From: russell-watson@att.net   
      
   On Fri, 18 Jul 2003 20:04:40 GMT, "Jake Pockets"   
    wrote:   
      
   >I gotta say, You done flung a cravin' on me.   
   >I've been looking for another good modern writer.   
   >   
   >I'll give it a look see.   
   >   
   >Jake Pockets   
   >   
      
   Well, I didn't necessarily mean to imply that I thought Compton was   
   that good of a writer, just that he had some interesting   
   non-traditional takes on some western legends.   
   Like I said, he's kind of windy, as he apparently doesn't trust his   
   readers to remember all the stuff that's gone on earlier and rehashes   
   a lot in the form of one character updating another on what has   
   happened since their last meeting, etc. He also gets tedious with   
   explaining in every instance that the hero leaves his horse behind and   
   moves on foot when sneaking up on folks, because his horse might start   
   up a conversation with theirs and give him away. Also, in the style of   
   westerns of the really old days, he falls back on a lot of coincidence   
   and convenient mishaps to position his man where he needs to be at the   
   right time to witness key events in western history or to unencumber   
   him of clingy females, and a few parts are damn near like "The Wild,   
   Wild West", minus the anachronistic James Bond gadgetry. He even uses   
   the "hero gets amnesia for a while" gambit at one point. Each episode   
   taken by itself is pretty good, but all strung together you have to   
   suspend a lot of disbelief to buy into the story. I'm reminded   
   somewhat of Max Brand in reading these, and have to admit that I never   
   cared too much for Brand as a writer and could only stomach a couple   
   of his books. His heroes were always just a little too damn good for   
   my taste. Kinda thought they should wear their drawers outside their   
   britches and tie a bedsheet around their necks, as they often have an   
   almost comic book superhero air about them. I will admit that I came   
   into these books having read Chiaventone's excellent _Moon of Bitter   
   Cold_ as my last western, and alongside such a historic masterpiece   
   just about any traditional western adventure yarn is going to come up   
   short. If you do read them I'd be interested in your opinion just to   
   see if I'm making too much of it.   
      
      
   '97 FLSTF   
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