Finally and at long last, the reason why I've been reading and reviewing all those Louis L'Amour books. My mom said I might really like it, but being me I decided to read the previous three first. (Side note: these were not written in chronological order, but I'm reading them that way. It's like the Narnia books, except the Narnia books are better to read in publication order, whereas these aren't.)
My mom has done a more "here's what this book is about" review, so if you want one of those, go there. The book's plot is basically:
[insert character]: Imma attack you.
Jubal: no.
[insert character]: Well then imma attack [insert other character] instead.
Jubal: no.
[MINOR-ISH SPOILERS]
During the final fight, the Bad Dude attacks with "wide-sweeping cuts". At that point, I launched into a tirade, because that is not how you fence. Swinging your sword around dramatically is one of the first mistakes newbies always make, and it's always the first thing we have to learn not to do; against other newbies it's fine, but against someone who's skilled enough to take advantage of it, it's like an invitation to get stabbed while your sword is carried out of your opponent's way by the momentum from you swinging it around.
I was very happy when Jubal promptly took advantage of it and stabbed him. Either L'Amour knows a fair bit about fencing, it makes narrative sense, or both.
[END SPOILERS]
Despite the existence of a couple annoying Bad Dudes, this book still gets 4 stars.
Were this a videogame, I'd rate it: T again, mostly for Gomez (the aforementioned Bad Dude) and his dreadfulness, which might be a thing he annoys us with.
I would bet that L'Amour did know a bit about fencing. He was very dedicated to research. Among many other jobs in his younger years, he was a prize fighter, and fighting of all sorts seems to have fascinated him.
ReplyDeleteHey Sam! I liked your synopsis of the story in 10 words or less! Grammy
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