In the Season of Blood and Gold

by Taylor Brown

Winner of the Montana Prize in Fiction, Taylor Brown offers up a stunning debut collection of stories. Charles Dodd White, author of A Shelter of Others, says, "With ferocious economy and a great big heart, Taylor Brown writes one of the best debuts I've ever picked up. These are stories, verses, meditations, and accusations-everything, in short, you could hope to get from important fiction. This work demands your attention."

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Southern, Westerns

160 pages, Paperback

First published April 22, 2014

About the author

Taylor Brown is the award-winning author of the novels Fallen Land (2016), The River of Kings (2017), Gods of Howl Mountain (2018), Pride of Eden (2020), Wingwalkers (2022), Rednecks (2024), and Wolvers (2026) as well as a short story collection, In the Season of Blood and Gold (2014). He is the recipient of the Southern Book Prize, the Montana Prize in Fiction, the Ron Rash Award for Fiction, the Audie Award in Fiction, the Weatherford Award in Fiction, and he was named Georgia Author of the Year for Literary Fiction. His work has also been a finalist for the John Steinbeck Award, Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize, Doris Betts Fiction Prize, the Writer’s Digest Writing Competition, and others. An Eagle Scout and avid motorcyclist, he has lived in Buenos Aires, San Francisco, the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, and traveled extensively in the American West. Currently, he lives in Savannah, Georgia, where he is the founder and editor-in-chief of BikeBound, one of the world's leading custom motorcycle publications. His website is taylorbrownfiction.com. You can follow him on Instagram (@taylorbrown82) and Facebook (@Taylor.Brown.Fiction).

Reviews

[Cheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Taylor Brown’s debut collection of short stories, “In the Season of Blood & Gold,” is astonishing. I had to keep reminding myself to breath. There isn’t a story in this collection that is less than “breath-taking”, but "The Sin-Eaters," was one of my favorites, as was “Covered Bridge” (my second read of “Covered Bridge” as it is also one of the stories in “Appalachia Now”),“Rider” “Kingdom Come,””The Tatooist’s Daughter” etc., the truth is that this collection is just too good to pick just one or two. "In the Season of Blood and Gold" is absolutely riveting.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

*4.5 Stars*
It's always a great feeling when you feel like you've discovered a new author that's on the cusp of blowing up. When you feel that great privilege of knowing that not only is there still a whole career's worth of material to look forward to, but also once he/she gets hugely successful, you can say, "I was a fan from the beginning." In The Season of Blood and Gold (released last year in 2014) is Taylor Brown's debut, a collection of hard-hitting short stories, some of which have already won awards.

In a world gone white, ghosts must be the color of shadow.

I'm here to tell you that Brown is the real deal. His writing is some of the very best that I've read all year. He has a real mastery of language, using it in expressive ways, evoking both atmosphere, character, and emotion with impressive economy. There are some stories that seem like they could have been written by a young Cormac McCarthy, where Brown uses words like a mallet and chisel, making sure they stick with you long after reading. Did I just compare this guy to McCarthy? Well, yes, I guess I did. Here's the opening line of the award-winning story "Kingdom Come":

The boy dropped the knife into the stone mouth of the well and watched the blade glitter into the depths, blood from its edge red-clouding its wake, haunting the blade like tidings of its history.

The stories take place in a wide variety of places and times, ranging from the Old West past to even a post-apocalyptic future. A big similarity that I noticed in the stories were the characters, all of which seem to be adrift in their respective worlds, searching for connections, their identities defined by what they do, whether it be a poacher, a soldier, a piano player, a moonshiner, a tattoo artist, or even an alligator wrestler.

My favorite story in the collection, "Whorehouse Piano," blew me away with it's efficiency in the way it illustrates the fascinating character of Lucy and how hard it hits emotionally in just five pages. It's about a former whore who now plays piano in her brothel, her complex and bittersweet relationship with the owner, and her journey to see her estranged father.

They drove all night into bayou darkness, low-hung moss and the scarce reflection of blackwater amid the mangroves. Highway signs reared before them, bleary and wayward-tilted. Red-flattened carcasses of small mammals littered the road. Whoreson crossed himself when he saw them, reborn. Her hand retreated when he tried to hold it. They never touched, not since the night he slit her throat.

Other standout stories include "Sin-Eaters," set in an apocalyptic future, where one young man decides to buck the system once he finds beauty in a terrible world, "Bone Valley," about a lonely guy who wrestles gators for a living, as well as the beautiful title story, about a young Civil War soldier who risks everything after he meets the love of his life. This story also seems like it might be the basis for Brown's upcoming debut novel, Fallen Land , which I will be scooping up like a hotcake as soon as I can. So excited to read more from this guy!

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were elements of all these stories I enjoyed but I found the relentless straining for profundity somewhat hit and miss. That said it's his first book and there's enough here to make me interested in reading one of his later books.

[Cathrine ☯️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

5★
The man sure can write. If you're a fan of his novels, this debut collection of short stories will most certainly wow you.

[Steph Post · Rating 5 out of 5]

Without a doubt, Taylor Brown in my new favorite short story writer. "In the Season of Blood and Gold," Brown's 2014 compilation of short fiction is breathtaking. And by breathtaking I don't mean just beautiful, I mean breathtaking in that it feels at times like the story has reached out, grabbed you by the throat and begun to squeeze. I love this collection of stories not only because it is the absolute epitome of "country noir," but because Brown knows how to manipulate words into striking images that create visceral narratives. His stories build up, brimming with tension, from a single note in a way that lets the reader experience the development of literary craft. If I was still teaching in the classroom, I would most certainly be using Brown's stories, perhaps "Rider," perhaps "Bone Valley" or my favorite, "The Sin-Eaters," to demonstrate how language can be layered to create atmosphere and how tone and imagery, when used correctly and without fear, can make a reader feel like he or she is being turned inside out by the power of a story. This is most certainly some of the best short fiction I've encountered and the collection as a whole is one of the best books I've read this year. "In the Season of Blood and Gold" comes with my highest recommendation.

[Belle · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I read these first published short stories of Taylor Brown, I kept thinking back to my Creative Writing class and remembering those few students that could light the whole classroom ablaze with their writing. And the teacher who had her obvious favorite students. If this wasn’t an all women’s college, Taylor Brown would have been that student. The deserved favorite. The most popular vote and the teacher’s pet too. Some writers have the touch of gold. This is Taylor Brown.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of these stories rang a bit hollow to me, especially at the end, where the words were double-bass drums banging a strained-beat of meaning. Forget that, however, because the prose in these stories is denser than multi-seed whole-grain bread and reminded me most, particularly with its word-debt to compound nouns, of Seamus Heaney's poems. Relished the word-art and the writerly love that produced them more than the stories.

[Sam Slaughter · Rating 5 out of 5]

A stunning debut collection. There is really nothing else to say beyond you need to read this book. Each story is a master class in the craft of fiction writing.

[Josh Broussard · Rating 5 out of 5]

After finishing Taylor Brown's debut collection, I was surprised to find out that these stories were not as violent and hopeless as I'd been led to believe by previous reviews. I absolutely loved this collection, and would recommend it to anyone who likes solid American short story writing.

Brown has a way of completely engulfing you in this world he's created, one that apparently only spans from the Appalachian mountains to the suburbs of Tampa, FL. The setting was fully realized and clearly one the author is familiar with. Yet despite the southern ambience and the gorgeous prose, I found myself ultimately connecting with the characters, their strive for meaning, and their redemption in a few of them. At this collection's core is humanity, and how we relate to each other on emotional levels. It does what truly good southern fiction does, and that is place relatable but flawed characters in the south, then tie their overarching narrative to one everyone can identify with.

My favorite was probably "The Tattooist's Daughter," but I also really enjoyed both "Covered Bridge" and "Home Guard."

I can't wait to get my hands on one of Brown's novels, although I'm kind of struggling to decide which one.

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great debut collection...looking forward to what Brown does next.

[Liam · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5*

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Taylor Brown is an astonishing writer. In these twelve perfectly crafted stories, he bounces from the Civil War era to contemporary times (and times in between) in ways that are both heartbreaking and timeless. Take his story Covered Bridge as just one example—where a family's land has been lost to developers and a young man, already devastated by the loss of his mother, wants to fight back:

He looked up the darkening slope of the hillside, past the gold-spired fencing and the earth-moving equipment, past the worklamps and helmeted men, to the sparse stand of trees where his mother lay buried. So far-off, and not but one way across, this bridge, and that thwarted by men at the far threshold, their arms crossed, their bodies growing one-dimensional in the failing dark, silhouettes only, dark and unyielding as a wall themselves.

"One-dimensional in the failing dark." That's just goddamned perfect and I love it. Just as I love everything about this collection. No contemporary writer that I'm aware of uses the range, syntax, muscularity, and grace that Taylor Brown does. This is the fourth book I've read by him and each one has been a joy. He always captures the essence of a place without restricting himself to place—meaning that he's not just a "Southern" writer, as so many others have labeled him. He's instead a writer who uses the contradictions of place to illuminate the contradictions of life, and I respect the hell out of him for that.

[Michael Patton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This man has some serious talent.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This author is new to me. I am enjoying the book so far. He reminds me somewhat of Ron Rash. Finished...I really enjoyed it.
Dark, gritty and powerful.

[Mary · Rating 1 out of 5]

These are stories of blood and vengeance, murder and mayhem. So much darkness, without the balance of hope and humanity. Maybe it’s other influences in my current reading life or simply a matter of personal taste, but I’m reading for beauty and wonder (even just tiny glimpses!), and I didn’t find it here.

Also, lines like this: “As he slept, disinterred brethren bivouacked in his cranium, beguiling him.” That is just too much.

[Ronald J. Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moving stories with a southern bent

Taylor Brown is a gifted writer. Fans of his work, of which I am one, will thoroughly enjoy this collection of poignant, literary-caliber tales.

[Billy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 or 5 strong stories. Pretty and rough writing. Gorgeous cover.

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm sorry to say I struggled through this one. I've loved the two novels I've read by him, but I found these stories hard to engage in.

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, vivid descriptions. I wonder about the inspiration for these disparate stories. I will read more by this author.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of short stories.

[Olav Nilsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Glimrende!

[Janet · Rating 2 out of 5]

Brown is an effective writer, but these stories were too dark and violent for me to enjoy reading them.

[Heather Warner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Astonishing, evocative, atmospheric, lyrical, emotional-Taylor Brown is an author to watch. This book is enthralling & compelling. Every story is special and beautifully written. I loved every story in this collection and I will be looking for every book that Taylor Brown has written. Top book and I hope that everyone gets a copy of their own!

[Twistedtexas · Rating 4 out of 5]

7/10