Another steam-punk wild west adventure with a few quasi-historical characters, much like the first in this series. I found it an enjoyable, light read. ( )

A dying Doc Holiday is again dragged into a fight between the powerful magic of the plains indians and the US. Billy the Kid is being used by Cooked Nose to stop Geronimo.

A fun read. ( )

This was a quick and easy read.
I really loved the old Wild Wild West show and this really reminded me of that show.
The main Characters are ones that most people have at least heard about and know a little about. Doc Holiday, Thomas Edison etc and were depicted in such a way that you can hear Doc's southern Drawl.

I'm looking forward to reading the Buntline Special which was the 1st Weird West Tale. ( )

alternate history western. Doc Holiday and Billie the Kid. ( )

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)

Although it's the second book in the series, this is my first experience with Mike Resnick's "Weird West" novels, in which the tropes of steampunk are exported to the cowboys and saloons of the American frontier; and I have to say, for being a deliberate B-level quickie genre tale, this was much better than the usual kind of books on this level I receive, and I find it no surprise now that Resnick will be the main Guest Of Honor at this coming summer's Worldcon in Chicago. (CCLaP will be there! Will you?) The story of a fictitious showdown between the real Doc Holliday and Billy the Kid, in a slightly fantastical America where Native Americans like Geronimo can perform literal magic, and Thomas Edison has been hired by the government to combat them using futuristic electrical devices, Resnick takes great joy in the genre practice of piling together famous coincidences, gleefully dropping a touring Oscar Wilde into a random scene and an indignant Susan B. Anthony in another, while using the famed tight-lipped wit of the real Holliday to great effect within a fast-paced, action-oriented storyline; and for steampunk fans craving gadgets, this book won't let you down either, an admittedly pretty silly story but that delivers in spades all the things we fanboys are looking for. It's no mindblower, but is at least a solidly crafted and always delightful Western take on a genre so usually steeped in the trappings of big cities like London or New York, and it comes strongly recommended specifically to all my fellow steampunk fans.

Out of 10: 8.5, or 9.0 for steampunk fans ( )