His Ragged Company

I received an audible code from the author for review, John Pirhalla does a good job with the narration, offering up a nice southern drawl and differing, distinct voices for each character.

I was interesting in this one and it was on my radar for the cover alone. I actually only read the blurb after starting it! This is an alt history novel that mixes fantasy, action, and humor into its gunslinging antics. Elias Faust is the marshal of Blackpeak, and while he may only believe in shooting people that deserve it, he does seem to do so an awful lot. A fist fight here, some disagreements there, larceny. The first couple of parts of the book start off with typical, mostly time period correct, tomfoolery. The fantasy element is quite toned down, and I found that it worked well with its slower buildup (the fantasy buildup is slow, the novel is not). And within this groove I found myself really enjoying it.

The later part of the book, when things started heating up, the fantasy element is heightened as well, and within that I struggled a bit. The magnate is out for revenge, trying his hardest to wrangle up Faust and stop him from turning his entire plot topsy-turvy. There are celestial beings(?), as well as semi-conscious reanimated corpses, and then a strange somewhat Trueblood-esque coyote situation that confused me a bit. A bunch of which kind of felt like possible eldritch town-lore, but lacked a bit of the horror and darkness to solidify it for me. Faust’s ability to survive and be guided felt kind of fantasy dream sequence-y to me, which is something I always struggle with.

Regardless, for a unique blend of western and fantasy, this gunslinging marshal does have a lot of fun to offer. And with the audio, it was an effortlessly fun thing to listen to. The dream sequence part, which I avoided details because [spoilers] is a known personal issue for me, and I’m sure others will not feel the same whatsoever. So grab your colts, load em, and saddle up.