The Wild West – Novels and Authors
Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 2:34 pm
Friends,
There are quite a few IFG’ians who are interested in what are popularly known as Westerns. These were top-selling genres of fiction based around the exciting period of the population of North America. Cowboys and Indians, gunslingers, gamblers, outlaws, vaqueros, buffalo hunters, mule skinners, farmers, cattlemen, miners, stage coach drivers, all of them - chasing a dream of a free land! They were rough and ready, lawless times when often Judge Colt ruled in the makeshift courts.
Westerns are tales of the peoples and pioneers of several dozen nations who built what is now the USA and Canada. As a child I was brought up on a steady diet of such heroes as Sudden, the Sackett clan, Chick Bowdrie, The Lone Ranger etc. Amongst my favorites were authors - Oliver Strange, Louis L’amour, Max Brand, Luke Short, Zane Grey, J. T. Edson, Will Henry and Ernest Haycox.
Here is some information on SUDDEN by Oliver Strange and Frederick H. Christian
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudden
James Green aka Sudden is a fictional character created by the author Oliver Strange and after his death carried on by Frederick H. Christian. The books are centered around a gunfighter in the American Wild West era, who is in search of two men who cheated his foster father. Jim the young man promises his dying father that he will find the two and take revenge. He gives the name James Green to himself (his real first name, we find out in Law o' the Lariat, is Donald) and in time gets accused of a robbery himself and becomes an outlaw.
The series details the adventures of a gunfighter who earns the nickname "Sudden" because of his lightning speed with a gun. Sudden is also characterized as an intelligent man who is respectful of the law, unwilling to use a gun unless absolutely necessary, humanitarian, brave, and strong. On his way he also gets pardoned by the Governor of Arizona and becomes the Governor's Secret Agent.
The books were first published around the late 1920s and the early 1930s. They featured vivid descriptions of the western American landscape, rare in an author at that time.
The series features conventional and repetitive storylines; a story typically revolves around Sudden arriving in a town that either has several unlawful elements or has a troubled clime. Sudden earns the respect of the townspeople, fights against all odds, defeats the oppressors, and protects the wronged and then rides out into the sunset. A characteristic feature is a boxing fight, in which the cowboy fights against an adversary without using any arms, and emerges victorious amidst narrations about typical cattle raids on ranches, brand swapping on the cows, bush-whacking and a shady bar cum saloon where all the townsfolk gather. In addition, several gun fights where Sudden's lightning speed with a gun is described. Further, in all the novels, Sudden befriends a young man who is not as capable as himself; this young friend then through the course of the narrative inevitably wins the hand of the girl he loves, except in The Range Robbers where Sudden is the one who gets 'tied up'. The recurring motif is that of Sudden succeeding in uniting the lovers, resolving all conflicts, and then riding away to other towns to search for two outlaws against whom he had sworn revenge for an earlier crime. In The Range Robbers, he meets the two outlaws as well as his future wife.
Despite belonging to the potboiler league with conventional and predictable storylines and almost obvious plots, the novels are notable for the sharp cutting dialogues, one-liners, dry and laconic wit, fast pace, language style, and description. Further, they provide a reasonable description of the Wild West style-the living styles, the speech mannerisms, and customs.
Some dialogues of Sudden from his books are:
Sudden Rides Again: Where four rogues block the way of a girl in a saloon and Sudden says, "Go ahead, ma'am; if anyone gets in yore way yu'll only have to step over him."
In another book to a question as to what his business is, Sudden replies "well it ain't advertisin".
Absolutely great set of novels and with each one of them out of print, those that have them and love Westerns have a treasure.
Some readers have found that Frederick Christian not only copied two novels with almost similar story line, in fact he botched up Sudden Strikes back, where a bully tries to ride Sudden's horse and gets thrown down. The name of the girl who watches is shown as 'Noreen'. A similar situation is shown happening in the novel The Range Robbers. In the same way, Sudden at Bay has strong resemblance to 'Sudden'. In Dead or Alive, Frederick makes Sudden a widower - the references to Noreen clearly suggest her demise. Frederick Christian also created another character called Angel and repeated a few of the storylines like Sudden At Bay in the name of Angel.
Oliver Strange wrote 10 Sudden books -
Sudden—Outlawed (1935)
Sudden (1933)
Sudden—Gold Seeker (1937)
Sudden Rides Again (1938)
Sudden Makes War (1942)
Sudden Takes the Trail (1940)
Sudden Plays a Hand (1950)
The Marshal of Lawless (1933)
The Range Robbers (1930)
The Law o' the Lariat (1931)
Frederick H. Christian wrote 5 Sudden books -
Sudden Strikes Back (1966)
Sudden—Troubleshooter (1967)
Sudden at Bay (1968)
Sudden—Apache Fighter (1969)
Sudden—Dead or Alive! (1970)
Related Links:
About F.H. Christian and how he revived the series after Oliver Strange http://www.fredericknolan.com/Getting_it_together.html
There are quite a few IFG’ians who are interested in what are popularly known as Westerns. These were top-selling genres of fiction based around the exciting period of the population of North America. Cowboys and Indians, gunslingers, gamblers, outlaws, vaqueros, buffalo hunters, mule skinners, farmers, cattlemen, miners, stage coach drivers, all of them - chasing a dream of a free land! They were rough and ready, lawless times when often Judge Colt ruled in the makeshift courts.
Westerns are tales of the peoples and pioneers of several dozen nations who built what is now the USA and Canada. As a child I was brought up on a steady diet of such heroes as Sudden, the Sackett clan, Chick Bowdrie, The Lone Ranger etc. Amongst my favorites were authors - Oliver Strange, Louis L’amour, Max Brand, Luke Short, Zane Grey, J. T. Edson, Will Henry and Ernest Haycox.
Here is some information on SUDDEN by Oliver Strange and Frederick H. Christian
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudden
James Green aka Sudden is a fictional character created by the author Oliver Strange and after his death carried on by Frederick H. Christian. The books are centered around a gunfighter in the American Wild West era, who is in search of two men who cheated his foster father. Jim the young man promises his dying father that he will find the two and take revenge. He gives the name James Green to himself (his real first name, we find out in Law o' the Lariat, is Donald) and in time gets accused of a robbery himself and becomes an outlaw.
The series details the adventures of a gunfighter who earns the nickname "Sudden" because of his lightning speed with a gun. Sudden is also characterized as an intelligent man who is respectful of the law, unwilling to use a gun unless absolutely necessary, humanitarian, brave, and strong. On his way he also gets pardoned by the Governor of Arizona and becomes the Governor's Secret Agent.
The books were first published around the late 1920s and the early 1930s. They featured vivid descriptions of the western American landscape, rare in an author at that time.
The series features conventional and repetitive storylines; a story typically revolves around Sudden arriving in a town that either has several unlawful elements or has a troubled clime. Sudden earns the respect of the townspeople, fights against all odds, defeats the oppressors, and protects the wronged and then rides out into the sunset. A characteristic feature is a boxing fight, in which the cowboy fights against an adversary without using any arms, and emerges victorious amidst narrations about typical cattle raids on ranches, brand swapping on the cows, bush-whacking and a shady bar cum saloon where all the townsfolk gather. In addition, several gun fights where Sudden's lightning speed with a gun is described. Further, in all the novels, Sudden befriends a young man who is not as capable as himself; this young friend then through the course of the narrative inevitably wins the hand of the girl he loves, except in The Range Robbers where Sudden is the one who gets 'tied up'. The recurring motif is that of Sudden succeeding in uniting the lovers, resolving all conflicts, and then riding away to other towns to search for two outlaws against whom he had sworn revenge for an earlier crime. In The Range Robbers, he meets the two outlaws as well as his future wife.
Despite belonging to the potboiler league with conventional and predictable storylines and almost obvious plots, the novels are notable for the sharp cutting dialogues, one-liners, dry and laconic wit, fast pace, language style, and description. Further, they provide a reasonable description of the Wild West style-the living styles, the speech mannerisms, and customs.
Some dialogues of Sudden from his books are:
Sudden Rides Again: Where four rogues block the way of a girl in a saloon and Sudden says, "Go ahead, ma'am; if anyone gets in yore way yu'll only have to step over him."
In another book to a question as to what his business is, Sudden replies "well it ain't advertisin".
Absolutely great set of novels and with each one of them out of print, those that have them and love Westerns have a treasure.
Some readers have found that Frederick Christian not only copied two novels with almost similar story line, in fact he botched up Sudden Strikes back, where a bully tries to ride Sudden's horse and gets thrown down. The name of the girl who watches is shown as 'Noreen'. A similar situation is shown happening in the novel The Range Robbers. In the same way, Sudden at Bay has strong resemblance to 'Sudden'. In Dead or Alive, Frederick makes Sudden a widower - the references to Noreen clearly suggest her demise. Frederick Christian also created another character called Angel and repeated a few of the storylines like Sudden At Bay in the name of Angel.
Oliver Strange wrote 10 Sudden books -
Sudden—Outlawed (1935)
Sudden (1933)
Sudden—Gold Seeker (1937)
Sudden Rides Again (1938)
Sudden Makes War (1942)
Sudden Takes the Trail (1940)
Sudden Plays a Hand (1950)
The Marshal of Lawless (1933)
The Range Robbers (1930)
The Law o' the Lariat (1931)
Frederick H. Christian wrote 5 Sudden books -
Sudden Strikes Back (1966)
Sudden—Troubleshooter (1967)
Sudden at Bay (1968)
Sudden—Apache Fighter (1969)
Sudden—Dead or Alive! (1970)
Related Links:
About F.H. Christian and how he revived the series after Oliver Strange http://www.fredericknolan.com/Getting_it_together.html
Except Jay and Veeru don't wear hats...
) suited the gunfighter image to a T! Plus the half-smoked cigar in the corner of the mouth!
), and I now note this fine thread.