The other one was Alan Dean Foster’s Hydration. This had me until the end, when the newly-rich, water-poor heroine develops an likely symbiotic relationship with a strange savior. It felt a bit contrived. All in all, this came out a bit above average (6/10 based on 2022) and opened the door to some new authors while providing good entertainment.
Smirk factor: Plus qu’acceptable: 1.5pts (Only 3 “smirks”, but a couple of stories were still marginal.)
Immersion factor: Shallow water: 1 pt
Writing quality: Average: 1 pt
Character/plot development: Above-average: 1.5 pts (Some of this is very creative.)
Innovative/interesting: Above-average: 1.5 pts (YMMV, a couple of stories dragged this down for me.)
Total: 6.5/10 (3.25 stars)
High Noon on Proxima B, David Boop, 2023
This follows on to Boop’s collection Gunfight on Europa Station. This has another ten stories which transplant common Western themes and tropes into outerspace of the near- to far-future. This collection was tighter and more refined than the stories in Gunfight. It’s still an odd niche, but this was fun to read!
My favorites, in the order they appear:
Justice and Prosperity is Milton J. Davis’ take on left-for-dead revenge. When space pirates murder an innocent family of asteroid miners, justice will be served by a geek loner and the murdered family’s repurposed domestic robot. A cut above, this was enjoyable and well-written.
Five Mules for Madame Calypso sees Thea Hutcheson craft a story of a bordello ship with a grifter problem. Crafted better than the premise might suggest, this is a clever tale which also has an element of satisfying, non-lethal revenge. (Also, a great title.)
Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore’s Past Sins starts with a sheriff breaking up a routine barfight, and then spirals into mystery, deception, violence, and just maybe a shot at redemption for a former hero. Solid story and good writing combine for a great read.
Walter John Williams’ West World is a hysterically funny take on making a Western film, in space, in the distant future, told from the perspective of an oppressed 2nd 2nd assistant director. Very creative, and entirely entertaining.
For this one, it would be very hard to find a story which I didn’t like – there were a couple I preferred less than others, naturally enough. Boop’s curation and editing here is solid. The collection once again has a wide range of stories and writing styles which should offer up something for almost anyone with any interest in either the SF or Western genres to enjoy.
Smirk factor: All clear: 2 pts (3 “smirks” across 10 stories. Solid showing.)
Immersion factor: Shallow-water: 1 pt
Writing quality: Above-average: 1.5 pts
Character/plot development: Above-average: 1.5 pts
Innovative/interesting: Above-average: 1.5 pts
Total: 7.5/10 (3.75 stars)
Vein Pursuits (Black Badge #2), , Rhett C. Bruno and Jaime Castle, 2023
I reviewed Cold As Hell, the first in the series in July 2022, and enjoyed the zombie/Western fusion. The preorder of the second volume in the series landed a little less than a year later. It continues the adventures of “Black Badge” James Crowley, saved from damnation but sentenced to police a supernatural-infused Old West. Crowley and the sultry widow Rosa join Bram Stoker, Jonathan Harker, and their bodyguard, Irish, in a journey across an accursed swamp and into the dangers of Crescent City. The plot stays interesting, and we get to explore a little bit of what it’s like to be an undead sheriff of the supernatural. The writing is solid if not exceptional, and word use/choice was improved over the first entry in the series. Solidly entertaining.
Smirk factor: All clear: 2 pts (No smirks; a major improvement over #1.)
Immersion factor: Chest-high: 1.5 pts
Writing quality: Average: 1 pt
Character/plot development: Above-average: 1.5 pts
Innovative/interesting: Above-average: 1.5 pts
Total: 7.5/10 (3.25 stars, meritorious promotion to 4)
Bodacious Creed: A Steampunk Zombie Adventure Western, Jonathan Fesmire, 2017
This is some ambitious stuff: combining steampunk, zombie and western all in one book. Author Jonathan Fesmire does a nice job of blending what might have easily been divergent themes . It’s an ambitious undertaking, with some strong characters, detailed worldbuilding, and a sprawling plot. There are really only two main characters: Creed shares the spotlight with Anna, his daughter. She’s a paradoxical character with an interesting background: a secret tech genius who also runs a bordello.
My guess is your reaction that that last sentence will predict of whether or not you like the book. One note that I thought was interesting: Anna’s relationship with Jonny is the inversion of the usual male hero/female love interest dynamic. While he has talents, they’re definitely secondary to her genius. I had the impression Anna only kept him around the bordello/secret lab as a boy-toy. Good for her. I may be cynical to find that dynamic a tad exploitive, but consider how many books have it the other way around...
Fesmire is also a strong writer, which helped carry the story through some of its less credible moments. He develops the main characters with more nuance and slightly more back-story and emotion than I’d expected. This is sometimes uneven: Anna’s struggle over whether or not to tell her resurrected and zombified father that she’s his daughter was pretty flat. But at least it’s there. Overall this was fun and entertaining romp through a slightly unbelievable universe. The book was enjoyable, but didn’t quite convert me to the eclectic mix of genres.
Smirk factor: All clear: 2 pts (2 “smirks” – both used appropriately.)
Immersion factor: Shallow water: 1 pt
Writing quality: Above-average: 1.5 pts
Character/plot development: Average: 1 pt
Innovative/interesting: Above-average: 1.5 pts
Total: 7/10 (3.5 stars)
And, honorable mention because it’s a Western in fantasy guise:
Beyond Redemption, Michael R. Fletcher, 2015. Full review here.
Total: 8.5/10 (4.25 stars)