Review: His Ragged Company by Rance D. Denton

I find myself frequently mixing up what I read to avoid reading slumps.  If I get into a run of books where they all start feeling the same, it’s typically not because the books are bad as much as it’s that I’m not reading them with fresh eyes.  For this reason, I will mix in non-fiction, biographies, science or some other genre that I don’t read nearly as often, and that often does the trick.  I get to expand my interests, occasionally learn a thing or two, and refresh myself with a literary palate cleanser, of a sort.  But I digress …

Enter, the Escapist Tours coverage of His Ragged Company by Rance D. Denton.  I have very little previous experience reading Weird Western, and the concept intrigued me.  Add to that a cool cover and a need to break out of a reading slump … and here I am.

For starters I crave well written characters first and foremost in the books I read.  Make them interesting.  Make them wrestle with moral issues.  Make them speak with good dialogue.  Mission accomplished with this book.

I especially liked the main character here.  Elias Faust is the relatively new Marshall of a small Texas town.  He fits loosely into my favorite character type, the world-weary grumpy type.  Elias isn’t quite that, but he is an intriguing shimmy step away.  He just wants order in the town, and he’s not afraid to do unpleasant things to keep it that way.  Unfortunately for him, stuff keeps happening and it gets more bizarre as time passes.  And I mean REALLY mental at times.  If I was trying to be witty, I would say it puts the “weird” in Weird Western.

But lest you worry that Marshall Faust is the only character of note, there are plenty of other supporting characters that each bring their own nuance and (in some cases) charm to the story.  Honestly, they are all great.

The writing leans hard in places to the western style, and at times drifts a little into the corny, but I think it never drifts too far.  It feels both familiar and fresh, and I loved it.  You know it’s good when you read a line, pause and then read it out loud to whoever is nearby.  I did this a few times, sharing with my family some notable passages.

I tend to not say much about the plot in my reviews.  You could always read the blurb to get a sense of what the book is about.  I also don’t want to spoil any of the experience by giving anything away.  I will just say that the plot for this book starts a bit slow but then certainly builds A LOT as it goes.  I much prefer this approach since it lets me get to know characters, and then it sets the hook and pulls me along.  (I am not as much a fan of books where you are dropped into the action on page one.  It can be too disorienting for me.)

Perhaps my biggest negative (and it’s not a showstopper by any means) were the sections that I can best describe as a psychedelic narrative.  There were a few scenes that were written in a very disassociated manner, which I suspect was meant to represent the experience the character was going through.  I admire the courage of the author to stick with it, and I think it was done well for what it was.  My enjoyment in these passages was a little diminished because I couldn’t track what was happening as much as I would like.  Even still, they were only occasional and tended to last no more than a few pages.

I want to also add one more point that I sometimes see with self-published books.  I know that some authors choose to take this path because it allows them to take more risks with their creation, more creative freedom.  My biggest take-away from this book was that the author took all the right risks in this book.  The author had a vision for where it was going and clung tenaciously to that thrill ride of a story.  I would absolutely read more books in this series!

I highly endorse this book!  4.5 out of 5 stars!

(A special thanks to the author for sending a copy of the book.  This generous gesture in no way influenced my review.  Thanks also to Escapist Tours for allowing me to be a part of this tour.)

You can find the book here:

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/His-Ragged-Company-Testimony-Testimonies-
ebook/dp/B0976H4BNL/
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/His-Ragged-Company-Testimony-Testimonies-
ebook/dp/B0976H4BNL/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58305722-his-ragged-company
Website: http://www.eliasfaust.com

(Partial) Review of Eleventh Cycle by Kian N. Ardalan

**NOTE: As of the writing of this review I have only made it through the first 25% of the book.  The comments that follow are for the portion that I have read.  My plan is to post a final review once I have completed the book.

Is it just me or does life have a way of throwing curve balls at us?

I was excited to be chosen as one of the stops on this Blog Tour.  I had heard a little chatter about this book, and I jumped into it as soon as I could.  What I have been able to read has been quite good, but, sadly, life has demanded so much of my time recently and I have only made it 1/4 of the way.

Based on what I have read, this book checks off many of the boxes I look for in my fantasy books.  It is very character driven, it establishes it’s world without being “info-dumpy”, it builds tension gradually, and it feels somewhat fresh and new.

For starters, I need characters that are real.  I don’t necessarily need to like or hate them, and I don’t even need to relate to them.  What I do need is characters that are more than just a mouth or a sword to serve as more than dialogue or action.  I need to see them wrestle with difficult choices.  I need to see them face consequences.  I need them to have substance.

In the portion I have read, the most time has been spent developing two characters:  Dalila and Nora.  Of the two I find Dalila most compelling.  Dalila starts from a place of weakness.  She is a young girl who is exploring who she is and what she wants, only to be faced with a situation that turns her world upside-down.  She is stripped of everything she has known and must face a future she never expected or wanted.  I can imagine how traumatic it would be for her.  I am very eager to see what happens with her.

Nora, on the other hand, starts from a strength, but that overshadows some weaknesses and insecurities.  She also faces a very difficult family dynamic.  She truly has few allies, not to mention friends, but still has a sense of loyalty and justice.

As far as I have gotten, there is already a build-up of tension and intrigue.  I am definitely invested by this point and hope my schedule opens up so I can pick up the pace.

As I am one of the last stops on the tour, I encourage you to not just take my word on it, but see what some of the others have had to say.  You can find out more about the tour here:  https://escapistbookcompany.com/2023/02/16/the-heros-journey-eleventh-cycle-by-kian-n-ardalan/.

Thanks to the author and Escapist Tours for the chance to read this exciting new book!

Reboot to my review process

I have had an unspoken goal this year of reading books that would normally be outside of my preferences.  The hope is that this could do one of several things: 1) Open me up to a new favorite author or genre, 2) expose me to new people groups that I might not otherwise see (especially in historical fiction or non-fiction), or 3) help me avoid book ruts where I feel like I always read the same thing over and over again.

Of course this comes with some risks: 1) I know what I like and I like what I know, so these new books have to earn their way in, 2) I will be uncomfortable at points in the reading of these books, or 3) how do I write a review for a book that wasn’t for me after all, but that I could still see why others might like it.

Now after reading several books that have stretched me, and after giving some thought to how I should write reviews, I have settled on this.

1. If I loved the book, I will treat the review like any other book I have loved and will review accordingly.
2. If I didn’t finish a book, or struggled to get through it, I will likely pass on a review.  (Side note, I have no interest in bashing books or authors, especially when I know I was never the intended target audience.)
3. If I “liked” the book, or at least can see why other people might, I will write a shorter review, prioritizing what I did like and making clear that it was not a book “for me”.

And, in a more general statement, I have been going through a stretch where I am managing some internal struggles, particularly in the realm of mental health.  With that in mind, focusing on the positives of what I read, and projecting that out as gratitude toward the authors, I believe will be a healthy experience for me.  Likewise, I must be kind to myself and not expect my reviews to look like those out there who do amazing written or video reviews.  Any reviews, especially positive ones, are better than no reviews.

Hopefully, this all translates to a flurry of upcoming reviews over the days and weeks to come as I catch up on my backlog of pending reviews.  I truly have enjoyed several reads this year, and I would love to see others reading those stories as well.