55_sallymander's review
3.0
STAMPEDE by Brian Castner 3 STARS
NOTHING IN LIFE IS FREE
This is an interesting novel about the famous Klondike Gold Rush. From the initial discovery of gold to the thousands of people who dropped everything to run for the gold. Desperate folks who thought they could get rich quickly but most found only pain and heartache.
The story is told in more of a story form, yet still giving the details about who found gold first, at which locations. The gold rush was 1896-1899, with the stampede being 1897-1898. Few people got rich from the gold that they found. They discovered that the inflation of regular things like food or supplies went up.
The book has a plethora of historical facts about the stampede, it would appeal to history buffs. Some of it was interesting to me, but I lost interest in it, somewhere in the middle.
Thankfully, I received a complimentary copy of #stampede @stampede from #netgalley I was under no obligation to post a review.
NOTHING IN LIFE IS FREE
This is an interesting novel about the famous Klondike Gold Rush. From the initial discovery of gold to the thousands of people who dropped everything to run for the gold. Desperate folks who thought they could get rich quickly but most found only pain and heartache.
The story is told in more of a story form, yet still giving the details about who found gold first, at which locations. The gold rush was 1896-1899, with the stampede being 1897-1898. Few people got rich from the gold that they found. They discovered that the inflation of regular things like food or supplies went up.
The book has a plethora of historical facts about the stampede, it would appeal to history buffs. Some of it was interesting to me, but I lost interest in it, somewhere in the middle.
Thankfully, I received a complimentary copy of #stampede @stampede from #netgalley I was under no obligation to post a review.
lindsayb09's review
4.0
Grabbed the audiobook during an audible sale. The audiobook is narrated by the author, and he does a fantastic job. He has a storyteller's flair, it feels like listening to an adventure novel rather than a history book.
There's a lot of tragedy, and if you're sensitive to the death of animals there are sections that may be tough to get through. But overall I found it an enthralling listen.
There's a lot of tragedy, and if you're sensitive to the death of animals there are sections that may be tough to get through. But overall I found it an enthralling listen.
miguelf's review
5.0
Such a great book about a small chapter in history that seemingly everyone is kind of familiar with, but few details known. Having a very Deadwood vibe throughout and using language of the time the author did a wonderful job getting the feel of the time and place on the page. It reads as a collection of short stories regarding various characters involved in the Klondike gold rush (and they were all ‘characters’). It was fairly amazing this all happened in such a compressed period of time and the accompanying photos even show how elaborate some of the buildings are (compare that to today’s gold rushes in places like North Dakota in the oil fields – not quite the same architecture is achieved). Well worth the time.
audreyapproved's review
3.0
I have a lot of thoughts, but firstly, I love this cover! It is something I'd totally pick up in a bookstore. Stampede is my first introduction into Alaska's Klondike gold rush, and I picked up quite a few tidbits of information - namely how going to Alaska was really lucrative for the first people on the river, and not worth it for literally everybody else.
Castner has a unique way to tell this story. While the chapters are chronological and named by the year in which events occurred, each chapter typically focuses on one person and talks about their experience in the Klondike. He covers law men, party leaders that ended in death/disaster, conmen, traders and bar-owners, "good time girls", and regular people tryin' to make it big in the north (including the author [a:Jack London|1240|Jack London|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1508674808p2/1240.jpg], before he got famous). It's a bit of an awkward structure since we sometimes return to these people in later chapters, but frequently do not.
While much of this seems well researched (I listened to this on audiobook but downloaded the ebook to browse through the bibliography), Castner isn't my favorite writer. It almost feels like he's trying to be conversational, but I'd have preferred it more if he did not. In narration voice and cadence, this kind of reminded me of [b:The End is Always Near: Apocalyptic Moments, from the Bronze Age Collapse to Nuclear Near Misses|49947205|The End is Always Near Apocalyptic Moments, from the Bronze Age Collapse to Nuclear Near Misses|Dan Carlin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1564561209l/49947205._SX50_SY75_.jpg|72579137] (narrated by the author) - this is not a compliment. Castner also uses the phrase "thought to himself/herself" a lot, and then quotes something that an individual wrote. This seems minor, but I really don't like this attempt to bring the readers into the storyline. I'd prefer if Castner had just said "wrote". I'm very picky when it comes to historical nonfiction authors writing things like "thought to themselves" because there's no way for an author to validate this with hard data.
Overall, I felt this was big on retelling stories of different people that participated in the Klondike Stampede (some were quite entertaining - I liked the conman the best), but light on an overarching theme and cohesion. Because of this, the author's use of racial slang (which he says in the introduction he kept as a way to accurately depict the times) felt kind of pointless.
I wouldn't recommend, and I wouldn't be eager to pick something else up by Castner, but I learned about a historical event I knew nothing about and I'd definitely read something else on this subject matter.
Castner has a unique way to tell this story. While the chapters are chronological and named by the year in which events occurred, each chapter typically focuses on one person and talks about their experience in the Klondike. He covers law men, party leaders that ended in death/disaster, conmen, traders and bar-owners, "good time girls", and regular people tryin' to make it big in the north (including the author [a:Jack London|1240|Jack London|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1508674808p2/1240.jpg], before he got famous). It's a bit of an awkward structure since we sometimes return to these people in later chapters, but frequently do not.
While much of this seems well researched (I listened to this on audiobook but downloaded the ebook to browse through the bibliography), Castner isn't my favorite writer. It almost feels like he's trying to be conversational, but I'd have preferred it more if he did not. In narration voice and cadence, this kind of reminded me of [b:The End is Always Near: Apocalyptic Moments, from the Bronze Age Collapse to Nuclear Near Misses|49947205|The End is Always Near Apocalyptic Moments, from the Bronze Age Collapse to Nuclear Near Misses|Dan Carlin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1564561209l/49947205._SX50_SY75_.jpg|72579137] (narrated by the author) - this is not a compliment. Castner also uses the phrase "thought to himself/herself" a lot, and then quotes something that an individual wrote. This seems minor, but I really don't like this attempt to bring the readers into the storyline. I'd prefer if Castner had just said "wrote". I'm very picky when it comes to historical nonfiction authors writing things like "thought to themselves" because there's no way for an author to validate this with hard data.
Overall, I felt this was big on retelling stories of different people that participated in the Klondike Stampede (some were quite entertaining - I liked the conman the best), but light on an overarching theme and cohesion. Because of this, the author's use of racial slang (which he says in the introduction he kept as a way to accurately depict the times) felt kind of pointless.
I wouldn't recommend, and I wouldn't be eager to pick something else up by Castner, but I learned about a historical event I knew nothing about and I'd definitely read something else on this subject matter.
bobkit's review
adventurous
dark
informative
fast-paced
5.0
Listened to the libraries audiobook.
I grew up on Jack London and had an overall sense of what the gold rush was, however, I didn't really. Brian Castner presents the goldrush from different stakeholders, the early prospectors, the miners, the business holders ext... And by doing so he presents viewpoints of those often forgotten voices, such as the first nations and the dancing girls. He paints a picture of how the goldrush only advantaged a handful while many suffered but how it changed the region over the course of three years. I am now going to be on the look out for more material on this absolutely crazy and forgotten time in history. I would definitely like to hear more deconstruction of rich white peoples pov towards more of those people underrepresented, such as Skookum Jim Mason. My final thought is that this would be a fantastic setting for a new HBO series.
I grew up on Jack London and had an overall sense of what the gold rush was, however, I didn't really. Brian Castner presents the goldrush from different stakeholders, the early prospectors, the miners, the business holders ext... And by doing so he presents viewpoints of those often forgotten voices, such as the first nations and the dancing girls. He paints a picture of how the goldrush only advantaged a handful while many suffered but how it changed the region over the course of three years. I am now going to be on the look out for more material on this absolutely crazy and forgotten time in history. I would definitely like to hear more deconstruction of rich white peoples pov towards more of those people underrepresented, such as Skookum Jim Mason. My final thought is that this would be a fantastic setting for a new HBO series.
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