Appaloosa, by Robert B. Parker
Mar. 30th, 2010 08:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shannon_aSo I've started in on Parker's short series of westerns with the first, Appaloosa. I'm sort of surprised how similar in style it is to the Spenser books. It's very dialogue-heavy, and I expected something more action heavy for the western genre. I think the book suffered a bit as a result.
(As a result of my expectations or Parker's style? I dunno.)
It is a pretty good character study of the two (or three) main characters, even if we've seen reflections of them before. Hitch and Cole aren't that different from the stoic yet very competent Spenser and Stone, while Cole's girl could well be the ancestor of Stone's odious, power-grabbing ex-wife, Jenn.
I enjoyed the book alright, if not as much as the Stone and Spenser novels, and I'll surely read the other two (three when the last one is out too). I must say, I am a bit surprised by the fact that there are more books, however, as the ending is a pretty definitive character change for both Hitch and his relationship with Cole.
However, based on the timing, I'd bet the fact that a movie got made out of Appaloosa is what made it successful enough to sequel-ize.
(As a result of my expectations or Parker's style? I dunno.)
It is a pretty good character study of the two (or three) main characters, even if we've seen reflections of them before. Hitch and Cole aren't that different from the stoic yet very competent Spenser and Stone, while Cole's girl could well be the ancestor of Stone's odious, power-grabbing ex-wife, Jenn.
I enjoyed the book alright, if not as much as the Stone and Spenser novels, and I'll surely read the other two (three when the last one is out too). I must say, I am a bit surprised by the fact that there are more books, however, as the ending is a pretty definitive character change for both Hitch and his relationship with Cole.
However, based on the timing, I'd bet the fact that a movie got made out of Appaloosa is what made it successful enough to sequel-ize.
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Date: 2010-03-31 01:10 pm (UTC)The movie lead me to the first book, which was so good it lead me to the second. And both lead me to pick up an omnibus of Elmore Leonard's western tales (http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Western-Stories-Elmore-Leonard/dp/0061242926/ref=tmm_pap_title_0): also highly recommended.
Ed Harris' take on Appaloosa is also better than James Mangold's take on 3:10 to Yuma (although that, too, is not tremendously bad).