Customer Reviews

The Fire Arrow: A Barnaby Skye Novel (Barnaby Skye Novels)

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

 

 

Richard S. Wheeler is probably one the best known Western authors working today. He's won five - count 'em, five - Spur Awards, and written a large quantity of novels. If you read in the genre today, chances are, you've read one of his.

FIRE ARROW is the 14th (I think) book in the Barnaby Skye series, detailing the life of the former British seaman turned mountain man. It's the second of these books I've read - the first one I read was THE DELIVERANCE - and by a country mile or so, the better of the two. More on that in a moment.

The story begins in mid-winter, when Skye's wife, a Crow Indian woman, is horribly wounded during a Blackfoot raid on their camp. Left to survive on their own, things look pretty bleak until an old mare and her foal wander in from the cold and give them a way out. Throughout the course of the novel - which covers their journey back to her people, a run-in with dishonest Yankee traders, and Skye having to leave his wife to find enough work to rebuild their few possessions to the point of survival - the horses come to have a special meaning.

Now, I've probably given short shift to the storyline - but the truth is that the story of this book is too wide to summarize very well in a short paragraph. Read the description on Amazon, then read the book and you'll see what I mean. And here's sort of the kicker: I don't like the main character very much at all. Maybe I'm not supposed to and perhaps one day we'll discuss that very idea on this blog. But... what I want to get at in this review - and what's important for readers to know - is what Richard Wheeler does as a writer in this book to make it a damn fine read. And that is the case regardless of whether or not I like Skye as a character and an accomplishment in its own right.

First and foremost, much like Ed Gorman's work, Wheeler does an extraordinary job of capturing the details of the West: the landscape, the people, the tools of the time... it's all here in marvelous detail. He doesn't mess it up and his descriptions often sing. Here's a bit, from page 69, as Skye and his wife work their way home: "... But now the drifts were building, and sometimes the crusts didn't hold them and they floundered waist-deep in snow. Ahead was open country, not a patch of trees, not a creek, not a sheltered hollow, not a stand of cottonwoods to feed the mare, no limbs to weave a hut, only a windy snow-covered land in which the wind had rippled the snow into ribs and ridges."

Damn, that's nice, folks. Great pacing and rhythm, the tone is spot-on.

Here's another, as a secondary character describes a rifle on page 122: "'A Model 1852 Sharps," Chambers said. "Fifty-two caliber. Anything hit with a ball that size stays down." He lifted the rifle off its rack and handed it to Skye. Everything was unfamiliar. It had a sliding breech action and used linen or paper cartridges...' The passage goes on, giving the details that make this weapon - which had a capper that rotates and holds ten - so unique for its day.

The entire novel is like this: little things and big things that Wheeler uses to describe the landscape and times his characters inhabit. Really extraordinary detail, in my opinion, and it is this attention to detail that makes the novel worth reading.

Now, I want to go back to the main character for a minute and explain my dislike. It has nothing to do with the writing - I need to be clear on that - and everything to do with the fact that Skye is kind of a vulgar man who likes his booze too much and thinks poorly of almost everyone else around him. He is not a nice guy, but I'm pretty sure he's not supposed to be. That said, he has his own code of honor that is understandable, if a bit disagreeable at times.

If I have any complaints about the writing in this novel, it's that I'm not always impressed with how Wheeler handles dialogue. And this complaint is limited as well, since sometimes the dialogue is quite good and at other times falls flat - perhaps because the characters themselves are so plainspoken, which is such a contrast to the beauty of the prose used to describe the settings.

All that being said, Wheeler has once again produced a very credible novel of the West that deserves attention. Even better news for those on a budget... it's also available in paperback, and you don't have to read the whole series to understand this one. If you like Wheeler's other books, don't skip this over this one. It's worth every penny - hardcover or paper.

Russell Davis
Westerns for Today

I love Richard Wheeler's series of Barnaby Skye and own them all! A great book for people who like to read Westerns!