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Cold West
Bastard. Killer. Husband. Father.
His wife cold in the ground, and two young boys to feed, Wil Cutter turns to what he knows: Violence. But a bounty is never just a bounty, and blood is never spilled in drops. Forced to ever more violent acts, he’ll have to ask himself: Is Hell too far to ride?
His wife cold in the ground, and two young boys to feed, Wil Cutter turns to what he knows: Violence. But a bounty is never just a bounty, and blood is never spilled in drops. Forced to ever more violent acts, he’ll have to ask himself: Is Hell too far to ride?
164 pages, Paperback
First published February 20, 2020
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April 15, 2024
My complete review of Cold West is published at Before We Go Blog.
Clayton Snyder is in peak form with his grimdark Weird Western, Cold West. The novel opens with former bounty hunter Wil Cutter burying his young wife, Ginny, following an unexpected illness. Left emotionally devastated and penniless with two young boys to feed, Cutter sees no choice but to return to his former life of violence.
It’s amazing how much Clayton Snyder packs into this two-hundred-page novel. Cold West is an emotional masterpiece, led by a protagonist who has lost the only salvation he has known. Snyder’s writing cuts like a knife and is a perfect match for this gut-wrenching story:
“Give me a gun and I’ll hurt whoever you point me at. Hand me a bottle, and I’ll try to drown in it. Anything to be away from those memories, the things you can’t talk about.”
Wil Cutter is a deeply flawed main character, haunted by a past he can’t seem to escape. The plot serves as a reflection of Wil’s chaotic mental state and, as such, is rather unstructured, jumping abruptly between scenes. Wil’s shifting morality is accompanied by several shockingly brutal action sequences that will appeal to even the hardest of grimdark fans. These are interspersed with Wil’s feverish dreams reminiscing about Ginny, the one person who accepted him for who he was, forgave his sins, and set him on a path toward redemption.
Cold West is a book about finding purpose and then suddenly losing it. The pages of Cold West practically bleed with remorse and sorrow. The story is, appropriately, set in a bleak wasteland. Snyder employs a minimalistic approach to worldbuilding and magic, which works well in the context of the story.
Snyder’s trademark sense of humor is still present: the astute reader will note references to fellow grimdark indie authors Michael R. Fletcher and Sarah Chorn, as well as a subtle reference to Mark Lawrence’s Broken Empire trilogy. Mark Lawrence’s influence is evident throughout Cold West. Snyder’s novel serves as a cutting first-person psychological study that combines the raw brutality of Prince of Thorns with the sorrowful introspection of King of Thorns and Emperor of Thorns. Of course, there are also parallels with Lawrence’s own Weird Western, Gunlaw.
Cold West packs a huge emotional punch. This action-packed tragedy should be considered essential reading for grimdark fans.
Clayton Snyder is in peak form with his grimdark Weird Western, Cold West. The novel opens with former bounty hunter Wil Cutter burying his young wife, Ginny, following an unexpected illness. Left emotionally devastated and penniless with two young boys to feed, Cutter sees no choice but to return to his former life of violence.
It’s amazing how much Clayton Snyder packs into this two-hundred-page novel. Cold West is an emotional masterpiece, led by a protagonist who has lost the only salvation he has known. Snyder’s writing cuts like a knife and is a perfect match for this gut-wrenching story:
“Give me a gun and I’ll hurt whoever you point me at. Hand me a bottle, and I’ll try to drown in it. Anything to be away from those memories, the things you can’t talk about.”
Wil Cutter is a deeply flawed main character, haunted by a past he can’t seem to escape. The plot serves as a reflection of Wil’s chaotic mental state and, as such, is rather unstructured, jumping abruptly between scenes. Wil’s shifting morality is accompanied by several shockingly brutal action sequences that will appeal to even the hardest of grimdark fans. These are interspersed with Wil’s feverish dreams reminiscing about Ginny, the one person who accepted him for who he was, forgave his sins, and set him on a path toward redemption.
Cold West is a book about finding purpose and then suddenly losing it. The pages of Cold West practically bleed with remorse and sorrow. The story is, appropriately, set in a bleak wasteland. Snyder employs a minimalistic approach to worldbuilding and magic, which works well in the context of the story.
Snyder’s trademark sense of humor is still present: the astute reader will note references to fellow grimdark indie authors Michael R. Fletcher and Sarah Chorn, as well as a subtle reference to Mark Lawrence’s Broken Empire trilogy. Mark Lawrence’s influence is evident throughout Cold West. Snyder’s novel serves as a cutting first-person psychological study that combines the raw brutality of Prince of Thorns with the sorrowful introspection of King of Thorns and Emperor of Thorns. Of course, there are also parallels with Lawrence’s own Weird Western, Gunlaw.
Cold West packs a huge emotional punch. This action-packed tragedy should be considered essential reading for grimdark fans.
January 9, 2024
Read for SPFBO9 as part of Fantasy Book Critic. This is just my personal opinion, group verdict may differ widely.
5/10
Cold West is a dark, visceral, and unapologetically weird fantasy Western that practically bleeds with sorrow, remorse, and revenge.
Wil Cutter thought he had left his brutal and turbulent past behind, but now his wife is in the ground, and returning back to violence is the only way left to protect his two boys. As he sets out on a dangerous bounty hunt, we are launched into a frenzied tale full of vengeance, grief, reflection, bloodshed, and unrelenting darkness.
This is an extremely character-driven narrative, feeling almost more like a deep psychological study than anything else. Wil Cutter’s spiralling mental state permeates every single aspect of the story, which is reflected in the grim tone, bleak setting, knife-sharp prose, and almost suffocating atmosphere.
The structure of the plot is also somewhat bonkers, but it does really make sense considering Wil’s manic state of mind. Memories, flashbacks, and bizarre fever dreams constantly break up the present-day narrative, which makes the story even more wild than it already is. On the one hand, I liked all the poignant moments of introspection and appreciated that we got such an intimate look into Wil’s messed up mind, but on the other hand I also had a hard time getting invested due to the rocky pacing and disruptive plot structure.
I also wouldn’t have minded this book to be a bit longer and slower-paced, because there were so many intriguing bits of imaginative world building just dangled in front of our eyes and then immediately snatched away again. A minimalistic approach to world building can work really well for me if the other aspects of the story keep me engaged, but that unfortunately wasn’t the case here.
There’s no denying that Snyder nailed his vision and accomplished what he set out to do, but whether you will enjoy that execution is purely going to depend on your personal emotional investment. If you like the sound of a bold, bleak, fast-paced, and experimental grimdark take on the fantasy western genre, then Cold West is the book for you.
5/10
Cold West is a dark, visceral, and unapologetically weird fantasy Western that practically bleeds with sorrow, remorse, and revenge.
Wil Cutter thought he had left his brutal and turbulent past behind, but now his wife is in the ground, and returning back to violence is the only way left to protect his two boys. As he sets out on a dangerous bounty hunt, we are launched into a frenzied tale full of vengeance, grief, reflection, bloodshed, and unrelenting darkness.
This is an extremely character-driven narrative, feeling almost more like a deep psychological study than anything else. Wil Cutter’s spiralling mental state permeates every single aspect of the story, which is reflected in the grim tone, bleak setting, knife-sharp prose, and almost suffocating atmosphere.
The structure of the plot is also somewhat bonkers, but it does really make sense considering Wil’s manic state of mind. Memories, flashbacks, and bizarre fever dreams constantly break up the present-day narrative, which makes the story even more wild than it already is. On the one hand, I liked all the poignant moments of introspection and appreciated that we got such an intimate look into Wil’s messed up mind, but on the other hand I also had a hard time getting invested due to the rocky pacing and disruptive plot structure.
I also wouldn’t have minded this book to be a bit longer and slower-paced, because there were so many intriguing bits of imaginative world building just dangled in front of our eyes and then immediately snatched away again. A minimalistic approach to world building can work really well for me if the other aspects of the story keep me engaged, but that unfortunately wasn’t the case here.
There’s no denying that Snyder nailed his vision and accomplished what he set out to do, but whether you will enjoy that execution is purely going to depend on your personal emotional investment. If you like the sound of a bold, bleak, fast-paced, and experimental grimdark take on the fantasy western genre, then Cold West is the book for you.
Read
October 27, 2023I've not read this yet, but it's the eighth finalist for SPFBO 9, one of 10 finalists to be chosen from the 300 entries this year.
That's got to mean it's good - so give it a go.
Check out this year's contest here:
https://mark---lawrence.blogspot.com/...
See this year's finalist table here:
https://mark---lawrence.blogspot.com/...
Read up on the SPFBO in general here:
https://mark---lawrence.blogspot.com/...
.
That's got to mean it's good - so give it a go.
Check out this year's contest here:
https://mark---lawrence.blogspot.com/...
See this year's finalist table here:
https://mark---lawrence.blogspot.com/...
Read up on the SPFBO in general here:
https://mark---lawrence.blogspot.com/...
.
January 10, 2024
This was good. A fantasy-western that's a psychological journey full of death and dust, pain and sadness. Cutter was an interesting character and Snyder is no doubt a talented writer. I really liked some of the decisions he made here, I actually liked the structure whereas that seems to be a common complaint.
I wish it was longer and took time to breathe, and the first 60 or so pages was Eastwood's Unforgiven almost word for word.
I wish it was longer and took time to breathe, and the first 60 or so pages was Eastwood's Unforgiven almost word for word.
January 9, 2024
2.5/5
Cold West is a dark story set in a brutal world. Everything here is plagued by moral decay and despair. There’s a plot, of course, but since the story’s structure is non-linear, approach it as an exercise in writing about grief, hardship, and a man’s struggle to move forward after losing his beloved wife.
I’ll start with the things I liked. I appreciated the writing style; its strong imagery conveys a poignant portrayal of loss and the emotional suffering it caused. The story’s somber, melancholic atmosphere fits the harshness of the world. There’s also a complex backstory to everything happening, and I think it’s used reasonably well throughout the story.
The protagonist is a complex character with a troubled past, a strong sense of responsibility, and an emotional depth. His interactions with his children and the memories of his late wife add emotional complexity to his character. And his struggles and the challenges he faces as a father and a provider are understandable. More so than his actions, I guess.
On the flip side, a lot of what’s happening could benefit from more clarity and context, which would allow readers to fully grasp the underlying conflicts and characters’ motivations. The pacing goes from slow and depressingly introspective to short outbursts of action and violence and doesn’t feel balanced (subjective). The world feels dangerous and gritty, and everything feels harsh: surroundings, other people, political situation. It’s depressive and brutal and utterly dark with no shred of hope.
The narrative's nonlinear structure and the use of flashbacks will appeal to some, and irk others. I wasn’t crazy about it and I didn’t think it was done particularly well. Subjective, again. Readers seeking a more straightforward storytelling experience will probably have an issue with it, too, though. The complex, dark themes and the graphic depiction of violence will be divisive.
Now, I’m okay with bleak and violent, but there’s something about Cold West that made me actively dislike the world and characters. While I appreciate the author’s skill in portraying grief and a brutal world, I’ve never felt particularly immersed in it or invested in any meaningful way. Subjectively speaking, reading Cold West was rather unpleasant. It doesn’t mean it’s a bad book as I’m sure it’ll resonate with some readers.
In all, Cold West is a dark read filled with gritty action and a level of psychological depth. For fans of dark, character-driven stories with little to no hope.
Cold West is a dark story set in a brutal world. Everything here is plagued by moral decay and despair. There’s a plot, of course, but since the story’s structure is non-linear, approach it as an exercise in writing about grief, hardship, and a man’s struggle to move forward after losing his beloved wife.
I’ll start with the things I liked. I appreciated the writing style; its strong imagery conveys a poignant portrayal of loss and the emotional suffering it caused. The story’s somber, melancholic atmosphere fits the harshness of the world. There’s also a complex backstory to everything happening, and I think it’s used reasonably well throughout the story.
The protagonist is a complex character with a troubled past, a strong sense of responsibility, and an emotional depth. His interactions with his children and the memories of his late wife add emotional complexity to his character. And his struggles and the challenges he faces as a father and a provider are understandable. More so than his actions, I guess.
On the flip side, a lot of what’s happening could benefit from more clarity and context, which would allow readers to fully grasp the underlying conflicts and characters’ motivations. The pacing goes from slow and depressingly introspective to short outbursts of action and violence and doesn’t feel balanced (subjective). The world feels dangerous and gritty, and everything feels harsh: surroundings, other people, political situation. It’s depressive and brutal and utterly dark with no shred of hope.
The narrative's nonlinear structure and the use of flashbacks will appeal to some, and irk others. I wasn’t crazy about it and I didn’t think it was done particularly well. Subjective, again. Readers seeking a more straightforward storytelling experience will probably have an issue with it, too, though. The complex, dark themes and the graphic depiction of violence will be divisive.
Now, I’m okay with bleak and violent, but there’s something about Cold West that made me actively dislike the world and characters. While I appreciate the author’s skill in portraying grief and a brutal world, I’ve never felt particularly immersed in it or invested in any meaningful way. Subjectively speaking, reading Cold West was rather unpleasant. It doesn’t mean it’s a bad book as I’m sure it’ll resonate with some readers.
In all, Cold West is a dark read filled with gritty action and a level of psychological depth. For fans of dark, character-driven stories with little to no hope.
March 12, 2023
Part revenge thriller, part surreal nightmare, Snyder knocks another one out of the park with the story of a post-war survivor with a few tricks up his sleeve that is hired to do some dirty work. Things go south quickly, and Wil must do whatever he can to survive.
The book feels like “Shane” meets Ed McDonald’s ‘Misery’ as Wil must contend with the worst monsters mankind has to offer. The story fades in and out of fever dreams, past hallucinations, and memories to the point where you’re not sure just what is real. It adds another layer of horror and discomfort to the reading experience, which Snyder has always excelled at.
This story made me want to go kiss my family on their foreheads and hug them close. It’s a grim, fast-paced western horror with a more than a touch of the supernatural while slyly tugging at the heartstrings. It’s a deft combo that had me glued. Those with any interest in the subjects listed in this review would do well to check this one out.
4.5/5
The book feels like “Shane” meets Ed McDonald’s ‘Misery’ as Wil must contend with the worst monsters mankind has to offer. The story fades in and out of fever dreams, past hallucinations, and memories to the point where you’re not sure just what is real. It adds another layer of horror and discomfort to the reading experience, which Snyder has always excelled at.
This story made me want to go kiss my family on their foreheads and hug them close. It’s a grim, fast-paced western horror with a more than a touch of the supernatural while slyly tugging at the heartstrings. It’s a deft combo that had me glued. Those with any interest in the subjects listed in this review would do well to check this one out.
4.5/5
November 11, 2020
http://www.bookwormblues.net/2020/11/...
I am a big ol’ Weird West fan. I don’t think that needs to be a secret. I live out here in the west, and I see so much from history and the like that is just ripe for the plucking, waiting for some author to see it, and turn it into an amazing story. Weird West fantasy is my bag. It doesn’t tend to get a ton of attention in the genre, and I think that’s absolutely criminal. A really good fantasy western is every bit as exciting and gripping as anything else you could ever read.
Basically, if you aren’t reading this subgenre of fantasy, you’re really missing out.
Now, for reasons of transparency, you should know that Clayton Snyder is someone I consider a friend. I also think he writes some absolutely masterful fantasy and is one of those criminally underrated authors that you really all need to read more of. I’m not just saying that because he’s my friend. I read his books before I ever had personal interactions with the guy, and my opinion of him as one of the most talented, unjustly underrated authors stems from a time before I went to yell at him daily on a Discord server. However, I’m billing this as a book review, so you should know my potential bias before we move along.
ANYWAY.
Cold West was a book that had me interested the moment he started posting snippets of it on Facebook. Here was a Weird West fantasy, written by an author who has this ability to weld language like a hammer when he needs to, and like silk when he chooses. I knew that Snyder would take a western setting and own it. His aggressive writing style is made for a book like this. Further, this book weighs in at just over 200 pages, so maybe a longer novella/shorter novel. It gives him less time to get into the tone and setting, to drop all the backstory. He needs to get in, and get out pretty quick, and leave the reader with one hell of a story in the process.
I knew all of this before going into the book and I thought, if anyone can pull this off and leave me reeling, it’s Snyder.
They say when a man meets the love of his life, all the mean goes out of him. Sometimes in small bits, like venom leaving the blood, sometimes in great rushes, like an open artery.
Cold West is a really interesting book, in the fact that there is a lot of violence and pain that is the driving force moving the plot forward, but if that’s all you see, you’re overlooking so much. One of the things that I love about Snyder’s work, is how he works on numerous levels. The guy is really, really smart, and it seems that even in his everyday interactions, he’s never sticking to surface level. He seems to understand deeper ramifications, emotions, and themes more than most other people I know, and he brings all that into his writing.
The book begins with Wil Cutter losing his wife to illness, and being left behind with her memories, and two small boys to take care of. Instantly, the feel of loss and emptiness is vivid, stark, and well-realized. It’s these emotions that I’m teasing at in the previous paragraph. There���s a lot of action in the book that makes the surface of the story very exciting with relentless forward motion, but if you’re overlooking the loss and heartache, the quiet emptiness that fuels the entire thing, then you’re really only seeing a fraction of what Cold West is actually about.
The world building is also interesting. Usually in western fantasy, you expect a more western setting. Expansionism, the western motion of men into uncharted lands and the like. In this book, there is a feel of that, but there are also hints of something else. Something atypical, and eye-catching. Dukes and lords are mentioned. Holdfasts exist. Airships. Ghosts and nulls, hints of magical elements. All of that is decidedly not what you’d expect in a book with this setting. And, to be honest, that’s part of what intrigued me. Furthermore, there’s a hint at more. A hint at all sorts of things that are just beyond the immediate scope of this book. That hint, that tantalizing more, gives readers a sense of depth and well-rounded, fully-fleshed world building that really worked quite well for me as I read. This is a book all on its own, but it’s also set in a world that was vivid enough for me to easily picture more being written here.
I blinked, saw the ribs of an airship, long covered with sod and lichen jutting from the ground. Ivy wrapped around the struts and bright pink flowers the size of my fingernail bloomed there. A crater filled with rainwater. The skeleton of some horror the Nulls had brought into being. Ghosts at the edge of my vision.
The setting of the book is truly simple, and delightfully so. Essentially, Wil Cutter’s wife dies, leaving him with two boys, no money, and a farm he has no real ability to work. However, Cutter’s past was a violent one. He is good with a gun, good with a knife, better with violence, sucks at farming. After his wife dies, a bounty is called on some people. A visitor comes to tell Wil of this, and Wil, realizing he needs money and agrees to take this task on. Leaving his sons behind for a week, maybe two at the most, he starts off to do something that is pretty straightforward and ends up anything but.
Wil’s voice is unique and unforgettable, as tough and hard-bitten as the land he inhabits, and I was instantly pulled into his story and the way he told it. I love strong, character-driven fantasy, and Cold West is exactly that.
The oddness of this book sort of creeps up on you. From hints of unique worldbuilding peppering the pages throughout, to the slow, if somewhat predictable start, Snyder lets the plot itself, the thing that makes Cold West so absolutely addicting, sneak up on you. It is pulse-pounding. It is graphic and violent. There is a lot of blood, but don’t forget those emotions from above. He crafted the book with that particular spine, and there is a reason for that. Under all the guns and blood and adventure, the core of this book is truly about the human condition, about love and family, and in an odd way, even redemption.
And yes, there are humorous moments as well. If you know Snyder at all, you know his books are absolutely never free from snark.
I suppose you’re expecting a great love story here. Maybe some great change she made in my life that pulled me from the blade and the gun. Sorry, just solid love and good sense. Sometimes that’s all you need.
Cold West is a quick read. At just over 200 pages, it should be illegal for a book this short to pack this hard of a punch, but it did. Clayton Snyder is an author to watch. I suggest you get reading.
I am a big ol’ Weird West fan. I don’t think that needs to be a secret. I live out here in the west, and I see so much from history and the like that is just ripe for the plucking, waiting for some author to see it, and turn it into an amazing story. Weird West fantasy is my bag. It doesn’t tend to get a ton of attention in the genre, and I think that’s absolutely criminal. A really good fantasy western is every bit as exciting and gripping as anything else you could ever read.
Basically, if you aren’t reading this subgenre of fantasy, you’re really missing out.
Now, for reasons of transparency, you should know that Clayton Snyder is someone I consider a friend. I also think he writes some absolutely masterful fantasy and is one of those criminally underrated authors that you really all need to read more of. I’m not just saying that because he’s my friend. I read his books before I ever had personal interactions with the guy, and my opinion of him as one of the most talented, unjustly underrated authors stems from a time before I went to yell at him daily on a Discord server. However, I’m billing this as a book review, so you should know my potential bias before we move along.
ANYWAY.
Cold West was a book that had me interested the moment he started posting snippets of it on Facebook. Here was a Weird West fantasy, written by an author who has this ability to weld language like a hammer when he needs to, and like silk when he chooses. I knew that Snyder would take a western setting and own it. His aggressive writing style is made for a book like this. Further, this book weighs in at just over 200 pages, so maybe a longer novella/shorter novel. It gives him less time to get into the tone and setting, to drop all the backstory. He needs to get in, and get out pretty quick, and leave the reader with one hell of a story in the process.
I knew all of this before going into the book and I thought, if anyone can pull this off and leave me reeling, it’s Snyder.
They say when a man meets the love of his life, all the mean goes out of him. Sometimes in small bits, like venom leaving the blood, sometimes in great rushes, like an open artery.
Cold West is a really interesting book, in the fact that there is a lot of violence and pain that is the driving force moving the plot forward, but if that’s all you see, you’re overlooking so much. One of the things that I love about Snyder’s work, is how he works on numerous levels. The guy is really, really smart, and it seems that even in his everyday interactions, he’s never sticking to surface level. He seems to understand deeper ramifications, emotions, and themes more than most other people I know, and he brings all that into his writing.
The book begins with Wil Cutter losing his wife to illness, and being left behind with her memories, and two small boys to take care of. Instantly, the feel of loss and emptiness is vivid, stark, and well-realized. It’s these emotions that I’m teasing at in the previous paragraph. There���s a lot of action in the book that makes the surface of the story very exciting with relentless forward motion, but if you’re overlooking the loss and heartache, the quiet emptiness that fuels the entire thing, then you’re really only seeing a fraction of what Cold West is actually about.
The world building is also interesting. Usually in western fantasy, you expect a more western setting. Expansionism, the western motion of men into uncharted lands and the like. In this book, there is a feel of that, but there are also hints of something else. Something atypical, and eye-catching. Dukes and lords are mentioned. Holdfasts exist. Airships. Ghosts and nulls, hints of magical elements. All of that is decidedly not what you’d expect in a book with this setting. And, to be honest, that’s part of what intrigued me. Furthermore, there’s a hint at more. A hint at all sorts of things that are just beyond the immediate scope of this book. That hint, that tantalizing more, gives readers a sense of depth and well-rounded, fully-fleshed world building that really worked quite well for me as I read. This is a book all on its own, but it’s also set in a world that was vivid enough for me to easily picture more being written here.
I blinked, saw the ribs of an airship, long covered with sod and lichen jutting from the ground. Ivy wrapped around the struts and bright pink flowers the size of my fingernail bloomed there. A crater filled with rainwater. The skeleton of some horror the Nulls had brought into being. Ghosts at the edge of my vision.
The setting of the book is truly simple, and delightfully so. Essentially, Wil Cutter’s wife dies, leaving him with two boys, no money, and a farm he has no real ability to work. However, Cutter’s past was a violent one. He is good with a gun, good with a knife, better with violence, sucks at farming. After his wife dies, a bounty is called on some people. A visitor comes to tell Wil of this, and Wil, realizing he needs money and agrees to take this task on. Leaving his sons behind for a week, maybe two at the most, he starts off to do something that is pretty straightforward and ends up anything but.
Wil’s voice is unique and unforgettable, as tough and hard-bitten as the land he inhabits, and I was instantly pulled into his story and the way he told it. I love strong, character-driven fantasy, and Cold West is exactly that.
The oddness of this book sort of creeps up on you. From hints of unique worldbuilding peppering the pages throughout, to the slow, if somewhat predictable start, Snyder lets the plot itself, the thing that makes Cold West so absolutely addicting, sneak up on you. It is pulse-pounding. It is graphic and violent. There is a lot of blood, but don’t forget those emotions from above. He crafted the book with that particular spine, and there is a reason for that. Under all the guns and blood and adventure, the core of this book is truly about the human condition, about love and family, and in an odd way, even redemption.
And yes, there are humorous moments as well. If you know Snyder at all, you know his books are absolutely never free from snark.
I suppose you’re expecting a great love story here. Maybe some great change she made in my life that pulled me from the blade and the gun. Sorry, just solid love and good sense. Sometimes that’s all you need.
Cold West is a quick read. At just over 200 pages, it should be illegal for a book this short to pack this hard of a punch, but it did. Clayton Snyder is an author to watch. I suggest you get reading.
January 23, 2024
Cold West is a fantasy western that sinks bloodied claws into the theme of grief and vengeance for a blistering 141 pages.
Will Cutter is a husband, a father, and a killer. Finding a small measure of peace and domesticity with his loving wife, he has found a life that encourages him to leave behind the darkness of the past for a brighter future. However, as is all too often the case, that bloody past comes knocking at his door when tragedy strikes.
Snyder's writing is sharp and poignant, bordering stream of consciousness without ever fully committing to that style. Wil Cutter's narrative is raw and evokes the feeling of being hurtled through a storyline without any handholds. In one aspect, I think the length of the story adds to the headlong rush of reading it, but I also think that it takes away some of the depth of investment that I was looking for. Things happen through this story like a line of dominoes falling one after the other, and there were several moments where I was left feeling a bit disoriented.
Many things happened seemingly without explanation, and there was an overall sense of being rushed through the story. Which may have been the author's intent, and that style of storytelling definitely adds to the chaotic, grief-stricken narrative voice of the protagonist. For my personal reading experience, the disorientation and rushed narrative prevented my investment from being as deeply rooted as I would've liked. I also struggled to follow some of the character motives.
The atmosphere of Cold West has every bit of the gritty, cold, unfriendly vibe I would expect in a grimdark fantasy western, and I think that is one of its strengths. Another strength of Snyder's is that he does not pull away from the horrors of losing someone very close, and the subsequent mental spiral that can follow.
Will Cutter is a husband, a father, and a killer. Finding a small measure of peace and domesticity with his loving wife, he has found a life that encourages him to leave behind the darkness of the past for a brighter future. However, as is all too often the case, that bloody past comes knocking at his door when tragedy strikes.
Snyder's writing is sharp and poignant, bordering stream of consciousness without ever fully committing to that style. Wil Cutter's narrative is raw and evokes the feeling of being hurtled through a storyline without any handholds. In one aspect, I think the length of the story adds to the headlong rush of reading it, but I also think that it takes away some of the depth of investment that I was looking for. Things happen through this story like a line of dominoes falling one after the other, and there were several moments where I was left feeling a bit disoriented.
Many things happened seemingly without explanation, and there was an overall sense of being rushed through the story. Which may have been the author's intent, and that style of storytelling definitely adds to the chaotic, grief-stricken narrative voice of the protagonist. For my personal reading experience, the disorientation and rushed narrative prevented my investment from being as deeply rooted as I would've liked. I also struggled to follow some of the character motives.
The atmosphere of Cold West has every bit of the gritty, cold, unfriendly vibe I would expect in a grimdark fantasy western, and I think that is one of its strengths. Another strength of Snyder's is that he does not pull away from the horrors of losing someone very close, and the subsequent mental spiral that can follow.
April 15, 2024
I read this for SPFBO. My review only. More about the contest and links at the bottom.
I went into this story with some trepidation. Between the very little I’ve read from Snyder- Hell, I’m still recovering from that scene with the umbrella thingy in Norylska Groans (co-authored with Michael Fletcher) and just from buzz around this book; I knew to expect some dark stuff.
That said, I honestly didn’t find this that dark. Bleak, yes, and definitely violent. But no more so than some of the tv. I watch. And really, not much else could beat that scene in NG for dark stuff that sticks with a person, let me tell you.
Cold West is kind of a reverse story- instead of the typical, how a man is saved by love- its more an exploration in how his loss of it, sends him spiralling back down a path he had previously clawed his way out from.Wil Cutter, the mpov, is a survivor. A real SOB that does more and more despicable things as the story progresses and he spirals down, and let’s just say my sympathy and understanding didn’t carry through my willingness to forgive Wil some of his choices, despite the grief fueling them for very long.
*
As a story, on the whole the writing is solid. I tend to like fewer words saying what should be said and Cold West was mostly stark short sentences especially in beginning, which suited the harsh landscape and even harsher story.
The structure? The unfolding exploration? Or whatever you want to call it- had a couple of things that didn’t work for me. For one, the pace was brisk but would stop for what felt like inconsequential things- like a long story from some guy about his time during the war. Or the reading of a chapter of a book.
The chapter reading was especially odd to me. The old soldiers’ story at least worked for world-building but the chapter was like a couple pages worth of the story she was reading to him- and maybe I was just being super dense here and missed the whole point which is totally possible- but I think I would have preferred warm observations of her, while she read the book, to the actual excerpt from the book. That’s just me and way too many romances, no doubt.
Anyway, personal preferences aside, as an exploration of a man falling further and further away from the person, that people who loved him and helped him to become- I thought Cold West for the most part did a fine job of displaying that side of Wil. This is the one thing I have enjoyed about the two books I’ve read by Clayton- his ability and willingness to pull back those many layers that make up a person at their lowest and their worst, and show them to the world.
Cold West may be short and the plot fairly simple but it’s the exploration of Cutter’s grief that fills out the story and packs the punch to the gut.
Other notes-
I enjoyed the scenes in the Rift, probably the most, just because I enjoy the ingenuity involved in getting out of a place like that… I mean really, who doesn’t love prison breakouts like Cool Hand Luke, The Rock, or Shawshank. I could have read a lot more of Wil’s time there.
*Again, I feel I must say that I making an attempt at being funny with that reference to NG and not trying to pick on the author, who’s hilariously dark humour on twitter makes me feel he would take it with the humour it’s meant- if he actually reads his books reviews.
spfbo score 7- or 4 stars
Learn more about the contest here:
https://mark---lawrence.blogspot.com/...
Finalist board is here:
https://mark---lawrence.blogspot.com/...
April 10, 2023
An unforgiving tale where grimdark meets the wild west. Grief and vengeance take centre stage in this violent fantasy western.
Despite the bleak landscape, the desperate circumstances of our main character, and his journey into purgatory, I never felt that it was ever too much. I found that everything was necessary, given the context and dark themes.
I appreciated the writing style, with no wasted words. It bites, it punches, it rends.
If you like westerns, grimdark, unredeemable characters in a world that is unforgiving and violent, then this one is for you.
Despite the bleak landscape, the desperate circumstances of our main character, and his journey into purgatory, I never felt that it was ever too much. I found that everything was necessary, given the context and dark themes.
I appreciated the writing style, with no wasted words. It bites, it punches, it rends.
If you like westerns, grimdark, unredeemable characters in a world that is unforgiving and violent, then this one is for you.
April 15, 2024
What is Cold West like? Well, it’s kind of like having sand in between your teeth. Not pleasant, but as gritty and badass as Clint Eastwood’s piercing look. And, much more violent. A hell of a lot more violent. The book delivers an old mercenary who knows there will be no redemption or forgiveness for him, and it seems that Karma has circled back to him with the losses he personally endures. Such is life, a circle. But where there’s bounty, there is a mercenary in need.
“Pain’s a poison well, not to be shared unless you expect to kill another’s spirit.”
Leaving the action and the plot points aside – which were delivered at breakneck speed, Snyder really seems to understand the darkest pit of human soul. There is a lot of morally grey area and that will surely divide the camp, but dodgy appetites will be quenched. Wil Cutter is like an open wound, at once aching and lashing out. The book in its entirety will paralyze, if you’ll let it – the memory flashes are almost too painful to bear. But they will set you up for the ending which feels fever dream-like and final.
There’s a saying we all know: “It’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.” Well. Cold West proves a different point. Ignorance would have been bliss.
With this book, Snyder places the trust in the reader – succinct, sharp sentences with precisely selected words to convey meaning; and the whole setting, the world, the people in it will explode somewhere in the peripheral like a hologram. That is to say, I love it. Cold West is a great example of how a story can be emotionally impactful without needing to break all of the word count laws.
“Pain’s a poison well, not to be shared unless you expect to kill another’s spirit.”
Leaving the action and the plot points aside – which were delivered at breakneck speed, Snyder really seems to understand the darkest pit of human soul. There is a lot of morally grey area and that will surely divide the camp, but dodgy appetites will be quenched. Wil Cutter is like an open wound, at once aching and lashing out. The book in its entirety will paralyze, if you’ll let it – the memory flashes are almost too painful to bear. But they will set you up for the ending which feels fever dream-like and final.
There’s a saying we all know: “It’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.” Well. Cold West proves a different point. Ignorance would have been bliss.
With this book, Snyder places the trust in the reader – succinct, sharp sentences with precisely selected words to convey meaning; and the whole setting, the world, the people in it will explode somewhere in the peripheral like a hologram. That is to say, I love it. Cold West is a great example of how a story can be emotionally impactful without needing to break all of the word count laws.
July 14, 2023
This has ended up on the list of novellas I’ll be super quick to recommend. Though it is shorter than 150 pages, it left a huge mark on me.
Read this review, and many more, as soon as published, on my blog.
Wil Cutter finds himself and his two sons find themselves burying his wife, Ginny, in the opening chapter. They haven’t particularly had easy times before her passing, and neither has he had the cleanest past. This book focuses on his journey to try his best to do what he think its best for him and his boys, as he sets out to hunt a bounty with his old friend, Kent, who brings him the news when he realises that they really could do with the money.
What impressed me the most was Clayton’s tight writing. The book isn’t wordy, and simply uses concise language to clearly convey a lot of information, including a sparse look into Wil’s magical abilities and the setting, in the limited wordcount in the book. Whether the focus in a certain part of the book is Wil’s reminiscence of his past, or descriptions of the scenery around his location, it is peppered with emotions and imagery that will undoubtedly have me retain much of it vividly.
The tone is bleak, and glum, and serves as a reflection of the protagonist’s mood throughout the story. This is a grim tragic story, all the way through. Since I read THE MARTIAN five years ago, this is the first book that’s made me deeply invested in the protagonist’s survival, because of Wil’s dogged determination to succeed. The way the book ended didn’t completely stick the landing for me, but I wanted to go hug and kiss my family, and tell them I love them.
If you are looking for a short, tragic, fantasy western that might feel like a punch to the gut, I can’t recommend Cold West enough.
Read this review, and many more, as soon as published, on my blog.
Wil Cutter finds himself and his two sons find themselves burying his wife, Ginny, in the opening chapter. They haven’t particularly had easy times before her passing, and neither has he had the cleanest past. This book focuses on his journey to try his best to do what he think its best for him and his boys, as he sets out to hunt a bounty with his old friend, Kent, who brings him the news when he realises that they really could do with the money.
What impressed me the most was Clayton’s tight writing. The book isn’t wordy, and simply uses concise language to clearly convey a lot of information, including a sparse look into Wil’s magical abilities and the setting, in the limited wordcount in the book. Whether the focus in a certain part of the book is Wil’s reminiscence of his past, or descriptions of the scenery around his location, it is peppered with emotions and imagery that will undoubtedly have me retain much of it vividly.
The tone is bleak, and glum, and serves as a reflection of the protagonist’s mood throughout the story. This is a grim tragic story, all the way through. Since I read THE MARTIAN five years ago, this is the first book that’s made me deeply invested in the protagonist’s survival, because of Wil’s dogged determination to succeed. The way the book ended didn’t completely stick the landing for me, but I wanted to go hug and kiss my family, and tell them I love them.
If you are looking for a short, tragic, fantasy western that might feel like a punch to the gut, I can’t recommend Cold West enough.
December 27, 2023
This book is a little crazy.
The structure of the book is.... well, there isn't one.
The plot is... well, completely chaotic and a hot mess.
I guess for some, this book will be deemed entertaining. Something is happening on every single page and at a ridiculous breakneck speed. The book never let's up at any point.
However for me, the lack of structure made it difficult for me to enjoy
The theme is dark and gritty and the main character is completely flawed. I wished the character impacts were sometimes dealt with and explored in an emotional way, rather than the continuous action. At 50 percent a pretty drastic event takes place and the outcome is the MC just continuing a rampage. The lack of other characters in the book, makes it hard to build dialogue and therefore explore the character depth.
The structure of the book is.... well, there isn't one.
The plot is... well, completely chaotic and a hot mess.
I guess for some, this book will be deemed entertaining. Something is happening on every single page and at a ridiculous breakneck speed. The book never let's up at any point.
However for me, the lack of structure made it difficult for me to enjoy
The theme is dark and gritty and the main character is completely flawed. I wished the character impacts were sometimes dealt with and explored in an emotional way, rather than the continuous action. At 50 percent a pretty drastic event takes place and the outcome is the MC just continuing a rampage. The lack of other characters in the book, makes it hard to build dialogue and therefore explore the character depth.
October 28, 2023
Hell on Wheels meets John Wick.
This story was grim and dark from start to finish, but incredibly digestible thanks to the first person narrative that really draws you into Will Cutter's mind. Personally, I was completely enthralled by it. The western setting. The unique take on magic. As a novella, I thought this was just fantastic.
I can see why it is an SPFBO finalist. Highly recommend!
PS. Loved seeing Fletcher, Chorn, and the Dripping Bucket in the story
This story was grim and dark from start to finish, but incredibly digestible thanks to the first person narrative that really draws you into Will Cutter's mind. Personally, I was completely enthralled by it. The western setting. The unique take on magic. As a novella, I thought this was just fantastic.
I can see why it is an SPFBO finalist. Highly recommend!
PS. Loved seeing Fletcher, Chorn, and the Dripping Bucket in the story
March 12, 2023
Awesome
A lifetime of violence soon returns after a peaceful bliss. Carrying a fractured soul one goes back to what he knows. His savagery tandems his pain.
A haunting gritty violent ride! Gunslinging, magic and mayhem.
Emotional & heartbreaking.
Excellent.
A lifetime of violence soon returns after a peaceful bliss. Carrying a fractured soul one goes back to what he knows. His savagery tandems his pain.
A haunting gritty violent ride! Gunslinging, magic and mayhem.
Emotional & heartbreaking.
Excellent.
January 20, 2024
Prior to Cold West, I had only read a short story by Clayton W. Snyder and I have very similar thoughts between the two. While I’m still a little skeptical on his writing style, I do like his ideas and where he takes them at the end.
Snyder was able to establish the MC’s voice really quickly. You get a feel for this character right from the start by the way he thinks and talks. While it’s not necessarily my favorite type of prose, I do think that it fits the MC’s personality really well. It’s very simple and straightforward with nothing flowery about it. The one thing that felt more vivid in emotion to me than the rest of the book was when the MC experiences flashbacks to his younger years.
The setting is very similar to that too. Uncomplicated, functional, and only occasionally more detailed when the situation required it. Nonetheless, it was relatively easy to picture and will appeal to those readers that would rather focus on the action. And there is definitely a good amount of action for such a short book! Snyder really doesn’t pull any punches. He has no mercy for his characters. Also, while I found the ending a bit disorienting at first, what I liked once again was that he took it somewhere unexpected.
While there were definitely some aspects to this book that aren’t quite my style, I still enjoyed the snark and humor a lot and am glad I finally got to prioritize a book by Snyder. He’s got a distinct style that I find intriguing for the books of his that I still have unread on my shelf and I’m looking forward to trying them.
Snyder was able to establish the MC’s voice really quickly. You get a feel for this character right from the start by the way he thinks and talks. While it’s not necessarily my favorite type of prose, I do think that it fits the MC’s personality really well. It’s very simple and straightforward with nothing flowery about it. The one thing that felt more vivid in emotion to me than the rest of the book was when the MC experiences flashbacks to his younger years.
The setting is very similar to that too. Uncomplicated, functional, and only occasionally more detailed when the situation required it. Nonetheless, it was relatively easy to picture and will appeal to those readers that would rather focus on the action. And there is definitely a good amount of action for such a short book! Snyder really doesn’t pull any punches. He has no mercy for his characters. Also, while I found the ending a bit disorienting at first, what I liked once again was that he took it somewhere unexpected.
While there were definitely some aspects to this book that aren’t quite my style, I still enjoyed the snark and humor a lot and am glad I finally got to prioritize a book by Snyder. He’s got a distinct style that I find intriguing for the books of his that I still have unread on my shelf and I’m looking forward to trying them.
January 9, 2024
I think that this one had a lot of good ideas, but because of the format, and it being so short, we didn't have time with the character to really get a good grasp of what was going on. I agree with what has been said that I didn't believe the grief at the beginning enough for it to be the inciting incident. The ending was bonkers but I did like that it kind of went full circle. If we would've had that level of emotion throughout, I think I would've enjoyed it more, But until the end, he kind of felt flat. We were told he was grieving, but I didn't feel it until the end.
Also, why did this man think every woman he interacted with was a whore? It felt so demeaning...
Also, why did this man think every woman he interacted with was a whore? It felt so demeaning...
October 23, 2025
Weird West is a genre I’m getting more and more invested in lately, and Cold West was probably one of the first that I’d heard of in this particular subgenre and it had been sitting on my kindle for a while – and believe me I am kicking myself for taking so long to pick it up because this is a fantastic book. It’s relatively short, but don’t let that fool you for an instant, because Cold West is a book that packs one hell of a punch, or several punches really – but the kind that you don’t realise are happening until they’ve already landed, and the bruises are starting to form.
In so many ways Cold West is a masterpiece of understatement and misdirection, with the full impact of the world and the story creeping up on you, even as you are caught up in the almost relentless forward motion of the story. I really enjoyed this book the first time I read it, but I’ve found myself appreciating it even more on the second read through – and it is a book that needs and deserves that second look, because for me at least the real impact of Cold West lay in those depths, in the subtleties that sneak up behind you, and this is across the board for this book.
When you think of wild west or weird west, it conjures a particular expectation for the worldbuilding and landscape, and there are certain aspects of that here – bounties, uncharted wilderness, the feel of standing opposite the law. But, here we see the understatement in that in many ways it feels as though the worldbuilding has been stripped down to the essentials, enough to catch the essence of the west, and more than enough to give you a clear feeling of the immediate environment. Not only does that feed into the starkness of this world, but it highlights the weird – because as much as this is a world of guns and blood and violence, and the human struggle to survive, it is weird. There are airships. There’s magic and the Nulls that can counter it. There are demons and ghosts. It’s weird, but in a way that is woven into the story with the same subtlety as the ‘normal’ aspects of the western setting, and it works beautifully as a result.
‘I blinked, saw the ribs of an airship, long covered with sod and lichen jutting from the ground. Ivy wrapped around the struts and bright pink flowers the size of my fingernail bloomed there. A crater filled with rainwater. The skeleton of some horror the Nulls had brought into being.’
There was also very much a feeling that we were only being shown a small corner of a much larger world, and that is one of my favourite feelings to get from worldbuilding. To feel as though if you just push past the pages of the story you’re in, that you will find another story and another, even if you never see more than a hint of what lays beyond, and Snyder has captured that feeling perfectly here.
Cold West has a fairly slow beginning, but once it gets going it would be easy to get caught up in the fast-paced, action-packed story in Cold West, and it’s impossible to ignore that aspect of the book. There’s a relentlessness to the pacing and the world, that draws you in and refuses to let go from start to finish. It feels very much like a western in that sense, with the flash bang of action and violence, and even the quieter moments moving you forward towards the next.
‘When it comes down to it, when it comes down to killin’ and taking what the world owes, most men will never step foot on that path. Others will only walk it so far and find they’ve no more heart for it.’
However, it would be a disservice to this book if that was all you took away from this book. There are layers to this book, and to our protagonist Will Cutter and the emotional depth of this book is where Cold West really shone for me. It starts almost simply with a loss. With grief and memories, and everything that wells up in the cracks that emotion leaves behind. It’s a story of love, and what love can do – both when it’s there and when it’s taken away. A story of family. A story of what a man can do in their absence, and what he will do to try and keep them alive and safe.
What he will do in the name of survival.
‘They say when a man meets the love of his life, all the mean goes out of him. Sometimes in small bits, like venom leaving the blood, sometimes in great rushes like an open artery. I don’t know about that. I do know that when that person’s gone, it starts to slip back in, a knife in the heart.’
Will Cutter is a great reflection of the world, he’s as tough and scarred as the landscape, and as shaped by the weird elements as the world around him. He’s also a truly fascinating character – and if you are looking for a strong character-driven story then you need to look no further. His voice carries this story. It’s memorable, with a wonderful mix of snark, hardness and vulnerability – especially where his family is concerned. He’s not a good man. But by whose view? His wife knew about his past and accepted it. His boys loved him, and he loved them. Yet, he had done bad things and did a lot more through the course of the book. I love characters who raise these questions, who straddle that border, and compel your investment in their story, their view of the world and Cutter is a great example of that.
'What will they say about me when I’m gone, then? Not much, likely. He was a bastard and a liar. A rotten thief. A killer. But mostly I was fed up. And a fed-up man’s got a lot of moral leeway.'
Cold West is one of those books that sticks with you, gnawing at you until you find the marrow of the story. As I said it packs more than one punch, and revisiting to rewrite this review I found myself catching other bits that I had missed previously, again because of the many layers to this story. I will also say, that on my first reading, I wasn’t completely sold on the ending – it was my one nitpick about the whole book, and certainly paled against everything that loved against it. On a reread, and perhaps because I caught more bits this time around, the ending hit differently and I enjoyed it a lot more (in that emotionally painful way that this book demands).
A brilliant read for anyone who likes strong, character-driven stories, with snark and action and more than a little violence, and perfect for anyone wanting to get more into Weird West stories.
In so many ways Cold West is a masterpiece of understatement and misdirection, with the full impact of the world and the story creeping up on you, even as you are caught up in the almost relentless forward motion of the story. I really enjoyed this book the first time I read it, but I’ve found myself appreciating it even more on the second read through – and it is a book that needs and deserves that second look, because for me at least the real impact of Cold West lay in those depths, in the subtleties that sneak up behind you, and this is across the board for this book.
When you think of wild west or weird west, it conjures a particular expectation for the worldbuilding and landscape, and there are certain aspects of that here – bounties, uncharted wilderness, the feel of standing opposite the law. But, here we see the understatement in that in many ways it feels as though the worldbuilding has been stripped down to the essentials, enough to catch the essence of the west, and more than enough to give you a clear feeling of the immediate environment. Not only does that feed into the starkness of this world, but it highlights the weird – because as much as this is a world of guns and blood and violence, and the human struggle to survive, it is weird. There are airships. There’s magic and the Nulls that can counter it. There are demons and ghosts. It’s weird, but in a way that is woven into the story with the same subtlety as the ‘normal’ aspects of the western setting, and it works beautifully as a result.
‘I blinked, saw the ribs of an airship, long covered with sod and lichen jutting from the ground. Ivy wrapped around the struts and bright pink flowers the size of my fingernail bloomed there. A crater filled with rainwater. The skeleton of some horror the Nulls had brought into being.’
There was also very much a feeling that we were only being shown a small corner of a much larger world, and that is one of my favourite feelings to get from worldbuilding. To feel as though if you just push past the pages of the story you’re in, that you will find another story and another, even if you never see more than a hint of what lays beyond, and Snyder has captured that feeling perfectly here.
Cold West has a fairly slow beginning, but once it gets going it would be easy to get caught up in the fast-paced, action-packed story in Cold West, and it’s impossible to ignore that aspect of the book. There’s a relentlessness to the pacing and the world, that draws you in and refuses to let go from start to finish. It feels very much like a western in that sense, with the flash bang of action and violence, and even the quieter moments moving you forward towards the next.
‘When it comes down to it, when it comes down to killin’ and taking what the world owes, most men will never step foot on that path. Others will only walk it so far and find they’ve no more heart for it.’
However, it would be a disservice to this book if that was all you took away from this book. There are layers to this book, and to our protagonist Will Cutter and the emotional depth of this book is where Cold West really shone for me. It starts almost simply with a loss. With grief and memories, and everything that wells up in the cracks that emotion leaves behind. It’s a story of love, and what love can do – both when it’s there and when it’s taken away. A story of family. A story of what a man can do in their absence, and what he will do to try and keep them alive and safe.
What he will do in the name of survival.
‘They say when a man meets the love of his life, all the mean goes out of him. Sometimes in small bits, like venom leaving the blood, sometimes in great rushes like an open artery. I don’t know about that. I do know that when that person’s gone, it starts to slip back in, a knife in the heart.’
Will Cutter is a great reflection of the world, he’s as tough and scarred as the landscape, and as shaped by the weird elements as the world around him. He’s also a truly fascinating character – and if you are looking for a strong character-driven story then you need to look no further. His voice carries this story. It’s memorable, with a wonderful mix of snark, hardness and vulnerability – especially where his family is concerned. He’s not a good man. But by whose view? His wife knew about his past and accepted it. His boys loved him, and he loved them. Yet, he had done bad things and did a lot more through the course of the book. I love characters who raise these questions, who straddle that border, and compel your investment in their story, their view of the world and Cutter is a great example of that.
'What will they say about me when I’m gone, then? Not much, likely. He was a bastard and a liar. A rotten thief. A killer. But mostly I was fed up. And a fed-up man’s got a lot of moral leeway.'
Cold West is one of those books that sticks with you, gnawing at you until you find the marrow of the story. As I said it packs more than one punch, and revisiting to rewrite this review I found myself catching other bits that I had missed previously, again because of the many layers to this story. I will also say, that on my first reading, I wasn’t completely sold on the ending – it was my one nitpick about the whole book, and certainly paled against everything that loved against it. On a reread, and perhaps because I caught more bits this time around, the ending hit differently and I enjoyed it a lot more (in that emotionally painful way that this book demands).
A brilliant read for anyone who likes strong, character-driven stories, with snark and action and more than a little violence, and perfect for anyone wanting to get more into Weird West stories.
July 30, 2023
Most books classified as "weird west" are stories set in the 19th-century American West injected with a good dose of horror/fantasy/scifi elements. Cold West is different: it's a horror/fantasy story that happens to be set in a post-apocalyptic dark fantasy version of the old American West. There's a good bit of neo-noir in here, too. So Neo-Noir Post-Apocalyptic Weird West Horror/Fantasy. Go get 'em!
Okay, now that we've got THAT out of the way....
Cold West is a terrific larger-than-life adventure tale about an extremely violent man who has recently enjoyed a period of love and peace, only to have it all ripped away from him. Think Unforgiven, which seems to have been the inspiration for this story. But if you thought Unforgiven was dark, you haven't read any of Clayton Snyder's other works. Cold West is a trip through Hell in neighborhoods Satan himself finds unsafe to wander in at night. Or during most days.
Snyder finds a way to make Wil Cutter, the forever doomed "hero" of Cold West equal parts abominable and sympathetic. Cutter does what he has to do (and eats what he has to eat) in order to survive in his broken world, no matter how much murderous violence he has to unleash in order to stay alive. We root for him because he is the victim of injustice, and the other guys are all so much worse. But that's life in a hellscape, where the best you can hope for is a death that's relatively pain-free and redemptive.
I hope Clayton does more work in the weird west genre. I like what he brings to it, and I think it suits him.
Okay, now that we've got THAT out of the way....
Cold West is a terrific larger-than-life adventure tale about an extremely violent man who has recently enjoyed a period of love and peace, only to have it all ripped away from him. Think Unforgiven, which seems to have been the inspiration for this story. But if you thought Unforgiven was dark, you haven't read any of Clayton Snyder's other works. Cold West is a trip through Hell in neighborhoods Satan himself finds unsafe to wander in at night. Or during most days.
Snyder finds a way to make Wil Cutter, the forever doomed "hero" of Cold West equal parts abominable and sympathetic. Cutter does what he has to do (and eats what he has to eat) in order to survive in his broken world, no matter how much murderous violence he has to unleash in order to stay alive. We root for him because he is the victim of injustice, and the other guys are all so much worse. But that's life in a hellscape, where the best you can hope for is a death that's relatively pain-free and redemptive.
I hope Clayton does more work in the weird west genre. I like what he brings to it, and I think it suits him.
Read
March 20, 2024Western...horror? This wasn't what I was expecting but in a good way. I think it had some interesting imagery. Overall, the writing and the pacing just really didn't work for me though. It is very slow, and the style just didn't pull me in. Check out my full video review on my channel when I read this for SPFBO9! https://youtu.be/jmnJPrBtASE
dnf
April 27, 2024Cold West is one of the SPFBO 9 finalists, which I read as a judge! Our group review can be read on Queen's Book Asylum. Our overall rating was 7/10, my personal rating is 5/10. I also need to add that I DNF-ed the book at 50%.
Reviewing Cold West is not an easy task. It probably had a disadvantage from the beginning, because I picked it up right after A Rival Most Vial which I loved and which couldn’t be any different than Cold West. They are literally on the opposite ends of the spectrum between fluffy and grimdark. I can only blame myself, though, as I was the one coming up with a review schedule for the team. Go me. That’s the curse and beauty of judging for SPFBO – you can never know what’s coming next.
Anyway. If you’ve known me from the early days, then you probably know that I used to read quite a lot of grimdark titles, so I’m definitely not against the genre. I moved away from it in the past couple of years, but my dark little heart still craves it sometimes. I’ve known Synder for quite a few years now, but I haven’t read any of his books yet. Was it up to me, I probably wouldn’t have picked Cold West to be my first, though. But that’s life for you.
So, the book. I’ll be honest, I did not enjoy reading Cold West, but then, it probably wasn’t intended to be enjoyable. Even so, 50% was more than enough for me. It’s a short book, so that was still less than 100 pages, and I DNFd books way faster than this. It’s hard to review Cold West because it’s hard to make myself objective. I can see what people say about Synder’s writing style, it definitely has something raw and almost poetic in nature. It needs a bit more refinement and maybe some more attention to the editing, but the potential is there. For me, the story and the characters needed a bit more flesh on them to be engaging. I needed something to be interested in, but Wil Cutter is not a character you’d find likable (and even then, unlikable characters could be interesting/engaging) or particularly interesting. He is not a good man, although he tries for a while, for his family.
The first half of the book felt like Snyder was rushing things a bit to get to the “fun” part of the plot. Things happened fast and the jumps in time sometimes were a bit jarring – Wil has these memories that pop up which is a nice method to build the world, but sometimes it got in the way, and I’d have preferred to focus on the present.
Cold West is bleak. Over the top bleak, for my taste, and that was the main reason I decided to part ways with it. I’m not the right audience, but if you love grimdark, then you might be. I needed something to care about to make me push through the story, and there was nothing here for me.
Reviewing Cold West is not an easy task. It probably had a disadvantage from the beginning, because I picked it up right after A Rival Most Vial which I loved and which couldn’t be any different than Cold West. They are literally on the opposite ends of the spectrum between fluffy and grimdark. I can only blame myself, though, as I was the one coming up with a review schedule for the team. Go me. That’s the curse and beauty of judging for SPFBO – you can never know what’s coming next.
Anyway. If you’ve known me from the early days, then you probably know that I used to read quite a lot of grimdark titles, so I’m definitely not against the genre. I moved away from it in the past couple of years, but my dark little heart still craves it sometimes. I’ve known Synder for quite a few years now, but I haven’t read any of his books yet. Was it up to me, I probably wouldn’t have picked Cold West to be my first, though. But that’s life for you.
So, the book. I’ll be honest, I did not enjoy reading Cold West, but then, it probably wasn’t intended to be enjoyable. Even so, 50% was more than enough for me. It’s a short book, so that was still less than 100 pages, and I DNFd books way faster than this. It’s hard to review Cold West because it’s hard to make myself objective. I can see what people say about Synder’s writing style, it definitely has something raw and almost poetic in nature. It needs a bit more refinement and maybe some more attention to the editing, but the potential is there. For me, the story and the characters needed a bit more flesh on them to be engaging. I needed something to be interested in, but Wil Cutter is not a character you’d find likable (and even then, unlikable characters could be interesting/engaging) or particularly interesting. He is not a good man, although he tries for a while, for his family.
The first half of the book felt like Snyder was rushing things a bit to get to the “fun” part of the plot. Things happened fast and the jumps in time sometimes were a bit jarring – Wil has these memories that pop up which is a nice method to build the world, but sometimes it got in the way, and I’d have preferred to focus on the present.
Cold West is bleak. Over the top bleak, for my taste, and that was the main reason I decided to part ways with it. I’m not the right audience, but if you love grimdark, then you might be. I needed something to care about to make me push through the story, and there was nothing here for me.
January 21, 2024
Read for SPFBO, this is only my personal opinion, group verdict might differ widely! 💥
While Cold West by Clayton W. Snyder is well written, and the grief at the start really bleeds from the page, I couldn't enjoy it.
Not because it's too dark - it is that, but I like my soul torturing books after all. The start was super intriguing and engaging actually, and for the first few chapters I was hooked.
No for me it's the way it's written that just doesn't work. I reread some sections of this short book 4 times, because I thought I missed something or zoned out - turns out I didn't. It's just a mix of what's actually happening, sudden flashbacks of random memories, and even some fever dreams of hallucinations. This is intentional, and probably does exactly what it's meant to do, it just didn't work for me. I had no idea what was going on for a lot of the book, and to be honest, I just didn't really care. Live or die, doesn't make much of a difference to me, never a good sign in a story.
If this wasn't quite well written, and for SPFBO I'd have DNFed it early on, and not reviewed it at all. As I have to judge it, I came back to it over and over and while it's a short book I think I read it 3 times all in all just to make sure I didn't miss anything.
Probably a great book for others, but I am not the right reader for this sort of manic main character / story line.
While Cold West by Clayton W. Snyder is well written, and the grief at the start really bleeds from the page, I couldn't enjoy it.
Not because it's too dark - it is that, but I like my soul torturing books after all. The start was super intriguing and engaging actually, and for the first few chapters I was hooked.
No for me it's the way it's written that just doesn't work. I reread some sections of this short book 4 times, because I thought I missed something or zoned out - turns out I didn't. It's just a mix of what's actually happening, sudden flashbacks of random memories, and even some fever dreams of hallucinations. This is intentional, and probably does exactly what it's meant to do, it just didn't work for me. I had no idea what was going on for a lot of the book, and to be honest, I just didn't really care. Live or die, doesn't make much of a difference to me, never a good sign in a story.
If this wasn't quite well written, and for SPFBO I'd have DNFed it early on, and not reviewed it at all. As I have to judge it, I came back to it over and over and while it's a short book I think I read it 3 times all in all just to make sure I didn't miss anything.
Probably a great book for others, but I am not the right reader for this sort of manic main character / story line.
January 27, 2024
What a trip. Definitely not for everyone but I think authors in particular will appreciate the solid prose and surrealism that intensifies as the story goes on. Very impressive
November 21, 2023
I'm so happy that so many people have enjoyed this story, and I hope that many people, who are discovering this and reading this because it's a finalist in SPFBO 9, enjoy it. However, I sadly did not.
My two biggest struggles with this novella was the writing choices and the pacing. The way the story was told to us seemed disjointed and all over the place. I get we are experiencing a man who is dealing with grief and the author may have chosen to tell it in that way to bring the reader more into his. Great idea, but it didn't work for me. It made me more and more confused to the point I didn't feel connected to anyone.
As for the pacing, it felt rushed and slow at the same time for me. The entire thing should have been longer and more fleshed out.
Some positives of this novella was the magic ideas and concepts. I love a magical tattoo and that the magic had a price and couldn't be utilized willy-nilly. Also, I appreciate that the author didn't make Wil super powerful and had it make sense why he isn't using much magic because he is out of practice.
All in all, great ideas and concepts, but it wasn't executed well, in my opinion.
My two biggest struggles with this novella was the writing choices and the pacing. The way the story was told to us seemed disjointed and all over the place. I get we are experiencing a man who is dealing with grief and the author may have chosen to tell it in that way to bring the reader more into his. Great idea, but it didn't work for me. It made me more and more confused to the point I didn't feel connected to anyone.
As for the pacing, it felt rushed and slow at the same time for me. The entire thing should have been longer and more fleshed out.
Some positives of this novella was the magic ideas and concepts. I love a magical tattoo and that the magic had a price and couldn't be utilized willy-nilly. Also, I appreciate that the author didn't make Wil super powerful and had it make sense why he isn't using much magic because he is out of practice.
All in all, great ideas and concepts, but it wasn't executed well, in my opinion.
March 3, 2023
Once in a while, a book comes along that takes you for a sweet ride without the effort of having to be read. Cold West is a ride through a bleak but awesome world. More specifically, Wil Cutter will grab you by the collars, shove you down, and tell you his story. You have no choice in the matter, and you’ll be glad of his insistence in the end.
April 11, 2024
3,5 (rounded up)
Cold West is a book I didn't particularly enjoy first time I read it - but I found the way it's written so interesting that I read it a second time when writing this review. And I have to say reading it a second time did a lot to help me appreciate the book better, so I’ve raised my original rating to 3,5 stars. 😉
The story begins with main character Wil Cutter, a former bounty hunter, and his two sons burying their wife and mother Ginny.
When an old comrade visits Wil and offers him the prospect of a very lucrative job, Wil sees no choice but to accept it in order to provide for his boys. So, he sets off on another bounty hunt, which soon turns into a feverish nightmare of brutal violence, plenty of blood and gore and merciless revenge.
Cold West contains a lot in its mere 141 pages. It’s a bleak story dealing with heavy themes like loss and grief, guilt and remorse, redemption – or rather the lack of it – and revenge. It’s part western, part fantasy, part grimdark, part revenge story, part psychogram of a deeply flawed main character. The story plays in a nihilistic world where violence and chaos rule, and men are, to quote Wil, "all terror and blood and hate". When there is violence, and there often is, this violence is graphic and brutal.
To say it right away, I’m not the target audience, as neither western and grimdark as a genre nor short novels/novellas in general are my cup of tea. However, as I have set myself the goal of reading all 10 SPFBO9 finalists, and the added fantasy elements sounded promising, I thought I'd give it a try. Funnily enough, the addition of fantasy elements didn’t work for me, and I would have preferred to read a plain western story.
Overall, I’d say I had issues with the content but found the execution intriguing.
The biggest problem was that I couldn’t connect to any of the characters, first and foremost to main character Wil.
Early on, we learn that his past is characterised by atrocities which, at that point, are not explained in more detail. Even if he didn’t partake in all of them, he "certainly owns his share", as he himself tells us. Ginny is the only one who accepted him despite this past and forgave him for his sins.
I’m not a great fan of the trope of the woman saving the bad guy through her love, the more so when, like here, once that woman is lying dead in the ground, that “reformed” guy immediately reverts to the old ways of violence without even thinking of other solutions. Perhaps I missed something, but I didn’t understand what Ginny’s death had to do with having no other choice; dealing with loss and grief does not necessarily mean to go and kill other people. The fact that the ones he kills are all violent and bad people doesn’t make the killing any better. I don’t see any redeemable character trait in Wil; at one point, he has the chance to save someone’s life but, for purely financial reasons, decides against it.
Then despite the cosy flashbacks that show him as a family man, Wil comes across to me as a lousy father and husband. He admits he has poor provisional skills: "As for me, I’d never been much of a woodworker or a carpenter. Was a bit of a shit farmer, as well. The few crops we’d managed to eke out of the plains had been the boys’ doing. Brighter than their pa, they were."
If I understood that correctly, Wil bought the land with the money Ginny had made him start saving. Apart from the dwindling rest of his savings, they lived on her being a teacher and the few crops they managed to cultivate. At the beginning of the story, the boys are twelve years old – twelve years in which Wil could have looked for alternatives. What has he been doing all those years? Spending his time with drinking and watching Ginny and the boys work to earn a living? And now that Ginny is dead, his first impulse is to leave his sons alone. When saying goodbye to Ginny at her grave, he knows she wouldn’t approve of his decision, but tells himself it’s for the better of their family.
I’ve also been unhappy with the other characters whose motivations often eluded me, especially with respect to the female characters. There is either the saintly but dead Ginny or flawed and unsympathetic female characters who often don’t live very long either or disappear without another thought for them.
Then there have been some things plot-wise I found unconvincing:
Why take on as a new companion someone you don't know and who clearly doesn't have much experience?
Why do experienced adventurers stay at an inn and go to sleep or get drunk without setting a guard?
A prison in the middle of nowhere with so many prisoners and only a few guards?
Nonetheless, I really liked the strong beginning with Wil and his two young sons burying their wife and mother: The cold grief they feel that claws its way into the reader’s mind. The blisters on the boys’ hands. Wil telling his sons that Ginny is now joining the family dog in heaven, the two waiting for the rest of the family. Wil’s memory of his and Ginny’s first meeting. The nightly visitor coming with an offer Wil is unable to refuse.
So, right in the beginning, I was hooked and invested in the characters.
Now on to the fascinating execution of the story.
Cold West is told from Wil’s first-person point of view which gives us deep insights into his psyche. The non-linear narrative is interspersed with flashbacks of random memories, (fever) dreams, nightmares, hallucinations and a lot of passages of inner thoughts.
All this makes it more difficult to follow the already chaotic plot, but it also portrays superbly Will’s splintered and deteriorating state of mind. The setting of the bleak wasteland, too, reflects nicely Wil’s state of mind.
With respect to the pacing, it is extremely fast. I would have preferred to read a longer book with a slower pacing.
Where the book shines most for me is in the two short horror stories within the story. I liked that Snyder decided to include them despite the brevity of the book. The longer one is told by Ginny, and the other one is told by a prisoner. I thought both stories were excellently written, both creepy and beautiful, and I felt like I was much more invested in them than the actual plot of the book.
If you love grimdark and/or westerns mixed with fantasy elements, and unlikeable and unredeemable main characters haunted by their inescapable past, look no further. Even without these preferences, the experimental and bold writing style is engaging (and the book short enough) to not leave the reader cold – pun intended.
Fun fact: I like the author’s play with names. Some fellow authors’ names have found their way into the book. Not only this, but I also think Wil’s surname Cutter is a fitting name for someone who runs around like a sharp knife, killing people left and right, or making with his magic cuts into another dimension.
Then we have so many abrupt cuts in the narrative structure.
And finally, perhaps a bit far stretched but I can’t help it, I also see a relation between the tailor (Snyder) and the cutter. 😉
Cold West is a book I didn't particularly enjoy first time I read it - but I found the way it's written so interesting that I read it a second time when writing this review. And I have to say reading it a second time did a lot to help me appreciate the book better, so I’ve raised my original rating to 3,5 stars. 😉
The story begins with main character Wil Cutter, a former bounty hunter, and his two sons burying their wife and mother Ginny.
When an old comrade visits Wil and offers him the prospect of a very lucrative job, Wil sees no choice but to accept it in order to provide for his boys. So, he sets off on another bounty hunt, which soon turns into a feverish nightmare of brutal violence, plenty of blood and gore and merciless revenge.
Cold West contains a lot in its mere 141 pages. It’s a bleak story dealing with heavy themes like loss and grief, guilt and remorse, redemption – or rather the lack of it – and revenge. It’s part western, part fantasy, part grimdark, part revenge story, part psychogram of a deeply flawed main character. The story plays in a nihilistic world where violence and chaos rule, and men are, to quote Wil, "all terror and blood and hate". When there is violence, and there often is, this violence is graphic and brutal.
To say it right away, I’m not the target audience, as neither western and grimdark as a genre nor short novels/novellas in general are my cup of tea. However, as I have set myself the goal of reading all 10 SPFBO9 finalists, and the added fantasy elements sounded promising, I thought I'd give it a try. Funnily enough, the addition of fantasy elements didn’t work for me, and I would have preferred to read a plain western story.
Overall, I’d say I had issues with the content but found the execution intriguing.
The biggest problem was that I couldn’t connect to any of the characters, first and foremost to main character Wil.
Early on, we learn that his past is characterised by atrocities which, at that point, are not explained in more detail. Even if he didn’t partake in all of them, he "certainly owns his share", as he himself tells us. Ginny is the only one who accepted him despite this past and forgave him for his sins.
I’m not a great fan of the trope of the woman saving the bad guy through her love, the more so when, like here, once that woman is lying dead in the ground, that “reformed” guy immediately reverts to the old ways of violence without even thinking of other solutions. Perhaps I missed something, but I didn’t understand what Ginny’s death had to do with having no other choice; dealing with loss and grief does not necessarily mean to go and kill other people. The fact that the ones he kills are all violent and bad people doesn’t make the killing any better. I don’t see any redeemable character trait in Wil; at one point, he has the chance to save someone’s life but, for purely financial reasons, decides against it.
Then despite the cosy flashbacks that show him as a family man, Wil comes across to me as a lousy father and husband. He admits he has poor provisional skills: "As for me, I’d never been much of a woodworker or a carpenter. Was a bit of a shit farmer, as well. The few crops we’d managed to eke out of the plains had been the boys’ doing. Brighter than their pa, they were."
If I understood that correctly, Wil bought the land with the money Ginny had made him start saving. Apart from the dwindling rest of his savings, they lived on her being a teacher and the few crops they managed to cultivate. At the beginning of the story, the boys are twelve years old – twelve years in which Wil could have looked for alternatives. What has he been doing all those years? Spending his time with drinking and watching Ginny and the boys work to earn a living? And now that Ginny is dead, his first impulse is to leave his sons alone. When saying goodbye to Ginny at her grave, he knows she wouldn’t approve of his decision, but tells himself it’s for the better of their family.
I’ve also been unhappy with the other characters whose motivations often eluded me, especially with respect to the female characters. There is either the saintly but dead Ginny or flawed and unsympathetic female characters who often don’t live very long either or disappear without another thought for them.
Then there have been some things plot-wise I found unconvincing:
Why take on as a new companion someone you don't know and who clearly doesn't have much experience?
Why do experienced adventurers stay at an inn and go to sleep or get drunk without setting a guard?
A prison in the middle of nowhere with so many prisoners and only a few guards?
Nonetheless, I really liked the strong beginning with Wil and his two young sons burying their wife and mother: The cold grief they feel that claws its way into the reader’s mind. The blisters on the boys’ hands. Wil telling his sons that Ginny is now joining the family dog in heaven, the two waiting for the rest of the family. Wil’s memory of his and Ginny’s first meeting. The nightly visitor coming with an offer Wil is unable to refuse.
So, right in the beginning, I was hooked and invested in the characters.
Now on to the fascinating execution of the story.
Cold West is told from Wil’s first-person point of view which gives us deep insights into his psyche. The non-linear narrative is interspersed with flashbacks of random memories, (fever) dreams, nightmares, hallucinations and a lot of passages of inner thoughts.
All this makes it more difficult to follow the already chaotic plot, but it also portrays superbly Will’s splintered and deteriorating state of mind. The setting of the bleak wasteland, too, reflects nicely Wil’s state of mind.
With respect to the pacing, it is extremely fast. I would have preferred to read a longer book with a slower pacing.
Where the book shines most for me is in the two short horror stories within the story. I liked that Snyder decided to include them despite the brevity of the book. The longer one is told by Ginny, and the other one is told by a prisoner. I thought both stories were excellently written, both creepy and beautiful, and I felt like I was much more invested in them than the actual plot of the book.
If you love grimdark and/or westerns mixed with fantasy elements, and unlikeable and unredeemable main characters haunted by their inescapable past, look no further. Even without these preferences, the experimental and bold writing style is engaging (and the book short enough) to not leave the reader cold – pun intended.
Fun fact: I like the author’s play with names. Some fellow authors’ names have found their way into the book. Not only this, but I also think Wil’s surname Cutter is a fitting name for someone who runs around like a sharp knife, killing people left and right, or making with his magic cuts into another dimension.
Then we have so many abrupt cuts in the narrative structure.
And finally, perhaps a bit far stretched but I can’t help it, I also see a relation between the tailor (Snyder) and the cutter. 😉
December 16, 2023
“Pain’s a poison well, not to be shared unless you expect to kill another’s spirit.”
I’m very tempted to leave just two words as a review for this book – Visceral, and Vivid. This is my first exposure to the subgenre ‘Fantasy Western’ and it was every bit as enjoyable as it was intriguing. Somebody on Twitter mentioned the paperback was available for 5$ on Amazon now and I snatched it up immediately. After finishing the book though, I would have paid much more.
This book should come with a disclaimer for violence. I think it is the darkest and most brutal book I’ve read all year. And that is absolutely delicious if you’re a grimdark/dark fantasy aficionado… Bleak world – check, dark themes – check, conflicted protagonist – check, but also horses – check, trains– check, gunslinging – check, bar scene – check, and finally revenge, betrayal, pain – well except for some brief interludes there is not a single page where either one of these three or sometimes all three aren’t present.
The book basically answers what if Red Dead Redemption was set on a magical dystopia and to borrow from Gen Z, Wil Cutter (the protagonist) is giving a darker alternate universe Arthur Morgan. One of the most well written characters, in typical grimdark fashion he’s a bad man amongst worse men. We start to root for him because he’s suffered an injustice but he’s written so realistically and so undisguisedly that we do double takes often. But it is all very compelling though (who doesn’t love following someone on a ruthless revenge tour).
The opening sentences basically sum up how the story is going to be –
“They say when a man meets the love of his life, all the mean goes out of him….,, I don’t know about that. I do know when that person’s gone, it starts to slip back in, a knife in the heart.”
Anybody who’s looking for a protagonist going back to their ruthless older ways in a moment of grief or because of a traumatic event (fans of John Wick/Equalizer/Nobody) – this book is perfect for you. Cutter does some truly horrible stuff to survive but one simply can’t stop reading and I think it is due to how strong the writing is.
The writing is taut, there is no purple prose but it is beautiful all the same. I have read books with great writing where the world and action scenes are written so well that I’m able to picture each scene clearly, but to me in this one the setting and vibes came alive as well. This is as best as I can describe it I guess; I really enjoyed it. Absolute highlight for me. The emotional and psychological beats of the main character are on point. It doesn’t have a very linear structure and there are quite a bit of flashbacks. I have complained that this sort of stuff is a bit jarring for me in some other books, but in this book it only added to my immersion.
The world and magic system again are really good. It has a unique magic system that I don’t fully understand the extent of but it is done very well. There’s no hand holding and it is all revealed slowly but interestingly. At first I thought it was something small, but then it became amazing when I discovered the actual cost of the magic system. The world is a post war wild west with devils, shamanry, and a religious crusade. I am particularly enamored with the ‘western’ atmosphere and I’m itching to read more western + fantasy now. If anyone has any recommendations, I’ll take it (cookies if it has trains.)
“A man can be broken any number of ways, but the easiest is to let him rise just a little above his birth, then tear it away.”
While it was extremely satisfying for the most part, the ending felt very par for the course. It kind of took me out because everything else about the book up to then was non-conventional or had some twist. It kind of became a fever dream but in a very confusing way. It might have been an attempt to synchronize the story with the mental state of the MC but it didn’t work very well for me.
Even with my reservations about the ending, this book has definitely left a striking impression. It blends fantasy + western + horror expertly. I am definitely going to read more by this author and have already picked out my next Clayton Snyder book.
I’m very tempted to leave just two words as a review for this book – Visceral, and Vivid. This is my first exposure to the subgenre ‘Fantasy Western’ and it was every bit as enjoyable as it was intriguing. Somebody on Twitter mentioned the paperback was available for 5$ on Amazon now and I snatched it up immediately. After finishing the book though, I would have paid much more.
This book should come with a disclaimer for violence. I think it is the darkest and most brutal book I’ve read all year. And that is absolutely delicious if you’re a grimdark/dark fantasy aficionado… Bleak world – check, dark themes – check, conflicted protagonist – check, but also horses – check, trains– check, gunslinging – check, bar scene – check, and finally revenge, betrayal, pain – well except for some brief interludes there is not a single page where either one of these three or sometimes all three aren’t present.
The book basically answers what if Red Dead Redemption was set on a magical dystopia and to borrow from Gen Z, Wil Cutter (the protagonist) is giving a darker alternate universe Arthur Morgan. One of the most well written characters, in typical grimdark fashion he’s a bad man amongst worse men. We start to root for him because he’s suffered an injustice but he’s written so realistically and so undisguisedly that we do double takes often. But it is all very compelling though (who doesn’t love following someone on a ruthless revenge tour).
The opening sentences basically sum up how the story is going to be –
“They say when a man meets the love of his life, all the mean goes out of him….,, I don’t know about that. I do know when that person’s gone, it starts to slip back in, a knife in the heart.”
Anybody who’s looking for a protagonist going back to their ruthless older ways in a moment of grief or because of a traumatic event (fans of John Wick/Equalizer/Nobody) – this book is perfect for you. Cutter does some truly horrible stuff to survive but one simply can’t stop reading and I think it is due to how strong the writing is.
The writing is taut, there is no purple prose but it is beautiful all the same. I have read books with great writing where the world and action scenes are written so well that I’m able to picture each scene clearly, but to me in this one the setting and vibes came alive as well. This is as best as I can describe it I guess; I really enjoyed it. Absolute highlight for me. The emotional and psychological beats of the main character are on point. It doesn’t have a very linear structure and there are quite a bit of flashbacks. I have complained that this sort of stuff is a bit jarring for me in some other books, but in this book it only added to my immersion.
The world and magic system again are really good. It has a unique magic system that I don’t fully understand the extent of but it is done very well. There’s no hand holding and it is all revealed slowly but interestingly. At first I thought it was something small, but then it became amazing when I discovered the actual cost of the magic system. The world is a post war wild west with devils, shamanry, and a religious crusade. I am particularly enamored with the ‘western’ atmosphere and I’m itching to read more western + fantasy now. If anyone has any recommendations, I’ll take it (cookies if it has trains.)
“A man can be broken any number of ways, but the easiest is to let him rise just a little above his birth, then tear it away.”
While it was extremely satisfying for the most part, the ending felt very par for the course. It kind of took me out because everything else about the book up to then was non-conventional or had some twist. It kind of became a fever dream but in a very confusing way. It might have been an attempt to synchronize the story with the mental state of the MC but it didn’t work very well for me.
Even with my reservations about the ending, this book has definitely left a striking impression. It blends fantasy + western + horror expertly. I am definitely going to read more by this author and have already picked out my next Clayton Snyder book.
July 20, 2023
Whew, what a ride. I went into this little book completely blind. Short works of fiction (novellas) are usually not my jam for a multitude of reasons, one of which being that I need more character development and world building. I was skeptical going into this story, but I sampled the first chapter and knew I had to read it.
The first chapter opens up with a man grieving over his freshly deceased wife. Like many people, he is worried about how he is going to provide for his two sons as they are struggling severely financially. An opportunity comes up for him to do a bounty, something he has done in the past but gave up for his wife. And we go from there.
Guys, just in this first chapter, I felt what our main character felt. I didn't know that this was dark fantasy horror, so I was very pleasantly surprised by that. This is very dark and so if you you aren't a grimdark fan, I would advise to stay away.
Even though this is not a very conventional story, it certainly captured my heart. This is not going to be for everyone. It's weird. It's confusing at times. But it's 100% my kind of weird and confusing.
The writing is superb. One of the easiest 5 stars I have given all year.
The first chapter opens up with a man grieving over his freshly deceased wife. Like many people, he is worried about how he is going to provide for his two sons as they are struggling severely financially. An opportunity comes up for him to do a bounty, something he has done in the past but gave up for his wife. And we go from there.
Guys, just in this first chapter, I felt what our main character felt. I didn't know that this was dark fantasy horror, so I was very pleasantly surprised by that. This is very dark and so if you you aren't a grimdark fan, I would advise to stay away.
Even though this is not a very conventional story, it certainly captured my heart. This is not going to be for everyone. It's weird. It's confusing at times. But it's 100% my kind of weird and confusing.
The writing is superb. One of the easiest 5 stars I have given all year.
February 20, 2024
I really enjoyed the world. Is it in our world, some alternative history world, or its own fantasy world with similarities to the old west? I like the freedom of the ambiguity, it allows the fantasy elements to surprise you.
My main complaint is that it feels like a loss of potential. I like the story and the world and the tone, so I would have liked to have spent more time there. It could have used a lot more detail and a slower pace, with a few more twists and turns.
My main complaint is that it feels like a loss of potential. I like the story and the world and the tone, so I would have liked to have spent more time there. It could have used a lot more detail and a slower pace, with a few more twists and turns.
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April 5, 2024Check out my SPFBO9 reviews here: https://youtu.be/IZIalF7PeWc
I enjoyed the writing in this, but felt that very big events were glossed over and rushed through. Things that should have felt very emotional were over in an instant and we were introduced new characters that again disappeared without a second thought. Cool world and magic system, but there was not enough time to explore it fully, sadly!
I enjoyed the writing in this, but felt that very big events were glossed over and rushed through. Things that should have felt very emotional were over in an instant and we were introduced new characters that again disappeared without a second thought. Cool world and magic system, but there was not enough time to explore it fully, sadly!
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