I took a little time with this one. I picked it up and started reading, but after the first session it took me awhile to really get in the mood to continue. I don’t think I fault the book for that, it just took a bit to get going, and I had some other things I wanted to do in the meantime regarding the world of job hunting. Once I got back in to it though, I was able to marathon straight to the finish line from there.
Now I like westerns on screen, but I’ve never really read a western book before. Of course, I still haven’t technically, since there’s a lot in this book that doesn’t fit in the western genre. Still though, there’s a lot of it that does, and I’d almost say there is more western in it than anything else. Apparently this isn’t enough though, since a central story element is fantasy, so that’s the section the stores and libraries place this book.
Story
The story in the book is slow to start, and many might find the ending somewhat anti-climactic. The story basically revolves around two fictional characters, who find themselves in the crossfire between two very non-fictional groups in history, the Earps and the Cow-boys. The setting is familiar to most who know that time in history as well, as the book takes place entirely within the frontier town of Tombstone.
The key point is to remember that this is Jesse Fox and Mildred Benjamin’s story, it is not a retelling of the Tombstone incidents and the OK Corral gunfight. The book doesn’t rewrite or retell history, and since a lot of the other characters are real people whose fate and actions are all known to history, obviously the author couldn’t just kill people who didn’t die then or rewrite history in other ways. Adding the fantasy and the fictional characters required some liberty be taken with history, but I’d say Emma Bull played within the confines of what is known about the time and people quite well. Since records are scarce and controversy surrounds the people and the events at Tombstone, it did give the author some room to move; at least more so than concrete records would have offered had they existed.
This story really separates itself in to three parts, but all three parts are actually interwoven quite effectively. I’ve posted about other books in the past that seem to have different parts to the story, and often those parts feel rather isolated from each other, “Green” being one of the major examples. In “Territory”, you get the primary story revolving around the fantasy, then you get a romance as well, and there are the western elements that are obviously present due to the setting and characters. While each of these elements is something of a subplot, they’re all meshed together quite effectively, so that one really wouldn’t exist without the other. Elements of each fuse with elements of the others to the point that the end result is a richly woven web of events that flows quite naturally.
The detail is quite rich in the storytelling as well, which is managed without really feeling overboard. You really get a sense of the town, and the people, and the events that take place while reading the book. The author doesn’t go overboard though, as some like Charles de Lint or David Guterson have a tendency to do. The picture is painted, the events transpire, and the reader is given plenty to go on without reaching the point it’s just too much. That’s not to say that authors who paint very detailed pictures with their words is a bad thing, but sometimes I don’t need a full paragraph explaining how a puddle looks on the ground. “Territory” certainly isn’t devoid of this kind of detail, it’s just not overused like it is in some books. I’ve mentioned this type of thing in past posts about other books, but I think so far Emma Bull is one of the most balanced between depth and detail that I’ve read.
While I definitely enjoyed the book, this is another where I’d say those look for a lot of action and a quicker pace will certainly be disappointed. The books pacing wasn’t the greatest to start, and it kind of felt like it was spinning its wheel for the first 60 pages or so. It picked up well after that, but it never really hits a quick pace that’d satisfy those who really need major action to enjoy a book. The story flows well though, and the characters and the events are engaging enough to keep most readers interested. As I said, there are three major parts of the story playing off each other, so there’s always plenty going on, it’s just not the kind full of gun smoke, lead and blood.
Some negative reviews I’ve read also whine about the way the book ends, and how so much is left unresolved, and how it needs a sequel. The book doesn’t need a sequel since, as I mentioned above, history itself is the sequel. These are events in Tombstone shortly before the gunfight at the OK Corral, the murder of Morgan Earp, and the Earp vendetta ride. It’s basically a story telling of two people who are caught up in events leading up to those confrontations, with some fantasy thrown in to make it interesting. I can not reiterate enough that a familiarity with the events that made Tombstone famous would be very important in the enjoyment of this book and how it ends. Without keeping that in mind, then yes, the ending would likely fail to satisfy. Although, a little more clarity about the lives of the protagonists would have been nice, I think the implications were clear enough, even if they left some room for interpretation.
Characters
The first protagonist is Mildred Benjamin, a young widow who works at the office of The Nugget, one of the towns two newspapers. Interestingly, The Nugget is often known as the newspaper that was critical of the Earps, while the Epitaph was generally considered pro-Earp in those days. She’s a pretty typical young woman trying to get by in a town and world that isn’t exactly friendly to women, particularly those who are unattached. She’s definitely intelligent and strong willed, and aspires to be more than she is, but there’s some inner conflicts within that she has to get past. She is wise, smart, ambitious and level-headed, and is a very likable character.
The other protagonist is Jesse Fox, a young horse trainer who finds his way to town, and ends up in rather deep before he even knows what it is he’s in. He has a very strong resolve and is a very brave soul, but he also has some internal struggles that get in his way; far more than Mildred Benjamin does. He is also a quite likable character though, and I pretty much enjoyed his segments as much as Mrs.Benjamin’s. It’s not common that I find two primary characters as enjoyable as this. I think part of what made them such good characters is that the author didn’t try to over complicate things with too much emotion or tragedy or other literary elements that tend to get overused in fiction. They’re just people who’ve faced good and bad, have demons like the rest of us, and find themselves in midst of something they need to deal with. They’re down to earth for two western characters, and I liked that.
Another major character in the book is Doc Holliday himself, who takes over the narrative quite a bit, though the focus tossed his way is less significant than for Jesse and Mildred, but he still gets a decent amount of attention. His character is as witty and intelligent as you’d expect, though not quite as eccentric and prone to violence as portrayed in films like “Tombstone”. Another character of significance is Chow Lung, who is a mentor and friend to Jesse, although their relationship is what one would consider love/hate.
The other characters of importance are those known from history. You’ve got Wyatt, Morgan, Virgil and James Earp; although James doesn’t actually appear that I recall. Their wives also play a significant role, and I might say they get almost as much page time, or more, than the male Earps themselves. Johnny Ringo and Curly Bill Brocius also make an appearance, as well as Ike Clanton and Tom and Frank McLaury. The author doesn’t go to any great lengths to paint anyone in a particularly bad light, save for maybe Wyatt a bit as the synopsis of the book clearly indicates. The ending of the book provides some revelations that eventually lead in to the events that went down in history, but for most of the book the characters are much more subdued than the film world generally portrays them.
Writing
As I’ve mentioned before, Emma Bull does an amazing job at balancing detail, depth and pacing. Some authors work well with a lot of detail and depth, like Susanna Clarke in “Jonathan Strange & Mr.Norrell”, which wouldn’t have been quite as good without it. A lot of the time though, many authors simply go overboard with a lot of meaningless fluff that can paint a vivid scene, but often is layered on so thick the pace suffers. Emma Bull doesn’t fall in to that trap though, and it’s one of the more balanced stories in this regard that I’ve read.
She also pays a good deal of attention to history. Even though there’s a lot of fantasy and fiction in this book, and even what we know of the time and these events is questionable, but yet she still obviously did a great deal of homework to bring Tombstone to life with an authentic feel to it. It shows quite a bit of devotion on the authors part to try so hard to keep as true to what is known of the setting, particularly when there is no definitive version out there, and a lot of contradiction between what one historian would say as opposed to another. It helps that the book takes place in the time before the famed O.K. Corral shootout, and that major event isn’t actually portrayed in these pages. Still though, she had to get the life and the town correct, as well as who was where and what events did take place in those times. I’m definitely impressed by Emma Bulls devotion to the book and that which inspired it.
Illustrations
As is typical, there is only one illustration to speak of for this book. I had really hoped there’d be a town map or something in the book, but unfortunately no such thing was included in the pages. That’s not a big deal though, since there’s no small number of sites and sources out there that one can find such a map. I’d simply have liked one to reference at my fingertips, but it’s not really a necessity or anything I’d mark the book down for. A good author doesn’t need to add in such visuals even if they can be useful, and Emma Bull is certainly a good author.
The cover is an interesting and engaging fantasy piece that is somewhat in the vein of what I’d expect on a Charles de Lint book. It’s a horse that’s sort of melded with a tree, with a candle burning in the foreground. It’s nothing particularly amazing, but it definitely gives you the impression of the fantasy and western genres present at first glance. The style of the art and the strangely eerie sense of fantasy it depicts is very reminiscent of a lot of Charles de Lints book covers, though his usually focus on people rather than an animal. The depiction of nature though, often a tree like in this case, is similarly present and dominant though. As I mentioned, even the style the art itself is done in is reminiscent of those covers. I’m really not certain if the artist is the same, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised.
Closing Comments
I would definitely recommend this book to pretty much anyone. There are some I might not recommend it to so willingly, as some people don’t appreciate books with a slower pace and only small doses of action. All in all though, it’s a worthy read for anyone else who likes historical fiction with fantasy thrown in, particularly if they have a fondness for westerns or an interest in the events that took place at Tombstone. Although, if one was a big Earp or Tombstone fan, I would caution that it doesn’t necessarily paint the Earps in a glowing light, though the synopsis on the back or dust jacket (or on a sellers site) should make that clear before even page one.
Definitely a recommended read though. I wouldn’t say it’s flawless, but it’s certainly closer than many other books I’ve read. If it had one major flaw, I would argue that the audience for the book might be considered somewhat niche. Fantasy fans don’t generally care for westerns, and vice-versa. For those who are willing to look past generalizations of a genre, and don’t care if a book might be a bit slow paced, then I would recommend this one without a second thought.
© 2010, Keonyn. All rights reserved.
