Customer Reviews

The Ballad Of Billy Badass & the Rose of Turkestan

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4 star:		(2)
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2 star:		(1)
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Fortunate SF readers will have encountered William Sanders' earlier novels _Journey to Fusang_, a fine, funny-serious, alternate history about a North American colonized by the Chinese instead of the Europeans, and _The Wild Blue and the Grey_, another alternate history about Indians from an independent state as pilots in World War I. Even more fortunate folk may have encountered some of Sanders' other work, published in a variety of categories.

Sanders has recently returned to writing SF, mostly in shorter forms. He has published such excellent stories as "Elvis Bearpaw's Luck", "The Undiscovered" (which was nominated for both the Nebula and the Hugo), and "Jennifer, Just Before Midnight". He has also published a new SF/Fantasy novel, _The Ballad of Billy Badass and the Rose of Turkestan_. Even more recently he has published a fine mystery, _Smoke_, and an excellent science fiction novel, _J._ -- both are very well worth finding.

This is a very fine contemporary fantasy, with an exciting story in the forefront, as well an involving love story, plenty of humor, and even a message. The message doesn't get in the way of the story: instead, the story supports the message, and the message is a passionately presented and definitely worth hearing.

The title characters are Billy Badwater, a Cherokee and a Gulf War veteran, and Janna Turonova, a doctor from Kazakhstan. Janna is in the US partly to alert people to the terrible environmental damage done in Kazakhstan by Soviet nuclear testing and toxic waste. Billy meets her at a powwow, and they fall in love. Soon Billy finds himself chasing this woman across the western U. S., and on a reservation in Nevada he finds evidence that much as the Soviets used the Asian people's land as dumping grounds and testing grounds, the U. S. has used Native American land in the same way. The fantasy element arises from a monster that is called forth by the toxic waste in Nevada. Billy, aided by Janna and some other friends, especially his dead Grandfather, is pushed to use Indian magic in battle against the monster. The story is exciting and involving throughout, and the love story is convincing and sexy.

At this moment there is no rhyme or reason to American publishing, no way of telling where the good and vital books are going to be appear. In a way that's frustrating. In another it's exciting. It makes it possible to have the sense of discovery that you get picking up and reading something like THE BALLAD OF BILLY BADASS AND THE ROSE OF TURKESTAN. It's a thriller and a love story. It utilizes Indian lore and science fiction. Set on Southwestern Reservations and in the seedier side of Las Vegas, BALLAD gives a chilling glimpse into the third world country that exists inside this nation. It's cult success is just about guaranteed. It deserves much more than that.

Billy Badwater is one of the most appealing fictional characters I've ever met. In fact, all of the characters in THE BALLAD OF BILLY BADASS AND THE ROSE OF TURKESTAN are so fully realized that the book is replete with major characters and rich lives that continue well beyond the page. There are almost no minor characters because any character that comes under Sanders' skillful pen for a couple of sentences springs to life by such adept description and wise choice of detail as to defy understanding of quite how the hell Sanders manages to invest so much in each character time after time.

The book wove the seriousness of its subject matter brilliantly with generous, laugh-out-loud humor. Grandfather has to be the sweetest dead curmudgeon in all of literature. I'll never look at a crow again without wishing that Grandfather would suddenly say something insulting from the crow's beak and ride on my shoulder for a few sarcastic miles.

A wonderful romance takes place in the midst of intense action that keeps gathering momentum and doesn't let go of its grip on the reader as the story avalanches down an unearthly mountain of terror and something eerily vulnerable and wholly of this world while being altogether unworldly rises to battle the threat of chaos with the frailest and most potent of powers.

Best of all, even better than the fabulous characters, the heartwarming romance, a dead grandfather anyone would love to posthumously adopt, and a kickass plot, best of all is the overall sustained level of incredibly terrific writing. It would be a disservice to merely call William Sanders a great writer because he surely deserves the appellation of one of the world's greatest living writers. Grandfather, if looking over my shoulder, would dryly remark "One of the greatest, dead or alive, for that matter." And Grandfather knows his stuff.

No one writes about American Indians better than William Sanders--and that's because he is one, yes, yet it's also a credit to the power of his talent. Sanders proves that again with THE BALLAD OF BILLY BADASS AND THE ROSE OF TURKESTAN, a remarkable novel that effortlessly blends mystery, romance, humor, suspense and bone-chilling, supernatural horror.

Billy Badwater and Janna Turanova are the most unique and intriguing pair of lovers I've ever had the pleasure to spend time with. Life has been hard for both Billy and Janna; but no matter what life has been for any of the people in this story, all paths lead to the Nevada drylands, and the terror that has awakened there--and none who walk away will be untouched or unchanged, including those who read this novel.

Who are these people who must save the world, and therefore, save you and me? A Cherokee man of no ambition, recently discharged from the more shadowy regions of the U.S. Army, with a passion for big motorcycles and small, beautiful women; and a highly-educated, independent-minded, sweetly desperate woman already at war with the faceless governments who have poisoned the earth and victimized us all, regardless of where you live and who you believe you are.

Seamless prose, detailing so intricate it takes your breath away, and original, memorable characters are only some of the hallmarks of this wonderful book. I will especially never forget the craziest, zaniest, loveliest wedding; and THE best grandfather, either living or dead, whether a blue jay or a crow.

Let William Sanders take you on this extraordinary journey. He is a writer so gifted, wise, honest and brilliant it's a road you will always remember traveling.

Nasgi nusdi, as the Cherokee say: That's how it is.

This is an extraordinary book. That it had to be self-published is a crime against nature - which is perhaps fitting, as it is a powerful sermon on that subject, among others - but that should give its readers the satisfaction of knowing they have found a buried treasure.

William Sanders is a fantastic writer, and this is his finest work. Line after line, it is series of perfect observations; the whole is a seamless work of description and feeling - perfect gems on a flawless background of enamel, as engrossing and complete as a Faberge egg. The sheer craft of the writing is almost overwhelming in itself, the kind of writing that seems as effortless as breathing, because every word is so absolutely correct and necessary.

Added to the plot - both profoundly spiritual and a right rousing tale - and the glorious characterizations, this makes it the kind of story you hope to find and keep forever. It's deeply romantic, it's a grand hero tale, it's laugh-out-loud funny where it needs to be, and in the end it is heartbreaking in both its triumph and its tragedy.

You read this, and you'll wish you had saved it for an emergency day when you really needed to be inspired. You read this, and you'll know that you'll read it over and over. It's one of those books that becomes part of your soul and helps ensure that you have one. Thank you, thank you, Mr. Sanders.

At this moment there is no rhyme or reason to American publishing, no way of telling where the good and vital books are going to be appear. In a way that's frustrating. In another it's exciting. It makes it possible to have the sense of discovery that you get picking up and reading something like THE BALLAD OF BILLY BADASS AND THE ROSE OF TURKESTAN. It's a thriller and a love story. It utilizes Indian lore and science fiction. Set on Southwestern Reservations and in the seedier side of Las Vegas, BALLAD gives a chilling glimpse into the third world country that exists inside this nation. It's cult success is just about guaranteed. It deserves much more than that.

Billy Badwater is a man unformed. Not the "Badass" of his youth, but without a clue as to where to go from there. Janna Turanova has no doubts: Billy is the man she's going to fall in love with. An out-of-work, out-of-the-service Cherokee and a visitor from Kazakhstan with time running out. Couldn't be anything other than a crisis looking for an unstable area to happen.

Unfortunately for them, they are at ground zero for a disaster no one on Earth has even imagined, much less thought of a way to battle. This could be the last battle for everyone.

You've read plenty of scifi, fantasy, and horror, but you've never read anything that blends them as skillfully as BILLY BADASSS. I know you've never met up with an author who can do it better than Wiliam Sanders.

Sanders is a master at the practice of language. Try finding a single word that isn't essential. Don't bother; it's not there.

This is one time when there is just no substitute for experience. Sander's life has been a wealth of experience and every fibre goes into his prose. Trust him with your time and he'll take excellent care of you.

Trust him. And trust me.

This book is a joy to read. Two paragraphs in I was nodding appreciatively at Sander's spare, lucid prose; then the story began to move like a rollercoaster and I hung on for dear life. Action galore and no end of fun-- I particularly enjoyed the dead-on skewering of New Age pretensions (especially of white people who co-opt Native American religions) at a very, very ill-fated Meditation Center. There are also hilariously surreal moments; Billy's dead grandfather utilizing a motel room TV to speak to him comes to mind, as does the rather feckless Lovecraftian abomination out of space and time that is by no means the book's real villain. But if horror is your thing, you'll find it here too, drums and drums of it leaking toxic waste and radiation into a Nevada that might have been imagined by Dante. All this and true love too. This is a book worth waiting for (and one we had to wait outrageously long to get). If you appreciate superb prose, if you like your adventures two-fisted and your romance high, if you're interested in what Native American life is really like-- treat yourself to Billy Badass and the Rose of Turkestan.

Due to the vagaries of William Sanders's writing career, this one is coming out via a self-publishing house, which is nothing less than a crime. If you order it, it might take as long as a month to get your copy--and it will BE WORTH IT. I don't figure I need to say much about the book, because Poul Anderson and William Sanders and everyone else here is covering that. Buy a copy for yourself, and for your best friend, like I did. You will be happy you did.

A very unusual book. Very refreshing in these days to see minority charactere (in this case American Indians) portrayed not as politically correct stereotypes, but as individuals with good and bad qualities. For example, the character of the drunken reservation cop must have taken real guts to write, as it is sure to offend PC readers.

New Agers are even more certain to be outraged by the author's scathing (and hilarious) sendup. In fact there is something to annoy everyone - conservatives, liberals, Indians, whites, even Harley-Davidson riders. All in all it's easy to see why the author had to publish the book himself, as it is far too outrageous for the timid mediocrity-mongers of the American publishing industry.

Whatever it took, I'm glad it did get published. It gave me some great laughs. And the ending was one of the most amazing things I've ever read.