As an American, I remember being surprised to learn how impactful Westerns have been outside my homeland. It’s a genre that is quintessentially based on American history, but one that has gained currency abroad, particularly in Italy. Quasi-Westerns have also been made in Australia, China and South Africa.

Here I’d like to discuss a “Red Western”: Vladimir Motyl’s 1970 White Sun in the Desert. It’s a film much like American Westerns, but set in what is now Turkmenistan during the Russian Civil War.

Death of a Bounty Hunter: Free eBook for Never Was Readers

Steam

Nick OttensApril 22, 2020May 15, 2020

The publishers of the Amazon top-selling time-travel novel Timeslingers have partnered with Never Was to offer you, our reader, a complimentary copy of their brand-new Weird West adventure, Death of a Bounty Hunter.

All they’re asking in return is a review on Amazon. It’s not an obligation, but they hope you’ll write some words after reading the book.

Blending paranormal, steampunk and Western genres, Death of a Bounty Hunter creates something altogether different.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

Steam

Hilde HeyvaertJuly 21, 2016September 26, 2020

Let me start by saying that Big Thunder Mountain is one my favorite rides in Disneyland Paris, only narrowly beaten by Les Mystères du Nautilus. So, of course, when Marvel and Disney announced that the runaway train was being turned into a comic, I was excited.

Design-wise, it’s very pretty. Like all Disney Kingdom series books, it comes only in hardcover. Which is too bad, because it means a fragile flap and a higher price than what you would pay for a paperback edition. On the upside, once the flap is removed, you get a really nice sketch of the ride.

Dead Iron

Steam

Scott KinkadeAugust 10, 2013March 30, 2019

Today we have Devon Monk’s 2011 steampunk novel, Dead Iron, the first book in her Age of Steam series.

The story takes place in Hallelujah, Oregon in the late nineteenth century. The town is enjoying prosperity due to the arrival of the railroad that will soon be connecting them to the rest of the country.

However, not everyone is in good spirits. Protagonist Cedar Hunt has been cursed by a Native American god to become a werewolf during the full moon. During his first change he killed his brother (or so be believes) who had been cursed along with him.

Fistful of Reefer

Diesel

Marcus RauchfußSeptember 1, 2011March 30, 2019

David Brown’s Fistful of Reefer was my first contact with fiction concerning the “Old West.” Of course, I had a certain idea of the golden age of gunslingers, but I also knew that this idea was severely flawed.

What first struck me was the intensity of character the first protagonist you encounter displays. Texas Ranger McCutchen is one hard man of strong and firm opinions who knows what is wrong and what is right. And he will shoot you if you disagree too much or get in his way.

Interestingly, the Texas Ranger, a staple hero in American literature, is the villain.

Wild Wild West

Steam

Hilde HeyvaertJanuary 1, 2011April 1, 2019

A fine example of a movie you either love or hate, Wild Wild West (based on the series from years previously, albeit in parody style) will strike your fancy or be written off as complete tripe.

The year is 1869 and the Civil War has just ended. That doesn’t mean that all of the Confederates have given up, though. Led by Dr Loveless, who is literally half the man he once was because of the war, and his futuristic steampunk technology, they plan to take out President Ulysses Grant and claim rulership over the reunited states of America.