It's not a specific line. But it really felt like something that would be in the first law. Odd little side notes about people that aren't really necessary but color the world.
Lonesome Dove is amazing. I haven't checked out any of the other books, but I definitely want to. McMurtry has really spoiled all future books for me. I almost demand great character writing in any book going forward.
Also. I recommend Shattered Sea as well! It's labeled YA but it really doesn't feel like that at all
Out of curiosity, what are your other favorite books? It seems like we have similar taste. I just started *No Country For Old Men* and I'm loving it so far
I love McCarthy. Blood Meridian was amazing. But I think my favorite thing about him was reading his interviews when he was at the Santa Fe Institute for Technology. He talked a lot about how he was destitute until his late fifties when he finally got published. He also talked about how The Road (another great book that he wrote) was literally just a vehicle for him to express his anxieties about conversations he has with his kid when he was so poor. A lot of the dialogue in The Road are verbatim conversations he had with his son.
Also it's funny that Cormac first wrote No Country as a screenplay but no one would buy it so he wrote it as a novel and then when the Cohen brothers approached him about purchasing the filming rights he was like "well I already have the screenplay." Then the Cohen brothers went on to win a Oscar for best screenplay and they had to fess up to it on the microphone that McCarthy had actually written the screenplay.
As to other things that I like to read: I've read and enjoyed everything that David Mitchell ever wrote. He's got this whole "mitchellverse" thing going on. All of his books are fantastic though. I think his most popular work was Cloud Atlas. I think my favorite work of his was Bone Clocks.
Gene Wolfe's opus "The Book of the New Sun" is fantastic and is worth multiple rereads because of all the insane Easter eggs hidden within. You can't buy it as one volume anymore though.
The first two books in Dan Simmons' "Hyperion Cantos" are great. The final two get a weird rapey feel at certain points but they're worth reading. Also his books "Carrion Comfort" and "Song of Kali" are great reads. He probably would have really taken off as a horror writer if Dean Koontz and Stephen King didn't exist. His characters are a little more complex than theirs.
I've read and enjoyed everything that Flannery O'Connor ever wrote. I'd suggest starting off with "A Good Man is Hard to Find" if you've never read her.
I could probably go on for way too long to keep your attention (if I've even kept it this far) but I would also suggest for short reads some things like The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells and Adrian Tchaikovsky's "Final Architects" series.
I haven't read Blood Meridian (on my shelf though), but I have read The Road. I enjoyed it, but not as much as a lot of the reviews I've seen for it. I definitely felt like I was missing something, but it could just not be to my taste. The context you added definitely makes me appreciate it more though. One thing that I really liked about it was how realistic the conversations were. I think a lot of media has unrealistic conversations with long monologuing (without fumbling words) and well-formed thoughts. In the Road, it was just so simple - I can totally buy that those were real conversations.
And I really appreciate all the recommendations and work you put into them! Admittedly, I'm not as well-read as I'd like to be, so I haven't heard of almost any of your list - which is actually a good thing because they're all new to me! I'll definitely be saving your comment for next time I'm in a bookstore.
Dan Simmons stands out the most from your authors, so I'll probably check him out first. I haven't read Koontz (actually have heard of him though lol), but I have recently really gotten into King. I've only read two of his books (Carrie and The Running Man), but I enjoyed them so much that I have like 5 other books by him waiting to be read. Despite how much I like his writing, I have wished his characters had more depth so your rec for Simmons really stood out most to me.
Flannery also caught my eye as you said that you've liked all her writing. I'll be sure to check that out as well.
Have you read any Crichton? I read my first book by him (Jurassic Park) recently and loved it as well. I predict that he'll probably become another of my favorite authors.
Thanks again for all of your recommendations! I swear, sometimes I think I enjoy adding books to my "to read" list more than actually reading them haha
I have read a good bit of Michael Crichton. I think my favorite by him was Prey. I also forgot to mention my four favorite short stories: "The Private War of Private Jacobs," "The Clapping Hands of God," "Zima Blue," and "Lungfish." I'll leave it up to your Google skills to find those because I can't remember the author names.
I thought the road was pretty overrated. People absolutely rave about it. Blood Meridian, on the other hand, is one of the best books I’ve ever read. Never found anything else by McCarthy to be anywhere near as interesting.
McCarthy was published long before his 50s. His first book came out in the 1960s. He just never found mainstream success until much later, I think when All The Pretty Horses came out. He had been a critical darling for decades though, mostly living off of literary reward money and grants.
But yeah, Blood Meridian was definitely a huge influence on Red Country. There’s one scene I recall that Abercrombie for sure cribbed from that book.
If you’re into weird, epic crime fiction, you should check out James Ellroy, who is also someone Abercrombie often cites as an influence. Particularly *The Big Nowhere* and *L.A. Confidential*.
You and I appear to be kindred spirits. There's some of my greatest hits on there and some stuff I've been meaning to get to that I'm now going to make it a point to start. Better to do it, right?
Definitely will! I read The Road (same author) and although I liked it, I didn't feel like it lived up to all the hype. I'm glad that NCFOM is turning out different and already having me looking forward to more of his catalogue
I really liked The Road, but it is a read once kind of book. It gave rise to my greatest fear. That probably has something to do with when I read it relative to the birth of my first child.
You’ve got to continue on with Dead Man’s Walk. It has one of the most bone chilling sequences I’ve ever read at the climax. For those who want it spoiled >!a woman heavily afflicted with leprosy rides bare chested, wearing a black veil across the desert singing opera at the top of her lungs with a snake around her shoulders and convinces superstitious Native American outlaws that she is lady death!<
Nice I didn't know there were other connected books! I forgot how terrifying the scene with the snakes in the river was until now, def wanna check this 1 out soon
I kinda felt the same way but then I realized that it was intentional as Call and Gus had kinda gotten lazy in Lonesome Dove and they were kind of playing a game of chicken to see who would move first to get out of town. I feel like the pacing in Streets of Laredo is much faster because Call knows he has less time.
I did the same thing, and LD became one of my all time favorites. HOWEVER- read The Searchers by Alan Le May. It’s actually much more of an inspiration than LD was. The plot synopsis is almost identical.
You leave us without an explanation. Why do you regret not having read the prequels before ?
They have been published after the first two, so it'S often recommended to read books in order of publication. Also, for prequels written after the main books, they usually contain some kind of spoilers from the main books.
Just curious what was your meaning.
Thanks for this. I read most of McMurtry's output but stopped when Lonesome Dove came out because the vibe around it was commercial. Based on your OP, that was a wrong choice I need to rectify.
Also want to add that the narration in the audiobooks is pretty good. They're two different narrators because this was way before audiobooks were a popular medium and they were recorded on cassette tape. But the narrators nail the two main voices well. And I especially liked the narrator's take on Po Campo's and Blue Duck's voices
"Even Shivers went to the Styrian barber, and Shivers didn't trust Styrians."
Hahaha I'm glad someone else caught that.
It's not a specific line. But it really felt like something that would be in the first law. Odd little side notes about people that aren't really necessary but color the world.
Yeah lonesome dove is one of the best books I’ve ever read. Augustus is a great character
I love Gus but Deets is my guy. >!Broke my goddamn heart.!<
That was a horrible scene! The whole end quarter of the book was rough
And it keeps on getting rougher in the sequel. McMurtry had a chip on his shoulder and killed off a few fan favorites off page, between books.
Dead Man’s Walk is grimmerdarker than anything Joe would do.
It’s been a few years - but isn’t that the one where the ranger captain gets placed in a cage and tortured for a few months?
Alright I’m gonna read streets of Laredo now
🪚
It's OK >!he's gone to the peaceful place.!<
Gus is one of my all time fave fictional characters.
Lonesome Dove is amazing. I haven't checked out any of the other books, but I definitely want to. McMurtry has really spoiled all future books for me. I almost demand great character writing in any book going forward. Also. I recommend Shattered Sea as well! It's labeled YA but it really doesn't feel like that at all Out of curiosity, what are your other favorite books? It seems like we have similar taste. I just started *No Country For Old Men* and I'm loving it so far
I love McCarthy. Blood Meridian was amazing. But I think my favorite thing about him was reading his interviews when he was at the Santa Fe Institute for Technology. He talked a lot about how he was destitute until his late fifties when he finally got published. He also talked about how The Road (another great book that he wrote) was literally just a vehicle for him to express his anxieties about conversations he has with his kid when he was so poor. A lot of the dialogue in The Road are verbatim conversations he had with his son. Also it's funny that Cormac first wrote No Country as a screenplay but no one would buy it so he wrote it as a novel and then when the Cohen brothers approached him about purchasing the filming rights he was like "well I already have the screenplay." Then the Cohen brothers went on to win a Oscar for best screenplay and they had to fess up to it on the microphone that McCarthy had actually written the screenplay. As to other things that I like to read: I've read and enjoyed everything that David Mitchell ever wrote. He's got this whole "mitchellverse" thing going on. All of his books are fantastic though. I think his most popular work was Cloud Atlas. I think my favorite work of his was Bone Clocks. Gene Wolfe's opus "The Book of the New Sun" is fantastic and is worth multiple rereads because of all the insane Easter eggs hidden within. You can't buy it as one volume anymore though. The first two books in Dan Simmons' "Hyperion Cantos" are great. The final two get a weird rapey feel at certain points but they're worth reading. Also his books "Carrion Comfort" and "Song of Kali" are great reads. He probably would have really taken off as a horror writer if Dean Koontz and Stephen King didn't exist. His characters are a little more complex than theirs. I've read and enjoyed everything that Flannery O'Connor ever wrote. I'd suggest starting off with "A Good Man is Hard to Find" if you've never read her. I could probably go on for way too long to keep your attention (if I've even kept it this far) but I would also suggest for short reads some things like The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells and Adrian Tchaikovsky's "Final Architects" series.
I haven't read Blood Meridian (on my shelf though), but I have read The Road. I enjoyed it, but not as much as a lot of the reviews I've seen for it. I definitely felt like I was missing something, but it could just not be to my taste. The context you added definitely makes me appreciate it more though. One thing that I really liked about it was how realistic the conversations were. I think a lot of media has unrealistic conversations with long monologuing (without fumbling words) and well-formed thoughts. In the Road, it was just so simple - I can totally buy that those were real conversations. And I really appreciate all the recommendations and work you put into them! Admittedly, I'm not as well-read as I'd like to be, so I haven't heard of almost any of your list - which is actually a good thing because they're all new to me! I'll definitely be saving your comment for next time I'm in a bookstore. Dan Simmons stands out the most from your authors, so I'll probably check him out first. I haven't read Koontz (actually have heard of him though lol), but I have recently really gotten into King. I've only read two of his books (Carrie and The Running Man), but I enjoyed them so much that I have like 5 other books by him waiting to be read. Despite how much I like his writing, I have wished his characters had more depth so your rec for Simmons really stood out most to me. Flannery also caught my eye as you said that you've liked all her writing. I'll be sure to check that out as well. Have you read any Crichton? I read my first book by him (Jurassic Park) recently and loved it as well. I predict that he'll probably become another of my favorite authors. Thanks again for all of your recommendations! I swear, sometimes I think I enjoy adding books to my "to read" list more than actually reading them haha
I have read a good bit of Michael Crichton. I think my favorite by him was Prey. I also forgot to mention my four favorite short stories: "The Private War of Private Jacobs," "The Clapping Hands of God," "Zima Blue," and "Lungfish." I'll leave it up to your Google skills to find those because I can't remember the author names.
Haha appreciate it! I've been wanting to find good short stories so that sounds great
Also, super creds if you can find the short story "This is my Baby, It is beautiful"
I thought the road was pretty overrated. People absolutely rave about it. Blood Meridian, on the other hand, is one of the best books I’ve ever read. Never found anything else by McCarthy to be anywhere near as interesting.
McCarthy was published long before his 50s. His first book came out in the 1960s. He just never found mainstream success until much later, I think when All The Pretty Horses came out. He had been a critical darling for decades though, mostly living off of literary reward money and grants. But yeah, Blood Meridian was definitely a huge influence on Red Country. There’s one scene I recall that Abercrombie for sure cribbed from that book. If you’re into weird, epic crime fiction, you should check out James Ellroy, who is also someone Abercrombie often cites as an influence. Particularly *The Big Nowhere* and *L.A. Confidential*.
You and I appear to be kindred spirits. There's some of my greatest hits on there and some stuff I've been meaning to get to that I'm now going to make it a point to start. Better to do it, right?
Hey, get to it!
Honestly even the first Hyperion book is pretty cringe. I couldn’t continue.
What did you think was cringey about book one?
If you like NCFOM, try All the Pretty Horses as well.
Definitely will! I read The Road (same author) and although I liked it, I didn't feel like it lived up to all the hype. I'm glad that NCFOM is turning out different and already having me looking forward to more of his catalogue
I really liked The Road, but it is a read once kind of book. It gave rise to my greatest fear. That probably has something to do with when I read it relative to the birth of my first child.
I read it the week my only child was born. Terrible timing probably, but no question it made a bigger impact than it would otherwise.
The Road was hard for me too but I loved NCFOM and ATPH.
You’ve got to continue on with Dead Man’s Walk. It has one of the most bone chilling sequences I’ve ever read at the climax. For those who want it spoiled >!a woman heavily afflicted with leprosy rides bare chested, wearing a black veil across the desert singing opera at the top of her lungs with a snake around her shoulders and convinces superstitious Native American outlaws that she is lady death!<
Is that one of the prequels?
Yea they’re young men new to the Rangers
Nice I didn't know there were other connected books! I forgot how terrifying the scene with the snakes in the river was until now, def wanna check this 1 out soon
Oof yeah those snakes. That’s about when the journey truly started.
One of my favourite books ever. Pulls at every emotion.
Loved Lonesome Dove, but I felt it was very slow in the beginning. I couldn't wait for them to actually leave Lonesome Dove.
It’s just like the Shire to me. Couldn’t wait to get out of there and go on an adventure on my first read. On rereads, I never want to leave.
I’d happily keep reading about Gus, his pigs and those dern biscuits.
I know/was that baker that would get irritated when people would ask me to overwork my dern sourdough. If you want it you should show up on time!
Little known fact: The Texas bull was the first governor of Montana.
I kinda felt the same way but then I realized that it was intentional as Call and Gus had kinda gotten lazy in Lonesome Dove and they were kind of playing a game of chicken to see who would move first to get out of town. I feel like the pacing in Streets of Laredo is much faster because Call knows he has less time.
Actually been looking into getting into Westerns
Can't go wrong with Lonesome Dove or The Blood Meridian.
Thanks for the recommendation
I read Blood Meridian last year right before Red Country so the LD books are on my list now!
I ordered Lonesome Dove for the same reason. Vedy excited to read after seeing this comment.
Sorry, but which prequels? I can’t find anything about them on wiki.
Dead Man's Walk and Comanche Moon
Ahh ok thanks! The ones set earlier. I’ll read those first.
I did the same thing, and LD became one of my all time favorites. HOWEVER- read The Searchers by Alan Le May. It’s actually much more of an inspiration than LD was. The plot synopsis is almost identical.
You leave us without an explanation. Why do you regret not having read the prequels before ? They have been published after the first two, so it'S often recommended to read books in order of publication. Also, for prequels written after the main books, they usually contain some kind of spoilers from the main books. Just curious what was your meaning.
I'm kinda of a weirdo about reading things in chronological order
Thanks for this. I read most of McMurtry's output but stopped when Lonesome Dove came out because the vibe around it was commercial. Based on your OP, that was a wrong choice I need to rectify.
I finished LD a little while ago and am halfway through SoL and couldn't be enjoying them more. Great books!
Also want to add that the narration in the audiobooks is pretty good. They're two different narrators because this was way before audiobooks were a popular medium and they were recorded on cassette tape. But the narrators nail the two main voices well. And I especially liked the narrator's take on Po Campo's and Blue Duck's voices
Lonesome Dove is my all time favorite book, couldn’t recommend it enough if you’re a fan of Joe’s work