Customer Reviews

The Old Gods Waken

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

 

 

This is the first of Wellman's Silver John books. These books capture southern folklore in rich detail. Wellman's love of history , geography , and lore are woven into a chilling tale of a neighborly dispute gone chillingly wry.

This is the first novel-length adventure of Manly Wade Wellman's Appalachian bard/hero, John (no last name), sometimes called "Silver John" or "John the Balladeer." Wellman, a writer from the early days of the pulp period, favored heroic adventurers whose understanding of the power of goodness ultimately triumphs over the inferiority of evil.

John is a footloose musician who wanders Appalachia, playing and collecting the "old-timey" songs he plays on his silver-stringed guitar. Hosted by good men with an ear for music, John stops at a farm whose neighbors have begun a strange blood feud. Stubborn courage alone cannot save the farmer and his family from an evil rooted in Appalachian folklore; they need the true spirit and hard-won wisdom of John.

Wellman had an amazing ability to convey local dialect effectively in print, and a real feel for the landscape in which he sets the action. If you like this story, check out short-story collections of the same character, "Who Fears the Devil" or "Owls Hoot in the Daytime."

Anything by Manly Wade Wellman is worth reading, but his Silver John series is by far his best writing. It's funny, sad, scary, exciting and philosophical at the same time. It's obvious that Wellman spent time in the mountains of Appalachia, and knows the people there. This is well worth reading over and over.

Oh, I read everything while in bed, to knit up the raveled sleeve of care. I ask only for a large font if available, a paperback edition (hardbacks are clumsy bed partners), and a good story well told. Wellman always has a good story, and tells it well. Typically the location is rural South Carolina, with the hillfolk and their beliefs and ballads. The reader is lulled in the beginning with a peaceful setting, but an unexplainable happening intrudes, followed by others, and soon the plot is deep in demonology.
A superb story teller, Wellman has a large vocabulary coupled with an ability to use it.

We have a book club hardbound edition of this book. My fiancee tried to read it but only got 16 pages in. The reason is that starting at page 1, and on almost every page thereafter, the word "air" appears in the most unlikely places and makes no sense at all. She had me try to decipher it. The best I can figure is that "air" is printed every time the author means "any". You would think it wouldn't be that big a deal, but it happened so often that the book was complete gibberish and unenjoyable to decipher.

I give this 2 stars instead of 1 because it actually looks like an interesting book. I hope that other printings don't have the same error.