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3.67 AVERAGE
3.67 AVERAGE
LOOOOOOVED the first 95% of the book. Laura Anne Gilman's SILVER ON THE ROAD is a delightfully original fantasy Western about Izzy, a young girl who has been indentured to the devil (you read that right) in the Wild West during the Jefferson Administration. The territory between the English, French, Spanish, and US holdings within North America is a fantastical land full of monsters, demons, and magic. The devil's law keeps everything in balance.
Izzy, turning 16, signs a new contract, becoming The Devil's Left Hand, his magical manager of the Devil's West.
There's a lot of wonderful characterization, complex and believable, and lots of great magic. There's a neat relationship between Izzy and the devil, as well as between Izzy and her mentor on the road, Gabriel. Their other sidekick, a disreputable magician, is compelling, too. (I would have enjoyed getting to know some of the American Indian characters a bit more.)
Where the story loses it's last star, for me, is plot. In a series, like in a serial, you need to have a satisfying resolution to the episode/volume, as well as the series or serial as a whole. That's not done here. There is a slight shift in Izzy's POV, and that's it. Because the last third of the novel lacks the building to a climax and then the climax itself that you would usually get in a novel, the end just falls terribly flat.
I'll be reading the next volume in the series, for sure, but I wish this one hadn't felt like just a tease.
The book is pretty clean in language and sexual situations, but it's very dark. I have mixed feelings about the appearance of Hebrew in the text (the devil speaks Hebrew--it's only not offensive because I think the author is Jewish based on her name and because I can see she's doing something interesting with the devil here--he's not what most Christian texts show him as). I'm still pondering as to whether I'll recommend it to my 14 y o, or only to my 17 y o.
Izzy, turning 16, signs a new contract, becoming The Devil's Left Hand, his magical manager of the Devil's West.
There's a lot of wonderful characterization, complex and believable, and lots of great magic. There's a neat relationship between Izzy and the devil, as well as between Izzy and her mentor on the road, Gabriel. Their other sidekick, a disreputable magician, is compelling, too. (I would have enjoyed getting to know some of the American Indian characters a bit more.)
Where the story loses it's last star, for me, is plot. In a series, like in a serial, you need to have a satisfying resolution to the episode/volume, as well as the series or serial as a whole. That's not done here. There is a slight shift in Izzy's POV, and that's it. Because the last third of the novel lacks the building to a climax and then the climax itself that you would usually get in a novel, the end just falls terribly flat.
I'll be reading the next volume in the series, for sure, but I wish this one hadn't felt like just a tease.
The book is pretty clean in language and sexual situations, but it's very dark. I have mixed feelings about the appearance of Hebrew in the text (the devil speaks Hebrew--it's only not offensive because I think the author is Jewish based on her name and because I can see she's doing something interesting with the devil here--he's not what most Christian texts show him as). I'm still pondering as to whether I'll recommend it to my 14 y o, or only to my 17 y o.
This was a really interesting Western fantasy; my only quibble is that while it did a really good job of wrapping up the main character's journey of growth and responsibility, and in becoming someone worthy of being the Devil's Hand in the territory (it's not such a bad thing as it might sound), there were a few loose threads that were obviously dangling, but not enough to feel confident that there's a sequel planned to actually deal with them.
I enjoyed this book quite a lot up until roughly 70% through it. The story seemed to start falling apart and their were grammar errors that editors should have caught. The ending was very weak even considering that this is the first in a series.
An interesting concept for a world, and I look forward to seeing more of it. I have mixed feeling about the ending, because on the one hand I found the resolution emotionally satisfying, but on the other hand I thought having Izzie leave and come back to the spot in question made for lost momentum, which gave the resolution a sense of an anti-climax or fizzling out. And yet I think the idea of the resolution was sound.
Loved the world building, but it was at once too slow and not long enough (exacerbated by Kindle making it look like I was near the end of the book instead of the chapter!). Might continue the series when I'm feeling it.
Wound up reading this during a bad night of insomnia -- really enjoyed it! Love the main characters and the alt-history setting.