Friday, July 19, 2013

2013 read #94: Six-Gun Snow White by Catherynne M. Valente.

Six-Gun Snow White by Catherynne M. Valente
167 pages
Published 2013
Read from July 18 to July 19
Rating: ★★★★½ out of 5

I am all about this sort of thing; the title alone is enough to tell you why. Fantasy western is hands-down my favorite genre, and fairy tale retellings -- done well and with attention to new detail -- are a reliable font of good times. The only way I would have liked this book any better is if it were longer, more fleshed out, though honestly much of its impact draws from its clipped prose, hard as coffin nails, and any sort of lingering indulgence or excess would probably soften and ruin that.

A minor technical quibble: I have a bit of a pet peeve about books that begin in, say, first person and then shift for no discernible reason into third. Aside from that, I was tempted to give this book an unheard-of perfect score. Not bad for a book I didn't even know existed before I spied it on the shelf the other day.

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