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sabrinav625's review
2.0
The beginning of this book was awesome. It was western, grungy, fun and centered around the Devil's living quarters.
Then it was travel, travel, travel... not a lot of action, and the action I found tremendously hard to visualize. It took me way too long to finish this book mainly because I wasn't all that interested in picking it up after the beginning section came to an end. I came in with high hopes for pro-Devil book and I found it fell short of what I was looking for.
Then it was travel, travel, travel... not a lot of action, and the action I found tremendously hard to visualize. It took me way too long to finish this book mainly because I wasn't all that interested in picking it up after the beginning section came to an end. I came in with high hopes for pro-Devil book and I found it fell short of what I was looking for.
ajupton76's review
4.0
I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would. It was a nice mix of fantasy and western. I enjoyed the world that the author built and her geography gave it a bit of an 'alternate history' feel to it. I found the pace of the story to be a bit slow, especially at the beginning. I feel it picks up a bit further in or maybe it's because of the action/suspense that occurs farther into the story. I do wish that the author had not left us hanging in regards to the companion of the main character. All in all, an enjoyable book and I'm looking forward to the next one in the series!!
frickfrackfate's review
5.0
I enjoyed this book a great deal. Magical westerns are a favorite genre of mine and I appreciate the added realism of what it might actually be like to be a woman traveler in the west. I also found the lack of a romantic plot line refreshing. Lovely scenery and a nice twist on the mythology of Old Scratch.
robynldouglas's review
3.0
3.5 stars. Spare, lovely writing, and an intriguing setting, but an extremely slow story without much resolution.
arthur_of_camelot's review
4.0
This was a really solid book and a good read! I'm just picky about giving out five star reviews to save those for books that are Favorites. I think maybe if I enjoyed westerns a little more, or if this book had been a little to the left, I would have given it five stars. So the lack of a star is purely a personal thing, and I'm sure it will be a Favorite read for lots of other people!
The MC's voice was very good, not whiny or annoying, but also realistic for what can be expected of a 16 year old in terms of emotional maturity. I think this is the little to the left that didn't quite reach out and grab me though--I fall in love with characters who are smart and spiteful and fighting BACK against something. And Izzy was smart, but she didn't have any cause to be a little bit mean and angry, and as a person feeling pretty mean and angry myself these days, I didn't connect with her as much as I could have. She definitely wasn't an annoying passive, reactionary character who only does things in response to what others do, but she did spend the book searching for herself and what she wanted. Which is a valid story! She did a great job, and the writing was excellent at keeping that narrative realistic and interesting, so I'm chalking this up purely to personal preference, that I want characters who already know exactly what they want, are mad as hell about it, and willing to spit and claw their way into success.
I do have to say the fantasy and world building aspects were super cool and very interesting. They also weren't info-dumped all at once--maybe a little sense of "oh yeah and also this other thing" BUT that at least had the narrative justification that Izzy was new to a lot of things herself, so we learned as she learned. Her lessons with Gabriel were a great way to build up the world and the sense of magic. I also really loved that the devil wasn't the bad guy--not a good guy at all, but not Bad either. That's for the Catholics, lol
A few quick notes: the narrative handling of Native Americans seemed respectful (to me, a non-native), there wasn't an overt sense of misogyny or rape or gratuitous death in order to convey how "gritty" and ""real"" the West is, racism and sexism are still acknowledged and present but they're more of daily background dangers than slogging through a whole book of nothing but that, one of the Native American medicine men seem to be non-binary with they/them pronouns used consistently and respectfully, and the mentorship between the 16 year old female protag Izzy and her adult male mentor Gabriel is entirely platonic without any sex or romance.
The MC's voice was very good, not whiny or annoying, but also realistic for what can be expected of a 16 year old in terms of emotional maturity. I think this is the little to the left that didn't quite reach out and grab me though--I fall in love with characters who are smart and spiteful and fighting BACK against something. And Izzy was smart, but she didn't have any cause to be a little bit mean and angry, and as a person feeling pretty mean and angry myself these days, I didn't connect with her as much as I could have. She definitely wasn't an annoying passive, reactionary character who only does things in response to what others do, but she did spend the book searching for herself and what she wanted. Which is a valid story! She did a great job, and the writing was excellent at keeping that narrative realistic and interesting, so I'm chalking this up purely to personal preference, that I want characters who already know exactly what they want, are mad as hell about it, and willing to spit and claw their way into success.
I do have to say the fantasy and world building aspects were super cool and very interesting. They also weren't info-dumped all at once--maybe a little sense of "oh yeah and also this other thing" BUT that at least had the narrative justification that Izzy was new to a lot of things herself, so we learned as she learned. Her lessons with Gabriel were a great way to build up the world and the sense of magic. I also really loved that the devil wasn't the bad guy--not a good guy at all, but not Bad either. That's for the Catholics, lol
A few quick notes: the narrative handling of Native Americans seemed respectful (to me, a non-native), there wasn't an overt sense of misogyny or rape or gratuitous death in order to convey how "gritty" and ""real"" the West is, racism and sexism are still acknowledged and present but they're more of daily background dangers than slogging through a whole book of nothing but that, one of the Native American medicine men seem to be non-binary with they/them pronouns used consistently and respectfully, and the mentorship between the 16 year old female protag Izzy and her adult male mentor Gabriel is entirely platonic without any sex or romance.
dreamofwinter's review
5.0
This is one of those books that turns out differently than expected, and stays with you long past the finish.
I'm a fan of the weird West, having grown up in Colorado and acquired a stronger than usual belief that the Rockies and their environs hold some mysteries we've yet to encounter. This book was the exact right mixture of creeping dread and glimmering hope.
I cannot WAIT for the next book in the series!
I'm a fan of the weird West, having grown up in Colorado and acquired a stronger than usual belief that the Rockies and their environs hold some mysteries we've yet to encounter. This book was the exact right mixture of creeping dread and glimmering hope.
I cannot WAIT for the next book in the series!
macthekat's review
4.0
oh, oh, oh this is wonderful. I love the mood of this book. the start is slow bit gripping. The world strange but familiar. the characters fascinating
rebecca_bc's review
3.0
Good mix of western and fantasy themes within the classic hero's journey framework. I am looking forward to the next one.
mostlyshanti's review
4.0
The cover of Silver on the Road drew me primarily because it was so compelling. The way it looked, I wondered if it would be at all similar to Walk On Earth A Stranger; while the narratives bear some resemblance (evil and morally ambiguous powerful men; young girls discovering themselves on the road), it does seem purely coincidental . But the John Jude Palancar illustration is utterly breathtaking, and definitely was the main reason I picked up this book.
Silver on the Road is a narrative that doesn’t spend excessive time explaining itself. I wouldn’t have minded earlier information about how much power the Devil had, but the story proceeds apace so that’s okay. I also didn’t love the ending? It didn’t seem to lead naturally from the content of the plot, which barely touched on religion or the Spanish. I also found Isabel’s naïvety a bit much sometimes. She was so confused and so barely in control of whatever powers she’d been granted that the story lacked a certain clarity at times.
That said, the concept of this world was totally brilliant. I’m not a hundred percent on American history, and Silver on the Road is mercifully undated, but Gilman is able to utilize the glamour of the west while also complicating it, which is quite the feat. Perhaps there is a monster of disease and sudden death and abandoned towns—but the more subtle implication is that these things happened without the magic.
The concept of control is a key on in Silver on the Road. Isabel has taken control of her fate—by handing it to someone else. The implication of that are ones that she must continue to wrestle with, and I hope that that continues through the series. The idea of the Devil may have needed more probing, but the execution is still fabulous. I also loved the character of Gabriel.
Laura Anne Gilman has created a world which fits together well, although it is fairly unexplained and obscure. There is something deeply compelling about The West as a cultural concept: an ideological touchstone, a producer and enhancer of myth. It is Gilman’s ability to take advantage of this which is her real strength. As her tale of horses and monsters, girls and discovery, story above all else, unfolds, the West again becomes a place of more possibility than fallibility.
Silver on the Road is a narrative that doesn’t spend excessive time explaining itself. I wouldn’t have minded earlier information about how much power the Devil had, but the story proceeds apace so that’s okay. I also didn’t love the ending? It didn’t seem to lead naturally from the content of the plot, which barely touched on religion or the Spanish. I also found Isabel’s naïvety a bit much sometimes. She was so confused and so barely in control of whatever powers she’d been granted that the story lacked a certain clarity at times.
That said, the concept of this world was totally brilliant. I’m not a hundred percent on American history, and Silver on the Road is mercifully undated, but Gilman is able to utilize the glamour of the west while also complicating it, which is quite the feat. Perhaps there is a monster of disease and sudden death and abandoned towns—but the more subtle implication is that these things happened without the magic.
The concept of control is a key on in Silver on the Road. Isabel has taken control of her fate—by handing it to someone else. The implication of that are ones that she must continue to wrestle with, and I hope that that continues through the series. The idea of the Devil may have needed more probing, but the execution is still fabulous. I also loved the character of Gabriel.
Laura Anne Gilman has created a world which fits together well, although it is fairly unexplained and obscure. There is something deeply compelling about The West as a cultural concept: an ideological touchstone, a producer and enhancer of myth. It is Gilman’s ability to take advantage of this which is her real strength. As her tale of horses and monsters, girls and discovery, story above all else, unfolds, the West again becomes a place of more possibility than fallibility.
liamariereads's review
4.0
It's kind of hard to describe this book, but I really liked it. Set in a magic-steep 19th-century pre-US West, the Devil runs The Territory (everywhere west of the Mississippi River). He's not cruel and evil as you expect, but he does make Bargains. He is also fair, without mercy. Isobel, a 16 year old abandoned by her parents in the Devil's house, becomes the Devil's Hand. The Devil isn't the only one with magic at work in The Territory, though; there are native tribes, the Church, and even the earth itself.
This book is wild. It's full of demons and tarnished silver and salt rings alongside Colt pistols and western saddles and campfires. I finished it and immediately picked up the sequel.
This book is wild. It's full of demons and tarnished silver and salt rings alongside Colt pistols and western saddles and campfires. I finished it and immediately picked up the sequel.