Novel Suggestions

[Mr. White]

So, having never read a western before (but plenty of civil war) any suggestions?

Thanks!

[Skrapwelder]

Elmore Leonard wrote a bunch of great westerns, novels and short stories.

[Lowtardog]

Cant say I ever read a Wild West novel there were a lot of Pulp ones kicking around that my Dad used to read but I think I watch the old movies which were enough

[MuleSkinner]

Louis L'Amour has a mountain of novels out about the American West, i remember borrowing my dads books when i was growing up....really good stuff.  

[Lowtardog]

Louis L'Amour has a mountain of novels out about the American West, i remember borrowing my dads books when i was growing up....really good stuff.  

Thats the ones my Dad read :mrgreen:

[Malamute]

Larry McMurty - The Lonesome Dove books.

[Cory]

I'll second the Louis L`Amour. They are a little in the dime novel tradition where the men are real men, villains are real villains, and so forth, but still a fun read though very much in the John Wayne tradition of the west.


I also like Dorothy Johnson who wrote The Hanging Tree and Who Shot Liberty Valance.

[Stecal]

Louis L'Amour is a very good place to start.  About 20-30 of his books became Hollywood movies in some sort or other.  I've read nearly everything he wrote (it gets formulaic after a while).  

Zane Grey another prolific author

Owen Wister  "The Virginian"  The first "modern" Western, 1902

more classic westerns here:

http://westernsfortoday.blogspot.com/2007/06/canon-of-western-literature.html

[Mosstrooper]

Not everybodys cup of tea but full of Victorian feel - Ron Hansen's 'Desperados' or 'The Assasination of Jesse James'

[lethallee61]

Yep - "Lonesome Dove" would have to be one of the five best novels I've ever read.

Get it, read it - you won't be disappointed.

[zbyshko]

i found a rare gem a few years back - The Cowboy and the Cossack by Clair Huffaker.  a cattle drive from Vladivostok to a Cossack settlement in the west.  it fit the formula without making the Cossacks or the Tartars - or the Cowboys - doing anything contrary to character.

[Gluteus Maximus]

Yep - "Lonesome Dove" would have to be one of the five best novels I've ever read.

Get it, read it - you won't be disappointed.

Yes, I totally agree with the other two - Larry McMurty is a very good author & his "Lonesome Dove" books are perfect for creating the "atmosphere" to get into Western gaming.

I used to enjoy reading my Dad's books when I was a younger - especially the "Dusty Fog" series, by JT Edson & the "Edge" series by George G Gilman. Both series were set in or just after the Civil War. I greatly enjoyed them as a teenager, but I don't know how they would hold up these days. They were written in a great action-packed "pulpy" style & are full of  & scenario ideas, though.

Oddly enough, JT Edson was born in Derbyshire, England.......

[Rhoderic]

With all the Germans in this forum, I'm surprised no one has mentioned Karl May yet.

[mmitchell_houston]

Yer in Austin and yuh ain't never read a Western?  Shame on yuh, Pilgrim!
 

The first Lonesome Dove is a GREAT book (multi-award winning for a reason).  The others are also very good, but I suggest you read Streets of Laredo last.

That being said, I would ask what you're looking for in a Western novel.  If you're looking for one of the great novels, then LD is the way to go. If you want more of a traditional (and shorter) novel, then parhaps True Grit by Charles Portis.   If you're a fan of the HBO TV series, Deadwood, then there are a trio of novels set in Deadwood that might strike your fancy. They are by Mike Jameson and appear under the series title: Tales from Deadwood. Visit Amazon.com and search for Mike Jameson to find them.  These are not great Westerns, but they are a lot of fun and do a good job of creating a sense of environment and action.

[skirmishman]

good mornig evryone   how about any western novels by J T Edson ,the pen name of a postman from Leicestershire who used to make them up on his rounds .More usless information from the repository of what passes for my brain.David.