unicorndeburgh reviewed Silver on the Road by Laura Anne Gilman (The Devil's West, #1)
Review of 'Silver on the Road' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
You know about Westerns -- a period of American history with cowboys and Indians, buffalos and Spanish missionaries. There are elements of truth in that, and a whole lot of modern mythology. Gilman has written a novel set in a version of that world that includes magic. It's not like any fantasy magic I've encountered before. It seems to rise logically out of the landscape. There's a character that people call the Devil, but it would seem that people with a Christian background misapplied a name they knew to something outside of their understanding.
The protagonist is a young woman heading out into this world as the Devil's agent, learning her job as she goes. You hear her point of view, and that of the man who the devil hired to teach her to survive on the road. They encounter silver miners (silver has a role in magic), Indians, a …
You know about Westerns -- a period of American history with cowboys and Indians, buffalos and Spanish missionaries. There are elements of truth in that, and a whole lot of modern mythology. Gilman has written a novel set in a version of that world that includes magic. It's not like any fantasy magic I've encountered before. It seems to rise logically out of the landscape. There's a character that people call the Devil, but it would seem that people with a Christian background misapplied a name they knew to something outside of their understanding.
The protagonist is a young woman heading out into this world as the Devil's agent, learning her job as she goes. You hear her point of view, and that of the man who the devil hired to teach her to survive on the road. They encounter silver miners (silver has a role in magic), Indians, a magician, missionaries and more. I loved it.
