Customer Reviews

Come Sundown

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
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Blakely is more than an author. I couldn't put this book down. It has history that should be required reading for every high school student to learn about the western plains tribes and the Europeans moving in. Blakely weaves classical music through battles, philosophy from both the European and Indian cultures, descriptions of horses used for buffalo hunting and battle, warfare from the Comanche and white perspective with conversations from the leaders of both sides, nature studies in plants and geography. Where else would you find a protagonist that is ugly, short and plays a Stradivarius violin for pleasure. He speaks several languages and teaches his Cheyenne wife to read and write.

This is the second book in his trilogy and I can't wait for the third one. No other author can put so much literature in a book that is called a Western. This should rank with Mark Twain and other classic writers.

COME SUNDOWN by Mike Blakely is truly the finest novel of the old west in print today. This story combines real-life characters such as William Bent and Kit Carson with the fictional character "Plenty Man" in a way that is not just believable, but in fact is remarkable. Plenty Man is living the life of a trader to the Plains Indians, sharing the joys and sorrows of the Comanches who claim him as a brother. At the same time, Plenty Man continues his life long friendships with frontiersmen such as William Bent, Kit Carson, Lucien Maxwell, and John Prowers. Those who would become enemies of the Bent community thus become the enemy of Plenty Man. And those who are the enemy of the Comanche become the enemy of Plenty Man. These relationships will remind the reader of other great western partners like Gus and Call of Lonesome Dove. And the wilderness adventures of Come Sundown will remind the reader of the great Sackett novels. But the ability of Mike Blakely to weave buffalo hunts and prairie battles with the efforts of men trying to do "what is right" rises above all other old west fiction. Author Blakely is truly "Plenty Storyteller."

Very good read. Extremely well written in the way the author has tied history into his story line. Great use of the English language in his descriptions of events, thoughts and emotions. Not the run of the mill ole western.

Great novel! Please read Mike Blakley if you love westerns. This is one of those books that you can lose yourself in the characters. In this sequel to Moon Medicine, the story continues the frontier adventures of Honore Greenwood, renamed Plenty Man by his adopted Comanche tribe. It has historical characters adding to the flavor and story of Honore. Long story short - READ MIKE BLAKELY!

Come Sundown is the next novel by Mike Blakely about Honore Greenwood, Indian trader, soldier, scout, all around jack of trades. Unfortunately, even though this is a brand new book not much has changed about the likability factor of the main character since my last review.

Honore Greenwood is still a genius and he still doesn't mind telling you that again and again. It's really too bad because in Come Sundown the overall story is actually pretty good, looking at how Native Americans were treated. The writing, as usual, is both poetic and moving. It's a great book...but, man, do I ever hate Honore Greenwood. He really grates on the nerves.

There's just no way for an ordinary person to relate to this impossible character. Blakely tries, even showing an emotional loss in Greenwood's life. But it doesn't work. We don't feel his pain, nor do we believe it is genuine, because we know the character too well by now.

He isn't human. At no time does he ever come across as human so why should we believe otherwise when some tragedy happens in his life? From his bizarre sleeping patterns to his superhuman acts and incredible luck straight out of a Hollywood screenplay, it's all too much to swallow. It's not suspension of disbelief. I have no doubt whatsoever there are (and were) people exactly like this. But he isn't someone we can relate to because the way he thinks is so alien to anything else we know.

It really hurts the book. Even when Honore kills a white buffalo we don't share in what should be a time of incredible excitement and cultural power. That scene comes across as just another incredible incident in the incredible (and unbelievable) life of a western superman. Of course he would kill a white buffalo. Good heavens, he's Wild West Superman. I'd have been more surprised had he not killed the white buffalo. At least that would be something we could hang our hat on. As ordinary human beings we can relate to that.

I know that's not what Blakely is trying to do with these stories. I am certain he wants his character to be likable. But that's how it's coming across to me. It's not believable. Not because the story is incredible. Fiction is full of the incredible. But it's because this character is such a bizarre fellow.

Come Sundown sets up another book in the series. I have to admit I am no longer interested in reading these stories. Which is not to say I won't read it. I usually do out of inertia when I'm this far into a series. But it's not something I am inclined to do. Anyway, I want to make it clear I am not down on Mike Blakely. His writing is top-notch. He's a very good writer.

But Honore Greenwood? He can go back to Bizarro World where he belongs.

great follow up book to the first book in this trilogy.
i cant wait until the the third book is released.
"come sundown" picks up where moon medicine left off, it is a page turner. and mike blakely obviously know his business when it come to guns, horses, and the lives and times of the people he chronicles.
i think i have a new favorite western author. (sorry larry mc murtry)
i would reccomend blakely's books to anyone who is tired of the same old westerns where the main character is always some invincible superman of the old west with a winchester and a colt peacemaker that seem to have infinite ammo magazines, and couldnt be killed by a modern day tank brigade. blakely's characters, are real, gritty, and subject to the same fears and human shortcomings that plague all men.

In 1927 Honore Greenwood, born in France 99 years before, continues the story of his life. In Moon Medicine, Greenwood encountered both well-known whites (such as Kit Carson) and Comanche warriors, and helped build the post at Adobe Walls. Moon Medicine ended before the Civil War: Come Sundown concentrates primarily on the Civil War period. Blakely presents a fine and sympathetic view of the Comanche life, and Greenwood moves between the Comanche and the whites.

Much of the novel is about the Civil War in New Mexico and Texas. You get a lot of historical detail as Greenwood participates in the battles of Valverde and Glorieta Pass, where Sibley's invading force was finally turned back in its attempt to grad the Colorado goldfields (there's a great old book by Colton: The Civil War in the Western Territories if you want non-fiction). This is a somewhat darker story than Moon Medicine: the Comanche way of life is being encroached on more and more by the whites. The massacres of the Comanche at Pease River and the Cheyenne at Sand Creek are depressing (as was the massacre in Little Big Man). The ending seems to suggest that the third book in the trilogy (or quartet) may be less about the life of Native Americans and more about a "civilized" west. If so, it'll be sad: Blakely's portrayal of the Comanche and the Cheyenne is wonderfully done. This is a fine historical series!