Mad Amos [Mass Market Paperback]

Alan Dean Foster (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 31, 1996

MOVE OVER, PAUL BUNYAN--MAKE WAY FOR MAD AMOS MALONE!

Strange things lurk up in the mountains and out in the plains and deserts of the West, but few are as unique as the giant mountain man named Amos Malone, the man some call Mad Amos, though not to his face. But when the world gets weird, there's no one who's better to have on your side...
Is a renegade dragon harassing the men laying the rails of the great railroad? Are headless Indian spirits driving you from your land? Is that volcano threatening to destroy your settlement? Then Mad Amos is the man for you.
Plus, two new, never-before-published stories in the Mad Amos canon:
NEITHER A BORROWER BE: When a horse thief sets his sights on stealing Amos' faithful mount Worthless, he gets more than he expects...for Worthless isn't exactly an ordinary horse...
THE PURL OF THE PACIFIC: Mad Amos takes to the high seas on a whale of an adventure and thwarts a vengeful South Pacific island shaman at his own game...
Ten delightful stories of dragons, jackalopes, snake-oil salesmen, iron horses, and, of course, the incomparable Mad Amos Malone from the incredible imagination of world-class storyteller and bestselling author Alan Dean Foster!

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

MOVE OVER, PAUL BUNYAN--MAKE WAY FOR MAD AMOS MALONE!

Strange things lurk up in the mountains and out in the plains and deserts of the West, but few are as unique as the giant mountain man named Amos Malone, the man some call Mad Amos, though not to his face. But when the world gets weird, there's no one who's better to have on your side...
Is a renegade dragon harassing the men laying the rails of the great railroad? Are headless Indian spirits driving you from your land? Is that volcano threatening to destroy your settlement? Then Mad Amos is the man for you.
Plus, two new, never-before-published stories in the Mad Amos canon:
NEITHER A BORROWER BE: When a horse thief sets his sights on stealing Amos' faithful mount Worthless, he gets more than he expects...for Worthless isn't exactly an ordinary horse...
THE PURL OF THE PACIFIC: Mad Amos takes to the high seas on a whale of an adventure and thwarts a vengeful South Pacific island shaman at his own game...
Ten delightful stories of dragons, jackalopes, snake-oil salesmen, iron horses, and, of course, the incomparable Mad Amos Malone from the incredible imagination of world-class storyteller and bestselling author Alan Dean Foster!

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 276 pages
• Publisher: Del Rey (January 31, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345393627
• ISBN-13: 978-0345393623
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,099,154 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Alan Dean Foster's work to date includes excursions into hard science-fiction, fantasy, horror, detective, western, historical, and contemporary fiction. He has also written numerous non-fiction articles on film, science, and scuba diving, as well as having produced the novel versions of many films, including such well-known productions as "Star Wars", the first three "Alien" films, "Alien Nation", and "The Chronicles of Riddick". Other works include scripts for talking records, radio, computer games, and the story for the first "Star Trek" movie. His novel "Shadowkeep" was the first ever book adapation of an original computer game. In addition to publication in English his work has been translated into more than fifty languages and has won awards in Spain and Russia. His novel "Cyber Way" won the Southwest Book Award for Fiction in 1990, the first work of science-fiction ever to do so.

Foster's sometimes humorous, occasionally poignant, but always entertaining short fiction has appeared in all the major SF magazines as well as in original anthologies and several "Best of the Year" compendiums. His published oeuvre includes more than 100 books.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book I ever stole..., November 19, 2001

By 

"michelf" (Orange, Ca USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mad Amos (Mass Market Paperback)

Well, the ONLY book I ever stole actually. As an extra on the a TV set that was supposed to be a Sci Fi convention I slipped this book into my backpack on camera to be funny... Amos ended up coming home with me. I loved reading this book. It's a collection of short stories revolving around Amos Mallone, whom some call mad. (He's not really mad. He just knows a lot that normal people don't, he seems, to them, to be so.) Amos is a Mountain Man in the days when such men were growing rare. Amos' ability to handle the other worldly problems with style and know-how over brute force and hocus-pocus makes this a great book for people who play the RPG "Deadlands". (The first story/chapter where Amos takes care of a problem much like "Portrait of a Hero" in "Once upon a Time : A Treasury of Modern Fairy Tales" is a good example of Amos' way of thinking and sets the tone for the rest of the book nicely.)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A literate's cross between Paul Bunyan and Pecos Bill, July 25, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (New Orleans, LA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mad Amos (Mass Market Paperback)

Move over, Paul Bunyan and Pecos Bill. Run away, all you thieves and demons. Mad Amos Malone's in town and he's not only tough, he's smart! The thinking man's hero, riding a cross-breed unicorn, will amuse and delight anyone with an imagination and a sense of humor. Mr. Foster is a great story-teller and an absolute craftsman of the English language. His ability to paint pictures with words, combined with a tongue-in-cheek view of the past and the present make this group of short stories a potential classic.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A unique and entertaining blend of western and fantasy, July 10, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Mad Amos (Mass Market Paperback)

Is a dragon robbing your stagecoaches? Are headless Indian ghosts driving you from your land? Is an evil spirit keeping you from some prime hunting ground? Then Amos Malone is the man for you. With his 50 caliber Sharps and his faithful horse, Worthless, he's there to confront any supernatural powers that stop the expantion of the Wild West. Even if you don't like westerns, this is still a well written (and funny) short story collection that most people will enjoy.