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Rathuun: King of the Prairie: A Western Frontier Adventure
With all the swagger of a classic western, a legendary buffalo claims his rightful place among the genre's most iconic heroes.
Meet Rathuun. Born in an idyllic canyon, tragedy strikes on his first day. A grizzly bear scatters the herd, devours his twin, and leaves him to shiver and die. But the buffalo calf with a white spot on his chin survives.
The plains are changing fast. Wagons roll west in endless streams. Telegraph wires stretch across the horizon. Locomotives scream down polished rails, slicing through the earth. Extinction seems imminent when everyone wants to kill the biggest buffalo on the prairie. Native people shoot arrows and drive herds over cliffs. Hide hunters slaughter millions. An obsessed buffalo assassin is determined to wipe them all out and change the world forever. There's an army of barking rifles, and they're all pointed at Rathuun.
Will the hunters take Rathuun's head and leave his carcass to rot on the prairie?
This sweeping epic thunders across the American West, taking readers to unforgettable western landmarks. If you like classic westerns, thrilling action, and high-stakes historical adventures, grab you copy by the horns.
Welcome to the prairie!
Meet Rathuun. Born in an idyllic canyon, tragedy strikes on his first day. A grizzly bear scatters the herd, devours his twin, and leaves him to shiver and die. But the buffalo calf with a white spot on his chin survives.
The plains are changing fast. Wagons roll west in endless streams. Telegraph wires stretch across the horizon. Locomotives scream down polished rails, slicing through the earth. Extinction seems imminent when everyone wants to kill the biggest buffalo on the prairie. Native people shoot arrows and drive herds over cliffs. Hide hunters slaughter millions. An obsessed buffalo assassin is determined to wipe them all out and change the world forever. There's an army of barking rifles, and they're all pointed at Rathuun.
Will the hunters take Rathuun's head and leave his carcass to rot on the prairie?
This sweeping epic thunders across the American West, taking readers to unforgettable western landmarks. If you like classic westerns, thrilling action, and high-stakes historical adventures, grab you copy by the horns.
Welcome to the prairie!
389 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 20, 2026
About the author
David Fitz-Gerald
21 books253 followersDavid Fitz-Gerald writes frontier and pioneer western fiction from the wilds of western Vermont—about as far west as you can get without slipping into New York.
Though he’s never wrangled beeves to market, Dave was a top hand on his grandfather’s dude ranch in the Adirondack Mountains… before he turned ten. He’s lived most of his life on dirt roads. Whenever he gets the chance, he travels west to recharge his spirit on the windswept prairies.
He’s an Adirondack 46’er which means that he’s hiked to the top of every mountain in the park. In 2018, Dave completed the 1960s fitness craze by hiking 50 miles in one day. That’s one heck of a long walk, but not nearly as grueling as the iconic trails that he chases in his fiction.
Even after all these years, Dave still has his head in the clouds like Ken from My Friend Flicka, and a quiet, self-reliant spirit like Sam from The Trumpet of the Swan. That blend of wonder, heart, and spirit runs through the characters he portrays. His editor states he is “exceptionally good at creating real moments between characters”—and readers seem to agree.
Dave’s breakthrough series, Ghosts Along the Oregon Trail won Chanticleer’s Grand Prize for Book Series. He’s now the author of nearly twenty novels and counting, and as long as there’s coffee in the kitchen, Dave will be plotting one adventurous story after another.
Though he’s never wrangled beeves to market, Dave was a top hand on his grandfather’s dude ranch in the Adirondack Mountains… before he turned ten. He’s lived most of his life on dirt roads. Whenever he gets the chance, he travels west to recharge his spirit on the windswept prairies.
He’s an Adirondack 46’er which means that he’s hiked to the top of every mountain in the park. In 2018, Dave completed the 1960s fitness craze by hiking 50 miles in one day. That’s one heck of a long walk, but not nearly as grueling as the iconic trails that he chases in his fiction.
Even after all these years, Dave still has his head in the clouds like Ken from My Friend Flicka, and a quiet, self-reliant spirit like Sam from The Trumpet of the Swan. That blend of wonder, heart, and spirit runs through the characters he portrays. His editor states he is “exceptionally good at creating real moments between characters”—and readers seem to agree.
Dave’s breakthrough series, Ghosts Along the Oregon Trail won Chanticleer’s Grand Prize for Book Series. He’s now the author of nearly twenty novels and counting, and as long as there’s coffee in the kitchen, Dave will be plotting one adventurous story after another.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 20, 2026
If there's been a book told from the point-of-view of a buffalo before, I'm not a aware of it--and it's probably a children's book. So Fitz-Gerald had me from the concept. This novel is for adults because it includes some violence, but that's par for the course with a Western as far as I'm concerned. I very much enjoyed following Rathuun on his journeys as he tangles with humans, with other animals, and with other buffalo and finds a few allies along the way. I admit, it took a while for me to get used to the buffalo language used, but as the story progressed, this language gave it a mythic quality. The narrator contributes to this "story for the ages" quality. I especially liked his old buffalo voices. A unique, vivid, and important tale.
Displaying 1 of 1 review