Saturday 18 September 2010

Wilderness #65


SEED OF EVIL
as by David Thompson
Leisure, September 2010

The King family has always appreciated the remoteness of their valley deep in the Rocky Mountains. There, they have all the freedom they could desire. But the long trip to Bent’s Fort for supplies is one of the few downsides. All that changes when a newcomer opens the first general store in their region. The mountain men and scattered settlers are delighted—until people start to disappear, and dark whispers hint that a seed of evil has taken root in the wilderness.

Right from the opening chapter David Thompson hooked this reader with the question of just what kind of evil does the main bad guy dish out. Of course this question isn’t answered until much further into the story and by that time other plot threads had pulled me deeper into the tale.

Seed of Evil sees the return of one of my favourite characters from the series: Chases Rabbits, his struggle to understand the white tongue adding many laugh-out-loud moments. And for those who’ve followed this series for a long, long time, Chases Rabbits isn’t the only return, this other proving to be even more of a welcome surprise, although I’m not going to reveal who that is here, you’ll have to read the book yourself to discover just who it is.

One of the trademarks of this series is the author’s inclusion of very strong female characters and this book is no exception. Here we have a group of Crow women that soon become the characters the whole story revolves around. Raven On The Ground being particularly memorable.

I’ve already mentioned that there are moments of humour within the story but this wouldn’t be a Wilderness tale without many encounters with the more savage side of life, be they threats from human foes or wildlife, and this book offers plenty of those too. In fact Geist’s sudden, and unexpected, killing of one of the Crow women sure shows how brutal this series can be at times and in my mind is one of the strengths of the Wilderness books.

Once again David Thompson (David Robbins) provides the reader with another excellent entry into this fast moving, action packed, series.

Note: As has been discussed on many blogs and message boards Dorchester/Leisure has stopped producing mass market paperbacks, switching to ebooks with September’s publications. I read Seed of Evil on my computer using the free Kindle reader download provided by Amazon, which proved to be very easy to use.

12 comments:

Unknown said...

If I was a Wilderness collector, and had 64 previous books lined up on my bookshelves in a standard format, I wonder how I would feel about #65 residing on my PC or some other patented device. Maybe collectors were just waiting for the day when they'd no longer have the problem of finding shelf space, but somehow I doubt it. Beyond ease of use, what are your feelings, Steve?

Steve M said...

Exactly right Keith, I wish it had come out as a standard book so it could go on the shelf with the others. If it comes out as a POD Trade Paperback at a later date (as it has been said it will by Dorchester) it still won't fit in size and style of all those others.

If the series wasn't appearing in ebook what would be the alternative? No more Wilderness books? So I guess I have to be thankful that I can still get to read new Wilderness books this way.

Anonymous said...

I like to have my books on the shelf and especially in hardcover. And probably I am oldfashioned, because I also like to buy my music on CD and movies on DVD. Modern people probably download all their books, music and movies.

I can understand why publishers think ebook is the future. Producing is cheap and there are no stocks. So for the less populair books it is a way to publish them without financial risks.

But I hate it. They should have chosen a format that can be read anywhere and by everyone. I do not live in the States. Till now there was no problem for me buying books in the US. With ebook that will not always be the case. I need to have a Sony ereader (Sony ebook shop) or Amazon Kindle or live in the States (Barnes & Noble) to buy a book. And I can't be sure that in the future I still will be able to read the book on a new ereader, because sometimes they have secured the ebook in a way that you can read it only on one computer/ereader. I have even read stories about a new release of software for the same ereader that made older ebooks on the ereader unreadable (Bebook).

And have they thought about the problems the movie and music industry now have with illegal downloading?

And will ebook not kill the publishers? Why would a writer need a publisher anymore if he/she can publish the book by him/herself on his/her website?

Katt said...

You can call me a David Robbins's completist. I have every single book that he has had published. I have a special handmade bookcase where I keep those books and only those books.

I am more than disturbed that I had to download the Kindle for the PC in order to read the latest WILDERNESS, SEED OF EVIL.

Yes, it was easy to download the free Kindle on the computer. I spent three hours sitting there reading the book. I longed to read it in my bed. I can't imagine bringing a computer to bed with me. Will I break down and buy a Kindle? Probably, but not happily.

And no, there isn't room to stuff a computer onto my bookshelf.

Just a fan's opinion.

Anonymous said...

I think the worse thing Wilderness publishers did was to stop their paperbacks. Give me a book any day to read in my hands. Probably was done for corporate greed, not a money saving tool. They will find out that they made a grave mistake.But it also shows if we as the reader wants it bad enough we will bow down to their ways

madshadows said...

I will always prefer a book that I can hold in my hands and read and feel. E-Book no thanks !

Anonymous said...

My 81 year old mother has every wilderness book ever written.
She does not own a computer. She does not own a kindle.
She has been patiently waiting on Wilderness #65.
How is she supposed to add to her collection if no more paperbacks,
This stinks royaly.

mackster said...

It took me awhile to make the change and buy a kindle but once i did I found it fantastic. I read a lot more books now and enjoy them just as much. It makes it easier to get a David Thompson book. I had to wait weeks to get a wilderness book now I have it in seconds. I have a bookshelf of all the wilderness books other than the ones I have on my kindle but it is just change. Not only do I love to read these books online or in paperback but I now listen to them with audible. Hopefully everyone can embrace these changes so that they can keep enjoying all of Davids great books.

hsshoer said...

I have never been much of a reader however when I first read my first wilderness book I could not stop. I had to read all of them. I even had to bid over $20- on e-bay to get a book that is no longer published and I could not find it any where. I "PROUDLEY" have all his books and have read every single one, even the Davey Crocket sieries. I CAN NOT BELEIVE I HAVE TO PURCHASE THE BOOK VIA ELECTRONIC MEDIA. What has ever happend to a good old book. I WANT TO BE ABLE TO HOLD THE THING IN MY HAND AND PROUDLEY DISPLAY IT ON MY SHELF. THIS IS AN OUT RAGE. I am not some old geaser I am in my 30's. I WILL NOT PURCHASE THIS BOOK unles it is in PAPER FORM!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

I think that not coming out with the Wilderness Series in paperback is an outrage. Perhaps if all of us who loved the series got together and boycotted Amazon things would change but I doubt it. I will no longer buy anything from Amazon as it is my understanding that they were behind this switch in order to promote their Kindle. It's a sad day when corporate greed outweighs customer relationships.

Anonymous said...

Hey everyone, I am David Thompson's agent and I just found this forum and wow... I gotta say I am touched by you guys and your love of the series. After reading some of the comments I am going to find a way to get a physical form to some of you guys who can't or refuse to do the e-book thing. Go to http://davidrobbinsauthor.com and send me an email so I have your contact information and we will figure something out!

-Shane

David Robbins said...

Steve, Yes, Shane is the head of the management agency I've mentioned at the Asylum, and yes, he is sincere about developing a contact list for those who are interested. :) David