Western

A youth is orphaned after he and his father are abandoned by a wagon train, but is befriended by a gunman. He learns to survive and eventually becomes a gunman himself. Can he escape his reputation and find the girl he loves?

This was actually a pretty good story, worth the reread. I'm rehoming it but would pick it up again in the future. ( )

3/2/23. Book title and author: To Tame a Land by Louis L’Amour

Why I picked this book up: As a kid, my neighbor Steve, had a leather bound set and I read a couple that I loved. I picked this up to see if L’Amour was consistent.

Thoughts: “To Tame A Land is a fast paced story about a boy named Rye who is forced to grow up after he is orphaned in Indian Territory. He learns to live off the land, hunt, break horses, run cattle, earn respect, and kill when necessary. Problem is, if you're too good with a gun, killers looking to make a name for themselves come for you.

The writing style is full of old west slang and the descriptions of the environments are brief and near perfect. It pulls you into the story. The pivotal scenes of this book are well written and the scenes that link them are brief to keep up the pace. Although this book is 154 pages, it's got a bit of everything: friendship, wisdom, action, one liners, and love. It's a great read for anyone who wants a taste of action in the old west.” from Poisoned Blade on Amazon reviewer see below:
Poisoned Blade
Why I finished this read: To tie up the story which ended well.

Stars rating: 5 out I’d 5. He is a great writer, western writer that describes things well, has morals, good characters and fun to read. He was as expected for me. ( )

Kinda corny with the reluctant gun slinger theme. And a little Horatio Alger thrown in for good measure . And I saw the ending coming a mile away. Yet, some parts were very exciting and pulled me in. It was originally written in 1955 and you get a good sense of why the western as a genre was so popular in the 1950s. ( )

All I can say is wow! This was my first dive into the world of Louis L'Amour books, and I was quite impressed and definitely look forward to reading more! It's clear why L'Amour is the leading author of Western fiction.

While it took me a bit to get into the story, once I did, I couldn't put it down. This short-ish volume packs a lot in! Rye was a very interesting and engaging character and I enjoyed following his story and "seeing the world through his eyes", so to speak. The authentic Old-West setting, marauding bad guys and gun-slinging action that you expect from a Western was all there, in spades. I particularly liked the light touch of romance that further developed Rye's character without going overboard.

All in all, I greatly enjoyed To Tame a Land and look forward to reading more L'Amour novels in the future!

CONTENT NOTE: Recommended for ages 16 for violence. As expected from a Western, there is lots of gun-slinging, bad guys, etc, and multiple shootings and deaths. None described overly graphically. ( )