A review by booksinbangkok
Dead Man's Hand: An Anthology of the Weird West, by Ben H. Winters, John Joseph Adams, Christie Yant, David Farland, Tobias S. Buckell, Elizabeth Bear, Jonathan Maberry, Hugh Howey, Kelley Armstrong, Mike Resnick, Beth Revis, Seanan McGuire, Joe R. Lansdale, Alastair Reynolds, Tad Williams, Rajan Khanna, Laura Anne Gilman, Alan Dean Foster, Ken Liu, Orson Scott Card, Charles Yu, Fred Van Lente, Jeffrey Ford, Walter Jon Williams
4.0
23 amazing stories set in a Wild West populated by gunslingers, Indians, card players, robots and other machines, monsters and magic. I enjoyed most of the stories but these were my favorites.
The Red-Headed Dead by Joe R. Lansdale
Reverend Mercer finds shelter from a storm in the worst place, a ruined cabin near a cemetery where an iron spike sticks out from a grave. The Reverend knows it is not by accident that he has come to this place. God has a plan, and His plans usually involve a monster. And the monster is coming.
This was such a delicious story, like a bite out of the perfect chocolate cake. The problem is, one bite is not enough, but it definitely put Landsdale on my tbr list.
The Hell-Bound Stagecoach by Mike Resnick
At first glance, this seems like an innocent story – two travelers stuck in a stagecoach for a long drive. But it’s not until the third joins them, that things really start to get interesting. I loved the clues sprinkled throughout the story. You can feel something’s wrong but you don’t know what until the end. And it’s such a satisfying end!
Wrecking Party by Alastair Reynolds
Why would a man wreck a horseless carriage in the middle of the night? What could make him hate a lifeless thing so bad he would lash out at anyone who tried to stop him?
I’ve always wondered about steampunk and there are several stories in this anthology that include robots and mechanical spiders, among other things, but not all of them worked for me. It’s a lot more fun to watch steampunk on the screen (think Wild Wild West with Will Smith) than it is to read about it. This is one of the stories I quite enjoyed because it doesn’t go into lengthy descriptions about how machines work.
Red Dreams by Jonathan Maberry
Jonah McCall and his horse are the only survivors of a massacre in which red men and white men fought each other and died. But not all of them. Walking Bear, the war chief of the Cheyenne, appears out of nowhere and McCall kills him, again. Can you kill a man twice?
I loved this story because it’s the truth wrapped in a cocoon of fiction, and it’s the kind of truth that hurts to read about. It’s my second favorite story in this book.
The Red-Headed Dead by Joe R. Lansdale
Reverend Mercer finds shelter from a storm in the worst place, a ruined cabin near a cemetery where an iron spike sticks out from a grave. The Reverend knows it is not by accident that he has come to this place. God has a plan, and His plans usually involve a monster. And the monster is coming.
This was such a delicious story, like a bite out of the perfect chocolate cake. The problem is, one bite is not enough, but it definitely put Landsdale on my tbr list.
The Hell-Bound Stagecoach by Mike Resnick
At first glance, this seems like an innocent story – two travelers stuck in a stagecoach for a long drive. But it’s not until the third joins them, that things really start to get interesting. I loved the clues sprinkled throughout the story. You can feel something’s wrong but you don’t know what until the end. And it’s such a satisfying end!
Wrecking Party by Alastair Reynolds
Why would a man wreck a horseless carriage in the middle of the night? What could make him hate a lifeless thing so bad he would lash out at anyone who tried to stop him?
I’ve always wondered about steampunk and there are several stories in this anthology that include robots and mechanical spiders, among other things, but not all of them worked for me. It’s a lot more fun to watch steampunk on the screen (think Wild Wild West with Will Smith) than it is to read about it. This is one of the stories I quite enjoyed because it doesn’t go into lengthy descriptions about how machines work.
Red Dreams by Jonathan Maberry
Jonah McCall and his horse are the only survivors of a massacre in which red men and white men fought each other and died. But not all of them. Walking Bear, the war chief of the Cheyenne, appears out of nowhere and McCall kills him, again. Can you kill a man twice?
I loved this story because it’s the truth wrapped in a cocoon of fiction, and it’s the kind of truth that hurts to read about. It’s my second favorite story in this book.