Customer Reviews

Devil's Tower

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As can be seen from the reviews below, this is a truly enjoyable book (as is the sequel, Devil's Engine). Pretty much everything -- characters, action, etc.-- works in the books (A smidge of explanation of why the dead rose at Shiloh, etc. would have pleased this reader but with magic sometimes there just is not an explanation.).

Thus the question: Why was the series not continued!?! It really started to take off in the sequel. And then, nothing. One can only hope that either the publisher will get smart and encourage Sumner to revisit his fantasy Wild West or another publisher will grab Sumner and get him working on another book in this series, if he does not already have one waiting.

In any case, if you are wondering whether to purchase the book or not, get it and the sequel. They deliver the entertaining read promised.

This is a great read!!!!! The combination of magic and the old West is simply fascinating, and I can't imagine it being done any better than what Sumner has created. He manages to weave the fantasy into the reality so seamlessly, you can actually imagine it happening. I love this book!!!!

I have to agree with other reviews of this book. Overall, it was a great read, lots of fun, lots of tension, lots of action. The protagonist, Jake Bird, is strong and sympathetic, and you really pull for him, much as you do for Stephen King's young Roland in the Dark Tower series. The only thing that keeps me from giving Devil's Tower five stars is that I didn't find the final "showdown" to be as climactic and exciting as I thought it should have been--when compared with earlier high points. The result of the battle felt inevitable, and some of the tension went out of the story there. I must say that the tone created by the imagery Sumner uses for the water shape shifter has left an indelible mark in my memory. Sumner is an impeccable writer, and I intend to buy the sequel ASAP.

This book grabbed me from the first line and didn't let go. Not only was it a very different take on magic in the fantasy genre, but it was hands-down one of the best fantasies I've read. I highly recommend it to everyone, and the sequel: Devil's Engine is awesome as well. I only wish the author had written more in this world.

There is a wild, wild west that never was, where enchantment is alive and the Devil's not too far to beckon. DEVIL'S TOWER, by Mark Sumner, is an alternate historical tale, the timeline shift occuring at Shiloh during the Civil War, when the dead stood up. Since then, people have been discovering magical talents within themselves, thus altering the geopolitics of the frontier. Suddenly the position of Sheriff has taken on a whole new role as he now becomes not only the enforcer of the law but also the last stand against the world's newly awakened unnatural forces. So now whosoever is Sheriff had better be armed with an ample share of mystical wherewithal.

A decade has elapsed since the battle at Shiloh. 17-year-old Jake Bird has fled his hometown of Calio, following the death of his father, that town's Sheriff, who was challenged and killed by General George Armstrong Custer, an ambitious and powerful sorcerer. Now the unassuming Jake is eking out a living as a stable hand at tiny Medicine Rock, somewhere in the Wyoming Territory. But Medicine Rock's Sheriff Privy senses something special about Jake and deputizes him, even though Jake is unawares of his talent or if he has any, to begin with.

In these new and weird times, you don't get to be Sheriff by holding elections. You become one by engaging and defeating the current Sheriff in a magical duel. Wielders of the craft, mighty and low, challenge Sheriffs all the time. Jake isn't granted the chance to grow into his new deputy status as circumstances brought about by the arrival of Quantrill, a particularly nasty challenger to Sheriff Privy, forces Jake to once again flee. But Jake Bird, he has to face his past sometime.

DEVIL'S TOWER is a brooding coming-of-age adventure which straddles the line between dark fantasy and gothic western horror. In trying to describe this book, I guess it's inevitable that a mention is made of Orson Scott Card's wonderfully evocative Alvin Maker series. There is a striking resemblance, with both series using the old West as a backdrop and the marrying of folklore magic and legends and the incorporation of altered historical figures. Sumner's two books are perhaps more visceral and more gritty. And Jake Bird's universe doesn't resonate quite as stunningly as Alvin Smith's. No knock on Sumner, as few can write as well as Orson Scott Card. As it is, DEVIL'S TOWER, in its own right, is a work of grimly inventive imaginings and it makes a hell of a riveting read. And, since I'm bringing up comparative works, there's also in these pages a whiff of Tim Powers's fevered, atmospheric exuberance.

Sumner peoples DEVIL'S TOWER with a dizzying cast of shapechangers, scribblers, casters, signers, chatterers, predatory demons, and the more normal characters in the Old West. Jake Bird is an engaging protagonist whose growth as a character is marked by his survival of dangerous adventures and the acceptance of his own talents. He meets friends on the way, from the wanderer Bred Smith to the water witch Hatty Ash. But Jake's most staunch friend may well be the fierce but ordinary Mexican girl, Josephina. I honestly don't know why Mark Sumner hasn't written more stuff; he's certainly very capable. His writing here conjures up vivid images and nightmarish sequences as Jake Bird and company are beset with non-stop run-ins with unearthly bastards and beasties. As Jake takes on the vicious Quantrill, whose spilled blood can transform into demons, then finally the megalomanical General Custer himself, we're treated to some sweeeeet gun-and-sorcery action!

It looked for a while, with DEVIL'S TOWER and its sequel Devil's Engine, released respectively in 1996 and 1997, as if Mark Sumner was setting himself up as the next name brand fantasy writer. He also had been churning out two other series, NEWS FROM THE EDGE and the young adult EXTREME ZONE books. But then he disappeared from the genre, and I haven't heard from him in the past decade. I'm not sure what happened, but here's hoping he comes out of the woodwork soon. Two adventures about Jake Bird aren't nearly enough.

I am usually not a fantasy book reader, let alone a reader of fiction. However, "The Devil's Tower" is a definite exception! The concept alone of people all over the US gaining magical powers after "Bloody Shiloh" is an original and entertaining premis.
Add to that a well written and ricly detailed story about townfolk trying to deal with villians such as Custer and Quantrill as they rampage through the west, and you have a book that is a great read.
I recommend Mr. Sumner's book for historians who like to read about alternate history and for fantasy/magic readers who might enjoy historical figures appearing in their literature.

Buy it. Read it. Enjoy it. Gritty action and magic that fits well with the western setting. An exceptional book. Anyone that ever loved a western or a fantasy novel will find something to like.

The perfect escape for someone that's read too many fantasy novels filled with the same old quests and creatures. Mixes alternate history and historical characters with terrific, outlandish, wildly inventive plots. A story as big as the west!

This book was a page turner for me. Being a fan of westerns like "Hang 'em High" & "For a Few Dollars more", it had that gritty feeling . I really enjoyed his alternative look at the west and await his next book.. I only wish there were more books of this type today

I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked up this book. I've read alternate history before in books like GUNS OF THE SOUTH, but this book is really something different. Instead of just nudging something in time, DEVIL'S TOWER adds a streak of fantasy to post-Civil War America. It's colorful, original, and just plain fun. Highly recommended!