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3.3 AVERAGE
3.3 AVERAGE
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The actual purple sage was one of the main characters in this 😵💫
Other than that, it was fine. The writing wasn't my favorite, but I recognize there are a lot of good solid moments in the plot
Other than that, it was fine. The writing wasn't my favorite, but I recognize there are a lot of good solid moments in the plot
This book has not aged well. The descriptions of the landscape were beautiful, but that is about it.
slow-paced
challenging
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Reads like a 1930s B Western with the most stilted dialogue and a curious number of action sequences related in retrospection, but the story and characters are truly unique. It was fascinating to read the template of what would become nearly every stock character in the western genre during the 20th century.
Currently listening to this novel on The Classic Tales Podcast with BJ Harrison. My dad didn't read much but he did read Zane Grey. He passed 30 years ago so I can't share this with him but I'm glad I finally read it. Surprisingly sentimental.
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
relaxing
slow-paced
Once again a book has surprised me by not being what I expected at all. I haven't read many westerns so I wasn't sure what I was getting into.
Grey does a wonderful job describing Western America's scenic wonders. I lived in the West my entire 63 years and his descriptions of the landscape, so very different than where I live now in Idaho, make it easy to picture his locales.
I did not expect the book to be a romance in addition to a western and a bit of a thriller a well. Grey's dialog is not his strong point. Characters often speak in a stilted manner that does not reflect natural speech. The character development of our heroes' foes is nearly non-existent.
And I did not expect the hostility the author seems to have toward the Mormons (who are the bad guys in the novel). The occasional racism and misogyny wasn't too heavy to make the book unreadable but it is there.
Overall, the book was ok. But in my future Western reading I'll read more modern authors.
Grey does a wonderful job describing Western America's scenic wonders. I lived in the West my entire 63 years and his descriptions of the landscape, so very different than where I live now in Idaho, make it easy to picture his locales.
I did not expect the book to be a romance in addition to a western and a bit of a thriller a well. Grey's dialog is not his strong point. Characters often speak in a stilted manner that does not reflect natural speech. The character development of our heroes' foes is nearly non-existent.
And I did not expect the hostility the author seems to have toward the Mormons (who are the bad guys in the novel). The occasional racism and misogyny wasn't too heavy to make the book unreadable but it is there.
Overall, the book was ok. But in my future Western reading I'll read more modern authors.