Helpful Score: 3
Absolutely gorgeous imagery, but any sense of storytelling gets mired in the dense prose. Sentences are long and complex, and by the time you get to the end of them, you forget anything specific happening. All you're left with are images, and though they're beautiful, it's not enough to engage me into any kind of profound reading experience.
Winner of the Western Heritage Award and the Spur Award for Best Western Novel.
From back of book: When Pat Garrett killed his poker buddy, Billy the Kid, he had no idea what a terrible emotional price he would pay. Haunted by memories of Billy, Garry wanters the New Mexico desert in fruitless pursuit of peace.
Deep in the same desert, an ancient Spanish alchemist searches for the fabled philosopher's stone. Resolutely alone in his quest he devotes his long life to hunting the secrets of the old gods.
As these two men seek answers to questions that have confounded mankind for centuries, their stories encompass teh panorama of American history. This journey from wild frontier into the twentieth century is an unforgettable reading experience.
From back of book: When Pat Garrett killed his poker buddy, Billy the Kid, he had no idea what a terrible emotional price he would pay. Haunted by memories of Billy, Garry wanters the New Mexico desert in fruitless pursuit of peace.
Deep in the same desert, an ancient Spanish alchemist searches for the fabled philosopher's stone. Resolutely alone in his quest he devotes his long life to hunting the secrets of the old gods.
As these two men seek answers to questions that have confounded mankind for centuries, their stories encompass teh panorama of American history. This journey from wild frontier into the twentieth century is an unforgettable reading experience.
