Any Louis L'Amour fans around?

[Admiral Shran]

I've recently decided to pick up some Louis L'Amour novels and give them a go.

Does anybody around here consider themselves L'Amour fans? If so, what novels do you suggest I start with? Is there a generally accepted preferred reading order?

 

[Chaos Descending]

I was a Louis L'Amour fan when I was a teenager, but that was about 20 years ago.

The books that I remember liking the best were the Sackett series.

 

[Peak]

Not really. I don't know if we here in Sweden got the "good stuff", but most of the westerns released here when there was westerns released here (now everything except the romance novels are gone) was very formulaic.

My absolute favourite in the western genre is still Louis Masterson (there was a norweigan behind this pseudonym. Unfortunately, only about halv of the novels in the excellent Morgan Kane series have been released in English.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan_Kane

 

[Caliburn24]

Can't go wrong with Hondo. The Hopalong Cassidy books are good too, and of course the Sackett series, although some of those are better than others.

I haven't read any L'Amour stuff in years though, much like Stephen King or Tom Clancy it all starts to feel the same after reading a certain number of their books.

 

[gh4chiefs]

The books that I remember liking the best were the Sackett series.

I would echo this sentiment. I really loved all of his books that I read, but I can't say I disagree with those who said his writing could be formulaic. But then I'm not really as put off by that at some people.

Sometimes when reading his books, I felt like he drug the story out maybe a few chapters too long. Sometimes it's like ok, enough, get to point already.

But other than that, I loved his stories, and they probably fueled my great love for the Western genre that I still have today.

 

[Admiral Shran]

I've heard good things about Hondo and the Sackett series. I'll definitely be reading those.

However, I was thinking about starting with Westward the Tide because it was his first published book.

 

[Lonemagpie]

The only one of his I've read is The Haunted Mesa- a modern day SF/fantasy. It was bloody good.

 

[gh4chiefs]

I've heard good things about Hondo and the Sackett series.

If you want to get a feel for what the Sackett series is like, rent the Sacketts mini-series on DVD starring Tom Selleck and Sam Elliott. It's been awhile, but I remember them being fairly true to the books.

But even if you see the mini-series, the book is still a good read.

ETA: BTW, Hondo was actually based on a short story that he had written earlier. I believe it's entitled Cochise's Gift or something along those lines. I've seen the John Wayne movie and read the full length novel, but I don't think I've ever had the pleasure of reading the short story.

 

[Derishton]

The Sackett series is best read in publication order - some of them are among his best (Sackett, Ride the Dark Trail), but the ones set in the 16th century gain from being read afterwards - in the same order that L'Amour himself started building the whole Sackett/Chantry/Talon mythology (the last two are two families connected at various historical points with the Sacketts, as in Milo Talon and the Man From the Broken Hills).

I have a deep and abiding fondness for L'Amour, but he is intensely formulaic; what's interesting are those moments when he either breaks away, accidentally breaks away, or forces a plot into that formula.

 

[gh4chiefs]

Tell Sackett will probably always be my favorite literary character.

 

[MLJames]

I've recently decided to pick up some Louis L'Amour novels and give them a go.

Does anybody around here consider themselves L'Amour fans? If so, what novels do you suggest I start with? Is there a generally accepted preferred reading order?

Outside of the Sackett novels, most of his books are unrelated to each other and can be read in any order you wish. The only real exceptions to this are the three books he wrote about a gunfighter named Kilkenny. Those should be read in this order:

The Rider Of Lost Creek
The Mountain Valley War
Kilkenny

One of my favorite L'Amour books is Last Of The Breed: the Soviet Union kidnaps an American test pilot and get way more than they bargained for. It's one of three novels of his (that I know of) that are set in contemporary times; the other two are The Haunted Mesa and The Broken Gun. That last one was made into a comedy starring Bob Hope. If you missed the source note in the movie's credits, you'd never believe it was based on a L'Amour book!

 

[Admiral Shran]

Thanks for the responses.

Today I went out and bought quite a few of his books, since they're only between $5 and $8 a piece. I got....

Westward the Tide
The Riders of High Rock
Hondo
Sackett
The Broken Gun
Brionne
The Iron Marshall
The Haunted Mesa

Like I said, I think I'll start with Westward the Tide, since it was the first published. After that I'll try to read each one in publication order, as that's how I tend to prefer reading books in a series or by the same author.

I'll especially be sure to read the Sackett series in publication order. One thing I never understand about book series is when they are released in the order of their internal chronology. It so often ruins the flow of the narrative. It happened with the Chronicles of Narnia (which I read for the first time not to long ago, though thankfully I was smart enough to read them in publication order) and the Horatio Hornblower series (which I have, but haven't read yet).

 

[Lindley]

I remember liking his books at one point, but honestly I can't recall any details of them now.

 

[gh4chiefs]

BTW, Hondo was actually based on a short story that he had written earlier. I believe it's entitled Cochise's Gift or something along those lines. .

this thread suddenly reminded me that some time ago I had purchased the "Collected Short Stories of Louis L'Amour" for my Kindle, and I 'd never gotten around to reading them.

So I drug out the Kindle today, and the first story on there is The Gift of Cochise. So I was little off on the title but this is the basis for the full novel Hondo.

 

[Star Wolf]

I remember liking his books at one point, but honestly I can't recall any details of them now.

Same here. I say just read the back cover if the situation seems of interest to you go for it

 

[Kirby]

^^^ This.
I probably read 10 of his books throughout the years and while I can't remember much about them, but I did like them.