Anybody else a fan of Western novels? I've read through about 30 Louis L'Amour volumes. Right now I'm reading his Collected Short Stories Volume 1, which is thick with ideas for any Western RPG you might want to play. There is occasional repetition since many stories are variations on a theme, but the best ones are really comparable to anything in the "serious literature" category that disparages genre fiction. I haven't looked into it and there is no information in the book but I'm assuming these stories were either published in magazines or smaller collections earlier; there is no copyright or prior publication information in the book that I have.

I also acquired about 15 or 20 old Western paperbacks from the 1950s through the 1970s by various writers that I can't wait to read through as well.

I've read a few Elmore Leonard westerns (Hombre and Valdez is Coming) and liked them. I read Lonesome Dove by McMurty as a teen but haven't revisited it yet. The original True Grit novel by Charles Portis is as great as everyone says it is.

I've started to hunt down old western novels that were turned into films, I notice a number of Alan Le May novels, most famously The Searchers, were turned into good films. Glen Swarthout also wrote a number of classic Westerns like the recent The Homesman and one of the better late John Wayne films The Shootist and the underrated b-Western They Came to Codura. I have a copy of The Homesman and have an eye out for anythig else by him. In particular I'm looking for a book by Edmund Naughton called McCabe, that was turned into one of my fav 70s Westerns McCabe and Ms. Miller.

Most of Robert E. Howard's Western stories are just okay but the Vultures of Whapeton is one of the best things he ever wrote, perhaps the best.

And of course there's Cormac McCarthy's insanely violent Melvillivian epic The Blood Meridian. Not an easy read but amazing, apocalypic stuff. A similarly intense and bizarre book about what the US calls 'the French and Indian Wars' is Douglas Glover's The Life and Times of Captain N.

Also mentioned this over in the "Best Westerns" thread as a fantastic source for Western gaming background material:
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I read some of Robert E. Howard's Hawk of the Hills western series.

My  mother was a big Louis L'amour fan. So I've read basically all his stuff, simply because she had all his stuff and whenever I ran out of something to read, I'd read one. A number of his stories are in the public domain. He later issued "authorized" collections in which he added some notes and stuff.

In a lot of ways, he wrote a lot like Howard did. It's even more apparent when you read both of their boxing and sea adventure stories.

But in the 1980s or so, L'amour become a more "serious" writer, with longer books. The Haunted Mesa is a modern day (well then one) that touched on some of the lost race themes that Howard's earlier western horror did.  And the Walking Drum is kinda Howard like historical swashbuckling fiction and really good, but then he died before he wrote any more in that series.

I've tried reading some other Westerns, but they didn't do much for me. Not enough action. One exception was the "Holmes on the Range" series, about a cowboy who solves crime using Sherlock Holmes methods.

I've read probably every Louis L'Amour book. He's a fantastic writer. I've read a few of the other big names, but he's the best.

Quote from: Voros;1017941And of course there's Cormac McCarthy's insanely violent Melvillivian epic The Blood Meridian. Not an easy read but amazing, apocalypic stuff.

I recently finished Blood Meridian, on the second try. Not a pleasant read, but definitely worth it.

Quote from: Dumarest;1017865Anybody else a fan of Western novels? I've read through about 30 Louis L'Amour volumes. Right now I'm reading his Collected Short Stories Volume 1, which is thick with ideas for any Western RPG you might want to play. There is occasional repetition since many stories are variations on a theme, but the best ones are really comparable to anything in the "serious literature" category that disparages genre fiction. I haven't looked into it and there is no information in the book but I'm assuming these stories were either published in magazines or smaller collections earlier; there is no copyright or prior publication information in the book that I have.

I also acquired about 15 or 20 old Western paperbacks from the 1950s through the 1970s by various writers that I can't wait to read through as well.

New here, but old western novels geek. And ready to argue with anyone who says that westerns are dead now. Obsessed with the novels by such writers as Louis L'Amour, Larry McMurtry and Zane Grey, particularly.
What do you guys think of Westworld? Doesn't it seem a weird set of western episodes?

Quote from: TerryMulhern;1069768New here, but old western novels geek. And ready to argue with anyone who says that westerns are dead now. Obsessed with the novels by such writers as Louis L'Amour, Larry McMurtry and Zane Grey, particularly.
What do you guys think of Westworld? Doesn't it seem a weird set of western episodes?

Westworld and the Deadlands novels for example sit in that odd grey area of westerns. The techno or supernatural themes. And theres been quite a few odd supernatural westerns done, some dating back quite a ways.

If Tony Hillerman's Navajo Tribal Police detective stuff counts, I think I'm a fan, but I haven't actually read any proper westerns. I've bought a few highly rated Kindle books but have not started them yet. I'm also waiting for Lonesome Dove and No Country For Old Men to drop in price.

Generally, not a fan of Western novels, but I own the entire Spanish Bit Saga by Don Coldsmith.  A high school literature class assigned the first book to the class, and I got hooked.

I'd almost call it alternative history, but it's really not, as it's not presenting an alternative present.

I love Louis L'Amour. Absolutely recommend him to everyone.

Since it is this forum, Robert E. Howard's westerns are quite good, certainly some of his better historical fiction.  The End of the Trail: Western Stories from University of Nebraska Press is a good collection. The Riot at Bucksnort and Other Western Tales from Nebraska is good too.

Craig Johnson's Longmire books are pretty good modern-day Westerns, and the TV show was also good.

Quote from: Kuroth;1070583Since it is this forum, Robert E. Howard's westerns are quite good, certainly some of his better historical fiction.  The End of the Trail: Western Stories from University of Nebraska Press is a good collection. The Riot at Bucksnort and Other Western Tales from Nebraska is good too.

Agreed. I love almost everything that Howard wrote, and his westerns are no exception. I particularly like his horror-western stories, but all of them are solid.

Quote from: Lurkndog;1081414Craig Johnson's Longmire books are pretty good modern-day Westerns, and the TV show was also good.

Also a great choice. I like both the books and TV shows as well.