Western Novels

[BenBanned]

Just recently began reading the western genre, started with Louis L'amour and now looking to expand a bit.
Outside of Lonesome Dove (it's on the list already)
can you share your favorite westerns?
Feel free to recommend any specific Louis Lamour, or short story / anthologies as well.

Thank you,
Happy Reading!

[gunbad]

"The Shootist" by Glendon Swarthout.
"Winding Stair" by Douglas C. Jones.

These are just two of my favorites. Sadly a lot of Jones' books are not available in ebook.

Thinking about McMurtry, after you read "Lonesome Dove" his "Comanche Moon" is not to be missed.

[Lukusaukko]

I'm inclined towards the Weird Western genre, but Robert E. Howard has written some commonplace Western stories in addition to his more weird work - and most of those should be available in the public domain. From the more recent writers, I've liked Mark Sumner, but he's decidedly in the weird/fantasy end of the genre, so if that's not your cup of tea... Also, from the other pulp writers besides REH, I've read Tom Thursday and Hapsburg Liebe - you should be able to find their out-of-copyright works on the net, as well as many others at Pulpgen Archive, which has a load of other stories from pulp Western magazines as well.

[John F]

Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey is on my TBR list.

[rkomar]

Zane Grey and Max Brand were hugely popular back in the day, and are available at Project Gutenberg now. If you want to try some humourous Westerns take a look at the Hopalong Cassidy books by Clarence E. Mulford, also available at PG.

[Apache]

Louis L'amour's The Walking Drum is my favorite of his books even though it isn't set in the west. It is set in Europe and the Middle East in the 12th century. Last of the Breed is another of my favorites of Louis L'amour that is not a traditional western. Set-in modern times, it is about a USAF pilot captured by the Russians when they force his aircraft down. The protagonist is if American Indian descent and after escaping the Russian prison camp he decides to make is escape toward the Bearing Straight through Siberia.
The Cowboy and the Cossack by Clair Huffaker is another good western.
Shoot Him on Sight by Willaim Colt MacDonald is another one I like, but isn't available as an eBook.
Apache

[kyrilson]

I love westerns!

Apache mentions a couple of L'Amour favorites above. A couple more L'Amour favorites of mine are the Sackett series and his short story collection "Law of the Desert Born".

Loren D. Estleman's Page Murdock series is excellent.

Elmore Leonard has written some excellent western novels and short stories. Well worth looking into.

Robert B. Parker has a great western series, hmm, trying to think of the name... Oh! Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch. Good series.

Ralph Cotton has a bunch of good western series, too.

If you want something with more of an edge, check out the Edge series (ha! pun was unintended!) by George G. Gilman. They're pretty mean, ultra-violent and brutal, though, be warned.

[BenBanned]

Wow, lots of great responses. Enough to keep me busy for awhile. Thank you!
I recently picked up some of the Longmire Series by Craig Johnson. More murder mystery with a western setting than traditional western.
I also enjoyed No Country for Old Men, also not typical genre western but feel free to share anything similar.


Feel free to recommend anything outside of e book format, I mostly read paper backs.

[DiapDealer]

I'll throw James D. Best into the mix. There's about 8 books in his Steve Dancy Tales.

[Dr. Drib]

Mobileread's Library [FREE EBOOKS]:

Max Brand:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/se...rchid=21781015


Zane Grey:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/se...rchid=21781046


----------------------
I see you list 'paper' as your reading device. That's a shame. However, if you have a phone, you can download from the above links and put them on your phone. Or put them on your computer and read them on calibre.

If you have an Amazon account, for $2.99 you can purchase the Delphi collection of Max Brand novels - 50 of them - and that should keep you busy for a few months. Here's the link:

https://www.amazon.com/Delphi-Collec...s%2C201&sr=8-1

The same can be said for the Delphi Zane Grey. (But I'm going to let you do the work and find it, if you're interested in it....A little work never hurt anyone.)

[ZodWallop]

You named some classics already. Lonesome Dove is an incredible book.

Try Charles Portis' True Grit

Another classic author would be Elmore Leonard. He has some terrific westerns: Hombre, Valdez is Coming, Forty Lashes Less One and several others.

When it comes to Western movies, I favor the Italian spaghetti westerns with their grimier world view and moral ambiguity.

In the late sixties and early seventies, there was a group of English authors who became known as the Piccadilly Cowboys. They wrote books with the same mood as those spaghetti westerns. They have a cult following,so these old books have been resurrected as cheap ebooks.

kyrilson already mentioned George Gilman's Edge series (which I'll second).

Other good series from these guys would be:

Neil Hunter's Bodie the Stalker

James Marvin's Crow

Stand-alone, there's Richard Wyler's Incident at Butler's Station

Modern authors, I enjoy Peter Brandvold. I'd recommend his five book Colter Farrow series, available as a cheap digital omnibus: The Saga of Colter Farrow and his standalone: Blood Mountain

Charles G. West's Shoot-out at Broken Bow

Marcus Galloway's Death of a Bad Man

[Apache]

W. Michael Gear has a two-book series the Hawk that was very good.
The River 2018

1812 Missouri Fur Trade – An intimate of the Burr conspiracy, the condemned and hounded John Tylor signs on as boatman with Manuel Lisa’s expedition. But the river is now contested as the British, Spanish, and other fur companies prepare to break Lisa’s hold. As the expedition battles its way up the violent river, Fenway McKeever lurks in Tylor’s shadow. Not only is the half-mad McKeever paid to kill Tylor, but he’s convinced himself that by destroying Lisa’s expedition, he can sell his services to the highest bidder.

The Plains 2019

John Tylor figures everything is finally coming his way. He's got what he wants: a free shot into the wilderness where no one will ever know his name or his shame. As he and Will Cunningham head west into the northern Plains, Tylor rescues a wounded hawk, which he had dreams foretelling the event.

Tylor and Cunningham run smack into a party of Arapaho who are eager to relieve these solitary white guys of everything they've got, including the hawk. Fortunately, guided by visions, Gray Bear and his desperate little band of Shoshoni, arrive in the nick of time to drive off the Arapaho. The wounded hawk is proof of prophecy coming true.

A half-drowned Fenway McKeever has pulled himself out of the river, and he's enraged and seeking revenge. The Arapaho, feeling they've been humiliated, are also on Tylor and Gray Bear's backtrail, especially with the enticement of a bundle of guns. The race is on and Tylor and company are desperate to make the return to Shoshoni country and the safety of the mountains.

Will the wounded hawk ever be healed, let alone fit enough to finally take wing? Sometimes the simplest of dreams are the hardest to fulfill.
Apache

[BenBanned]

This thread is going to be a great reference, I appreciate everyone responding.

Next up I'm reading True Grit, and I'm going to keeping my eye out for copies of everything suggested so far... and who knows I might even go back to the e reader.
I'm challenging myself to read and review 52 western novels, wish me luck ��

[BelleZora]

Richard S. Wheeler wrote many good westerns. I recently read his Trouble in Tombstone.

[Dr. Drib]

Don't forget Donald Hamilton, (creator of the wonderful Matt Helm spy/detective thrillers), who also wrote six or seven WESTERNS.