Scryer's Gulch: Magic in the Wild, Wild West - Episodes 1-10 Annabelle Arrives [Kindle Edition]

MeiLin Miranda (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

1875: The dawn of a magical new age of technology...no seriously, the technology's based on magic.

Wide-open, hard-scrabble mining town Scryer's Gulch is the greatest known deposit of hermetauxite, the ore that runs everything from clocks to trains to the new ethergraph system. But an unscrupulous spellcoder is poisoning the ore--twisting it for an unknown but undoubtedly evil purpose.

Beautiful magic wielder and secret Treasury Agent Annabelle Duniway and her captive demon servant Misi have come to the Gulch undercover--she as the new schoolteacher, he as her mean black cat. Their assignment: Find out who's corrupting the ore that increasingly runs the world, and why.

The first ten episodes of this fantasy western serial that's one part "Deadwood," one part "Wild, Wild West," one part "Dark Shadows" and altogether silly.

From the Back Cover

Treasury Agent Annabelle Duniway is on the trail of a brilliant, twisted spellcaster in a 19th century mining town full of demons, ghosts and werecritters in a weekly fantasy western series that updates Wednesdays on the web.

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 89 KB
• Print Length: 76 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1450570224
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Sans Culotte Press (February 2, 2010)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0036Z9WDW
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #315,926 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

MeiLin Miranda is a happily former radio/TV journalist with 30+ years of experience writing nonfiction. Death convinced her it was time to start writing fiction after a lifetime of yearning; she suffered a cardiac arrest in 2006 during a critical illness and was shocked back to life (and yes, she remembers being dead). She lives in Portland, OR with her husband, two children, two cats, a floppy dog and far, far too much yarn.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun!, October 22, 2010

By 

Justine di Giovanni - See all my reviews

This review is from: Scryer's Gulch: Magic in the Wild, Wild West - Episodes 1-10 Annabelle Arrives (Kindle Edition)

Scryer's Gulch is still an excellent romp through an alternate history version of the Wild West, tinged with magic, more than a hint of steam punk sensibility, and superb writing. The first chapbook here is a fantastic introduction to the story that reads quickly and captures the audience almost immediately. The occasionally present narrator is a hoot in and of himself, and the characters within the frame of the novel feel true-to-life even as they encounter impossible scenarios. Give it a try; you won't regret you did!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Gulch, July 26, 2011

By 

Mitzy G - See all my reviews

This review is from: Scryer's Gulch: Magic in the Wild Wild West Episodes 1-10: Annabelle Arrives (Paperback)

Scryer's Gulch is a western/fantasy/steampunk novel written and distributed by independent author, MeiLlin Miranda. I don't know if that is a genre she and/or I just made up or not. Knowing that there is currently a movie out called Cowboys and Aliens, I doubt it, but before Scryer's Gulch, I had never run across anything like it.
So far, I have only read the first installment of 10 "episodes" and so far there are no aliens, but there is plenty of magic, an enchanted cat/demon and a pretty unique plot device in the form of hermatauxtite.
There have been several good reviews of Scryer's Gulch already so I wanted to talk about what's wrong with the book(s). While I am finding them an enjoyable read, I also find them fairly slow. I believe they were initially serialized, with one episode at a time being published to MeiLin's website, which might account for the pacing of the story. While the ending of each chapter is not as torturous as, say, Dan Brown, it is slow going for my taste.
I am also finding the character development a bit spotty. While the main character, Annabell Duniway, is well drawn, if a bit cliché, the male characters all sort of run together in my mind. I also find the names of the male characters too much alike to assist in keeping them all straight. It doesn't help that there are so many men to so few women, but I guess that's probably true for the time period, also.
I did find the story entertaining and I imagine in the serialized form it flowed better. The magic is entertaining, even though, at this point, some of it seems a bit superfluous. The narrator in the future is intriguing, but it seems that could be a way to speed the plot up a bit.
All in all, I think it's worth a read, for the clever word play and uniqueness of plot, if nothing else. Also, check out Miranda's other work, as I find most of her writing quite good.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tainted Love?, September 23, 2010

By 

Pikachu42 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Scryer's Gulch: Magic in the Wild, Wild West - Episodes 1-10 Annabelle Arrives (Kindle Edition)

Who's tainting the ore in Scryer's Gulch? That's just what treasury agent Annabelle is sent to find out, and winds up knee deep in mystery and intrigue in this tiny western town. There are demons, ghosts, backstabbing and betrayal. It's the only soap opera that's been able to keep my attention. Buy This Book!