Dead Man's Hand Anthology

HOW THE WEST WAS WEIRD!   

From a kill-or-be-killed gunfight with a vampire to an encounter in a steampunk bordello, the weird western is a dark, gritty tale where the protagonist might be playing poker with a sorcerous deck of cards, or facing an alien on the streets of a dusty frontier town.

Here are twenty-three original tales—stories of the Old West infused with elements of the fantastic—produced specifically for this volume by many of today’s finest writers. Included are Orson Scott Card’s first “Alvin Maker” story in a decade, and an original adventure by Fred Van Lente, writer of Cowboys & Aliens.

My thoughts:

I am going to make this short, because they stories are just that, some very short, and if I say too much, then I have said it all.

Introduction—John Joseph Adams

Now I know what weird western is...

The Red-Headed Dead—Joe R. Lansdale

Short story about a priest. Ok but really short.

The Old Slow Man and His Gold Gun From Space—Ben H. Winters

Weird, short and had a nice twist to it.

Hellfire on the High Frontier—David Farland

Maybe they work cos they are short, interesting. Anyway, I liked the stuff at the end. very cool. Something happens there ;)

The Hell-Bound Stagecoach—Mike Resnick

A nice weird one. I liked it.

Stingers and Strangers—Seanan McGuire

InCryptic tale. You can follow along even if you have read nothing from that "world".

Bookkeeper, Narrator, Gunslinger—Charles Yu

I did feel a bit confused with this one.

Holy Jingle—Alan Dean Foster

A bit so and so.

The Man With No Heart—Beth Revis

I wondered where this one was going and at the end I totally wanted a book about him. Cool.

Wrecking Party—Alastair Reynolds

Scary future for all of us, nice sense of doom

Hell from the East—Hugh Howey

I read it 30 min ago and have forgotten it already *checks* Right, sun dance. Ok the concept was interesting of what is to come

Second Hand—Rajan Khanna

Same with this one *check* Right, cards. Needed more explaining

Alvin and the Apple Tree—Orson Scott Card

I have not read the Alvin books so..who is Alvin? Anyway freaky town! Do not go there!

Madam Damnable’s Sewing Circle—Elizabeth Bear

Not that much happened, I know they are short but still

Strong Medicine—Tad Williams

Now this was one weird place. Very nice.

Red Dreams—Jonathan Maberry

Freaky end, I do like freaky endings.

Bamboolzed—Kelley Armstrong

A good story 

Sundown—Tobias S. Buckell

I could have needed some more explanations here, it should have been longer

La Madre Del Oro—Jeffrey Ford

Ohhh, the end, I need more, what was that?! Awesome, creepy.

What I Assume You Shall Assume—Ken Liu

Eh, I mean ok, but I would rather have read this set in China and not as a backstory

The Devil’s Jack—Laura Anne Gilman

Interesting fellow this Jack.

The Golden Age—Walter Jon Williams

Ha, this one was weird too, but hey that is why they are weird westerns. Got to love that

Neversleeps—Fred Van Lente

Hey they mentioned Tesla, that is always good, cos booo Edison, Tesla rules! Could have been even more interesting fully fleshed out.

Dead Man’s Hand—Christie Yant

I did not get this one. Was it even a story?

Conclusion:

And like always, some were good, some were ok, some I still remember, some I forgot. It's an anthology after all and every story will not be to my taste, they never are. But what they all had in common was that even if I was not a fan, they were still interesting. So, weird cool stories set in a west you have not seen before.

Paperback, 464 pages
Published May 30th 2014 by Titan Books (first published March 4th 2014)
Weird western
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