Where the genre stands today
WHAT THE WESTERN OFFERS

Howard Hopkins

When most folks think of a western they imagine the archetypal shoot-'em-up, the John Wayne movies of the fifties and sixties, or the lively horse operas of Zane Grey or Louis L'Amour.

To a large extent that image is justified. High noon, gunfights at abandoned corrals, the bargirl with a heart of gold and the steely-eyed stranger who rides into town just in the nick of time to save everybody from the dastardly outlaw. . . . All are staples of the western genre. In the same way, the quick-witted detective populates many old-time mysteries (the '50s gumshoe being supplanted in the modern case by the pathology expert); the blue-eyed hunk oozing testosterone always gets the girl in romances; the ragtag rebel defies oppression in other worlds in science fiction.

All genres have their parameters and expectations, and succeed largely because readers demand them and want to feel comfortable whenever they crack a book in their favourite genre or pull up an electronic page on their PDA. But those very same conventions can result in a certain staleness after years of tales, as well as sometimes false perceptions from the general audience as to what those genres entail, and perhaps even a bias towards them.

The western has suffered from these perceptions, some deservedly so, others . . . not so much, to use a western idiom. In fact, few other genres, except maybe the romance (an amazingly versatile genre, despite misconceptions), have suffered as much from their label. So much so that the potentates of the New York publishing world have proclaimed the western deader than Wild Bill Hickok at a Deadwood poker game. While the cry has echoed throughout the hallowed concrete canyons of New York, its demise, to swipe another famous writer's phrase, has been largely exaggerated. But that's for another article.

This article seeks to inform readers of the western's great potential for innovation. Few other categories carry the capacity for such diversity and far-ranging human themes. And Robert Hale Ltd's Black Horse Western line is a leader in that field, perhaps the bellwether. The line combines old-fashioned fun and adventure in the Wild West with the opportunity for exploring themes relating to the human condition, bad and good.

Few modern readers, those who have never tried a western, realize its vast range. If you are looking for a shootout at noon on a dusty street in Nowhere, Texas, then by all means you will find it in a Black Horse Western book. If you are seeking a tender love story or commentary on the plight of the Native American, you'll find that, too.

But while these books harken back to the days when men were men, women were glad of it and you could still talk to your horse without being carted off to an institution (as long as the horse didn't talk back, of course), they also provide a bridge between generations of readers. Old and young fans alike can find everything they desire in the western nowadays. While many of the longer historicals have been in vogue over the 1990s, Hale's Black Horse Western line has trudged along with ten releases per month, year after year, travelling well-worn trails while blazing new ones.

Modern themes everyone can relate to have found their way into the Old West, largely because human nature has remained a constant for generations. The same struggles pioneers and town-builders, women and minorities, have faced for hundreds of years carry an egregious timelessness that all fiction, whether escapist or great literature, hold up before a spotlight. Modern readers can relate to the trials and tribulations of folks from earlier times, struggles the western is incredibly capable of exemplifying and dissecting.

For example, my own Lance Howard westerns seek to provide a few hours of escape from the problems of everyday life, yet at the same time I strive to provide a sense of hope, as well as explore issues that would be just as at home in a busy modern city as they would in the dusty back streets of a nascent settlement.

In The West Wolf, for instance, a sort of spooky mystery, the underlying themes focus on spousal abuse and the prejudices men sometimes use as focal points for their own shortcomings. The lead, an Apache woman named Serene Hargrove, lives with a drunkard who commonly takes his frustrations out on her person at the end of each day. The novel spotlights the ramifications of such misdirected rage, and the ripple effect its actions can have. Of course, it also provides a satisfying resolution to the problem, because the book is fiction and strives to furnish hope while shining light into the darkness.p>I decided to tackle largely the same sort of thing in my current novel, Ladigan . The lead, a man who has lost almost everything and now appears to have lost the last person remaining in his life, his brother, arrives in a small Colorado town only find it in the grips of a rich gold miner's son, a sadistic, insecure man whose world is built around control, absolute and cruel. The town is beholden to him, but primarily its people are frightened of his temper and wrath. Which leads to them turning their back on a young woman this man, Jack Timm, has decided to beat into doing his bidding.

Mystery and prejudice. Blind eyes turned.

The town merely watches, some even joining in, as he torments her. Within moments he will kill her, but no one dares lift a hand to help. No one wants to get involved. The young woman is the only one courageous enough to deny his request (one that will have to remain a mystery, because it is integral to the book) and she will pay dearly for it.

Of course the man named Ladigan arrives in time to prevent the worst from happening, but in doing so takes on the wrath of her tormentor and the crowd mentality that goes with it. It's a theme that would have worked as well on a large-city (or small-town) street in our present year. The emotions and fears, the hopes and dreams are the same, no matter the time period.

The western is perhaps one of the best places to portray the deplorable nature of some men. The mirror is dusty, but true.

Of course, there are countless examples in many other authors' books. The recent Frontier Brides by Chap O'Keefe (BHE's stalwart editor Keith Chapman), while a rollicking good adventure, touches on the plight of women caught in the grip of a despicable practice sadly still in operation in some Third World countries.

The examples could go on for pages, but suffice it to say the western today provides much more for the modern reader than simple cowboys and Indians. It has something for everyone, and Hale provides a plethora of tales every month. Readers are given a huge choice and countless hours of enjoyment and edification.

Never read a western? Consider giving this all-encompassing genre a chance. I think you'll be glad you did.