Wikipedia defines Weird West as a literary subgenre that combines elements of the Western
with another literary genre, usually horror, occult, fantasy, or science
fiction. The seventeen authors of
Such an anthology would not be complete without a steam-powered
zeppelin or two. Principia Ponderosa
leads off with "Blazing Beamard," by Stanley Webb, in which we
discover that a formidable dragon is really a coal-fed monster put to work
raiding trains for their gold. "The Great Man's Iron Horse" by Mark
Mellon introduces another ground-devouring invention that threatens to drive
the railroads out of business. But new inventions can't solve every problem, as
we see when a lumbering machine becomes the peacemaker in Philip DiBoise's
"Closing the Frontier."
As you expect, there are a lot of trains. Trains that built
the west, and transported a strange assortment of denizens, both living and
spectral, to their proper destinations. In Salinda Tyson's "The
Hunt," an avenging eco-spirit decides enough is enough and changes the
hearts of hunters shooting buffalo from trains for sport.
A lovely bit of magical realism worms its way into our
psyches when a bunch of outlaws ride into the town of "Mourning Dove"
by Jackson Kuhl, only to find their fates predicted in the morning paper.
Do not forsake me, oh,
my darling. You've been challenged to a gunfight at high noon in front of the
saloon, and it's pouring rain. Why haven't you gotten out of Dodge? A great new
entry from Martin M. Clark is "No Country for Young Men," a slow
build to an explosive duel fought with particle beam sidearms.
A thread running through many of the stories is justice for
women in the old west. The scream of a woman starts the action in Robert
Walton's Gold Rush tale. Should the men rush to her aid, or will "La
Loca" take care of business? In "Lampblack and Dust," J. L.
Forrest's witch summons her moving tattoos to rescue her protégé, in a tale reminiscent
of Vonda N. McIntyre's Dreamsnake.
The steampunk heroine tends to be strong too, as we see in John J. Kennedy's
"The Gleaming," who overcomes the loss of an arm to become the first
bionic woman.
The solitude of the lonely prairie sometimes plays tricks
with the imagination, so we include a taste of horror in this collection.
Premee Mohamed's practical farm family is used to losing stock to the harsh
conditions of the prairie, but they also have to be "Willing" to
sacrifice even further to ensure a good harvest. Jordan Ashley Moore's retired
sheriff revisits the scene of an unsolved murder in "The Quiet
Crime"—unable to forget how the killer simply vanished into thin air.
Appearances can be deceiving, as we see in Columbkill
Noonan's "The Groks of Kruk County," a hilarious tale of
drug-addicted mountain folks who end up dead, but keep up their haunting ways
even though people see right through them. In Angus McIntyre's "The
Monster Hunter," we wonder how he can keep killing monsters that everyone is
pretty sure are imaginary.
Anchoring the collection is Geoff Gander's powerful chiller,
"The Wind Father." Homesteaders are brutally murdered, but when
Canadian Northwest Mounties investigate, instead of a frontier conflict, they
encounter an entity thirsting for power—and human blood.
To lighten the mood, we close as usual with our "Grins
and Gurgles" flash humor section, with pieces by Lisa Timpf ("Dealing
with the Ship's Cat"), Sheryl Normandeau ("Gardening in a
Post-Apocalyptic World"), and Brian Trent ("The JPEG of Dorian
Gray"). Hmm, does it seem like our northern authors have a lock on humor?
We're happy this time around to have discovered some great new
writers, It's gratifying to feature and encourage budding talent. We hope
you'll thoroughly enjoy these sagas, told by an international group of excellent
storytellers. Saddle up and ride with us into the sunset.
Principia Ponderosa is available in ebook for Kindle from Amazon (free to Kindle Unlimited subscribers) and also in paperback.
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