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Territory
Wyatt Earp. Doc Holliday. Ike Clanton.
You think you know the story. You don't.
Tombstone, Arizona in 1881 is the site of one of the richest mineral strikes in American history, where veins of silver run like ley lines under the earth, a network of power that belongs to anyone who knows how to claim and defend it.
Above the ground, power is also about allegiances. A magician can drain his friends' strength to strengthen himself, and can place them between him and danger. The one with the most friends stands to win the territory.
Jesse Fox left his Eastern college education to travel West, where he's made some decidedly odd friends, like the physician Chow Lung, who insists that Jesse has a talent for magic. In Tombstone, Jesse meets the tubercular Doc Holliday, whose inner magic is as suppressed as his own, but whose power is enough to attract the sorcerous attention of Wyatt Earp.
Mildred Benjamin is a young widow making her living as a newspaper typesetter, and--unbeknownst to the other ladies of Tombstone--selling tales of Western derring-do to the magazines back East. Like Jesse, Mildred has episodes of seeing things that can't possibly be there.
When a failed stage holdup results in two dead, Tombstone explodes with speculation about who attempted the robbery. The truth could destroy Earp's plans for wealth and glory, and he'll do anything to bury it. Meanwhile, outlaw leader John Ringo wants the same turf as Earp. Each courts Jesse as an ally, and tries to isolate him by endangering his friends, as they struggle for magical dominance of the territory.
Events are building toward the shootout of which you may have heard. But you haven't heard the whole, secret story until you've read Emma Bull's unique take on an American legend, in which absolutely nothing is as it seems...
You think you know the story. You don't.
Tombstone, Arizona in 1881 is the site of one of the richest mineral strikes in American history, where veins of silver run like ley lines under the earth, a network of power that belongs to anyone who knows how to claim and defend it.
Above the ground, power is also about allegiances. A magician can drain his friends' strength to strengthen himself, and can place them between him and danger. The one with the most friends stands to win the territory.
Jesse Fox left his Eastern college education to travel West, where he's made some decidedly odd friends, like the physician Chow Lung, who insists that Jesse has a talent for magic. In Tombstone, Jesse meets the tubercular Doc Holliday, whose inner magic is as suppressed as his own, but whose power is enough to attract the sorcerous attention of Wyatt Earp.
Mildred Benjamin is a young widow making her living as a newspaper typesetter, and--unbeknownst to the other ladies of Tombstone--selling tales of Western derring-do to the magazines back East. Like Jesse, Mildred has episodes of seeing things that can't possibly be there.
When a failed stage holdup results in two dead, Tombstone explodes with speculation about who attempted the robbery. The truth could destroy Earp's plans for wealth and glory, and he'll do anything to bury it. Meanwhile, outlaw leader John Ringo wants the same turf as Earp. Each courts Jesse as an ally, and tries to isolate him by endangering his friends, as they struggle for magical dominance of the territory.
Events are building toward the shootout of which you may have heard. But you haven't heard the whole, secret story until you've read Emma Bull's unique take on an American legend, in which absolutely nothing is as it seems...
318 pages, Hardcover
First published July 10, 2007
37 people are currently reading
2,220 people want to read
About the author
Emma Bull
83Ìýbooks690ÌýfollowersEmma Bull is a science fiction and fantasy author whose best-known novel is War for the Oaks, one of the pioneering works of urban fantasy. She has participated in Terri Windling's Borderland shared universe, which is the setting of her 1994 novel Finder. She sang in the rock-funk band Cats Laughing, and both sang and played guitar in the folk duo The Flash Girls while living in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Her 1991 post-apocalyptic science fiction novel Bone Dance was nominated for the Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards. Bull wrote a screenplay for War for the Oaks, which was made into an 11-minute mini-film designed to look like a film trailer. She made a cameo appearance as the Queen of the Seelie Court, and her husband, Will Shetterly, directed. Bull and Shetterly created the shared universe of Liavek, for which they have both written stories. There are five Liavek collections extant.
She was a member of the writing group The Scribblies, which included Will Shetterly as well as Pamela Dean, Kara Dalkey, Nate Bucklin, Patricia Wrede and Steven Brust. With Steven Brust, Bull wrote Freedom and Necessity (1997), an epistolary novel with subtle fantasy elements set during the 19th century United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Chartist movement.
Bull graduated from Beloit College in 1976. Bull and Shetterly live in Arizona.
Her 1991 post-apocalyptic science fiction novel Bone Dance was nominated for the Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards. Bull wrote a screenplay for War for the Oaks, which was made into an 11-minute mini-film designed to look like a film trailer. She made a cameo appearance as the Queen of the Seelie Court, and her husband, Will Shetterly, directed. Bull and Shetterly created the shared universe of Liavek, for which they have both written stories. There are five Liavek collections extant.
She was a member of the writing group The Scribblies, which included Will Shetterly as well as Pamela Dean, Kara Dalkey, Nate Bucklin, Patricia Wrede and Steven Brust. With Steven Brust, Bull wrote Freedom and Necessity (1997), an epistolary novel with subtle fantasy elements set during the 19th century United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Chartist movement.
Bull graduated from Beloit College in 1976. Bull and Shetterly live in Arizona.
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November 10, 2021The pitch I saw of this book was "Tombstone, but what if Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp were sorcerers", and I admit I was intrigued. While really only one of those characters turns out to be a sorcerer, and a dark one at that, I enjoyed this twist on the infamous mining camp turned boom town circa 1881.
I will say I came into the story with some basic knowledge of the place, era, and historical figures, so that probably helped my enjoyment. But must you know about the Earp brothers, Johnny Ringo and the Cow-boys, et al? Hmm....probably not. Because while they are all present in the story, the book centers around two fictional additions: A Jewish widow who works at the (real historical) local paper and a mysterious drifter and horsebreaker coming into his magical powers. I enjoyed both these characters very much and the story really shines when Bull focuses on their day-to-day lives. Perhaps one of the most intriguing scenes for me was not a gunfight or steely-eyed Old West confrontation, but a scene were the horsebreaker plies his trade and tames a colt, only to realize he needs a little breaking himself. The small scenes of domesticity and relationship really shone, be they horse-breaking or tea in a parlor room or a grand Fourth of July ball.
The book was written in 2007 so it does come with a caveat. There are a handful of Chinese characters (Tombstone had a sizeable Chinese population, as did many towns in the West) and I liked the two main ones and was glad to see them included and not erased, as so many non-white characters are in the West. However, their portrayal is dated and somewhat stereotypical and, of course, one of them is a murdered prostitute. Not good. There are no Natives in the story, and if there are Mexican or Black characters, they have no names. I personally love people engaging in the real diversity of the West, but it is not necessary for every story, and in 2007, it was not in the air, so to speak, the way it is today. So YMMV, but I thought I would be remiss not to mention it.
Overall, I very much enjoyed the book. It was more quiet and meditative than one might expect of a re-imagining of Tombstone, and Bull's character work and domestic moments really shined. It seems there was a planned sequel that did not happen, so expect it to end with some threads not quite wrapped up, unfortunately.
I will say I came into the story with some basic knowledge of the place, era, and historical figures, so that probably helped my enjoyment. But must you know about the Earp brothers, Johnny Ringo and the Cow-boys, et al? Hmm....probably not. Because while they are all present in the story, the book centers around two fictional additions: A Jewish widow who works at the (real historical) local paper and a mysterious drifter and horsebreaker coming into his magical powers. I enjoyed both these characters very much and the story really shines when Bull focuses on their day-to-day lives. Perhaps one of the most intriguing scenes for me was not a gunfight or steely-eyed Old West confrontation, but a scene were the horsebreaker plies his trade and tames a colt, only to realize he needs a little breaking himself. The small scenes of domesticity and relationship really shone, be they horse-breaking or tea in a parlor room or a grand Fourth of July ball.
The book was written in 2007 so it does come with a caveat. There are a handful of Chinese characters (Tombstone had a sizeable Chinese population, as did many towns in the West) and I liked the two main ones and was glad to see them included and not erased, as so many non-white characters are in the West. However, their portrayal is dated and somewhat stereotypical and, of course, one of them is a murdered prostitute. Not good. There are no Natives in the story, and if there are Mexican or Black characters, they have no names. I personally love people engaging in the real diversity of the West, but it is not necessary for every story, and in 2007, it was not in the air, so to speak, the way it is today. So YMMV, but I thought I would be remiss not to mention it.
Overall, I very much enjoyed the book. It was more quiet and meditative than one might expect of a re-imagining of Tombstone, and Bull's character work and domestic moments really shined. It seems there was a planned sequel that did not happen, so expect it to end with some threads not quite wrapped up, unfortunately.
February 4, 2017
Emma Bulls weaves an enchanting fantasy story mixed in with some recognizable figures of the American Frontier.
I rarely read Weird/Historical Westerns (if at all) but the genre is part of the r/Fantasy 2016 Book Bingo Challenge and this novel came well-recommended, so I trusted the other readers opinions and it paid off in spades. It's nice to step out of my comfort zone and actually discover a good book.
The beginning grabbed my attention even if little is laid out for the reader and things get a bit confused at times; throughout, it was satisfying having to piece the puzzle together from the natural interactions of the characters as the story progressed.
The main leads are adult and fascinating: a working woman who seeks her path in life; a cynical dentist embroiled in treachery; a traveling horse-trainer who befriends the Chinese in the XIX century American West. Their lives intertwine with personal drama, county politics, law enforcement, violence, a mystery (not easy to unravel) and subtle, pervasive magic.
This is a complex, slowly unfurling story, with beautiful storytelling and spot-on pacing. It’s more about atmospheres, nuances and the intersections of the characters' lives than action, but it’s still a Western of course, and the setting is vividly described.
Although this book is a standalone, there are a few open ends and I would be very interested in a sequel.
Underlying every philosophy was the inevitability of death. The moral and ethical questions, the search for right living, the weighing of the evidence of one’s senses—it all came down to how fast, how far, and which way you could run before you hit the end of the rope.
I rarely read Weird/Historical Westerns (if at all) but the genre is part of the r/Fantasy 2016 Book Bingo Challenge and this novel came well-recommended, so I trusted the other readers opinions and it paid off in spades. It's nice to step out of my comfort zone and actually discover a good book.
The beginning grabbed my attention even if little is laid out for the reader and things get a bit confused at times; throughout, it was satisfying having to piece the puzzle together from the natural interactions of the characters as the story progressed.
The main leads are adult and fascinating: a working woman who seeks her path in life; a cynical dentist embroiled in treachery; a traveling horse-trainer who befriends the Chinese in the XIX century American West. Their lives intertwine with personal drama, county politics, law enforcement, violence, a mystery (not easy to unravel) and subtle, pervasive magic.
This is a complex, slowly unfurling story, with beautiful storytelling and spot-on pacing. It’s more about atmospheres, nuances and the intersections of the characters' lives than action, but it’s still a Western of course, and the setting is vividly described.
Although this book is a standalone, there are a few open ends and I would be very interested in a sequel.
Underlying every philosophy was the inevitability of death. The moral and ethical questions, the search for right living, the weighing of the evidence of one’s senses—it all came down to how fast, how far, and which way you could run before you hit the end of the rope.
December 30, 2016
Although well-written with an interestingly Weird Western take on the Tombstone of the Earps and the Cowboys, Territory never really arrives anywhere. Instead of much in the way of coherent plot the book seems dominated by setting, as if it were going to be the first of a trilogy perhaps, and a slow first of three at that.
It also had one of those "that's it?" endings - reading Territory felt like I'd travelled a long way on an interesting old train full of odd characters, only to arrive at a dusty, empty platform in the middle of a Western desert nowhere.
It also had one of those "that's it?" endings - reading Territory felt like I'd travelled a long way on an interesting old train full of odd characters, only to arrive at a dusty, empty platform in the middle of a Western desert nowhere.
April 2, 2010
I am a big fan of Emma Bull's books which have various settings. One thing they all share is the magical prose. Bull is a pretty good stylist and she writes well. This book is an unconventional take on the events prior to the Gunfight at the OK Corral. The story opens with a stage coach robbery in which 2 men are killed. The robbers are 4 men -- one of whom is secretly Morgan Earp -- Wyatt Earp's brother. Wyatt Earp, who is a lynchpin of the story, turns out to be a black sorcerer, who is using any means that he can to hunt down the men who can identify his brother as one of the robbers in order to protect his brother but also to maintain his power in the town. Another main character is Jesse Fox, a man with magical skills who comes to Tombstone to meet a Chinese Mystic who is a friend and wants Fox to use his magic. A third major character is Mildred Benjamin, a widow and newspaper writer who Fox is attracted to. Bull uses all of these characters and many historical figures to spin a light airy story about murder and the protection of ones family. Doc Holiday is there and John Ringo, Ike Clanton. Bull brings in many characters as she fills her stage with great imagination prior to the ultimate confrontation between Fox and Earp. Its a period piece. Its a detective story. Its a fantasy. Its a western. Its the story of a man, Fox, who learns how to use his magic for good and a woman Benjamin who ventures out of her widow past.
Its very good
Its very good
February 26, 2011
2 1/2
Awhile back I had mentioned in a group that I liked things like alt-history with magic - and this book offers a nice combination of secret history with weird west. I've always quite liked the idea of the wild west, though I haven't read much about it, and this book was recommended to me.
What I'll say is that while it was ok, I could've lived without having read it and still been happy.
Let's see - so, it's about Tombstone in 1881, and everyone knows some variation of the story. Admittedly, most of my knowledge comes from the movie Tombstone and Wikipedia articles. This book puts a different spin on things, which is interesting, but the writing never lives up to the potential.
For one thing, while all the known names are mentioned and involved in some way or another, the main protagonists are fictional additions, and sort of tropes at that. Now, I love the mysterious stranger and the plucky heroine, I do, but I had a hard time really getting into these two.
A third point-of-view comes from my favorite 'character' of the story - Doc Holliday, and his parts add an interesting tidbit.
I think the biggest thing is that, while reading the story, I felt that characters like Wyatt Earp where so almost cursory that there wasn't really any reason why it had to be him. I never felt like the time, the people, the place - the history - was really vital to the story, it was more just backdrop.
I also didn't really feel ever caught up in the romance of the wild west. Granted, much of the romance is, well, romantic - unrealistic notions of the way that it was. But if the history isn't going to be vital, then I at least want the romance of it - but both were lacking.
As for the story itself, it started a bit slow, but picked up pretty quickly. But then there were some weird interludes which slowed everything down again, and then it picked up again, but then it sort of went off the rails. The writing was sort of all over the place. People would do and say things that didn't make much sense in the context of the moment. More than once I would turn a page, read something, and go back to see if I'd missed something or pages were stuck together.
I don't know. I just kept feeling like I ought to like it more than I did, but it just felt thin.
I read that, at one point, there was a planned sequel, but that was back n 2007 and there's been no development that I've heard of since then. It would make sense if this were the first book of a set - that would certainly help explain why it sort of dangled there at the end. Perhaps this story could blossom into something more but, as a stand alone, it's nothing past "ok".
Awhile back I had mentioned in a group that I liked things like alt-history with magic - and this book offers a nice combination of secret history with weird west. I've always quite liked the idea of the wild west, though I haven't read much about it, and this book was recommended to me.
What I'll say is that while it was ok, I could've lived without having read it and still been happy.
Let's see - so, it's about Tombstone in 1881, and everyone knows some variation of the story. Admittedly, most of my knowledge comes from the movie Tombstone and Wikipedia articles. This book puts a different spin on things, which is interesting, but the writing never lives up to the potential.
For one thing, while all the known names are mentioned and involved in some way or another, the main protagonists are fictional additions, and sort of tropes at that. Now, I love the mysterious stranger and the plucky heroine, I do, but I had a hard time really getting into these two.
A third point-of-view comes from my favorite 'character' of the story - Doc Holliday, and his parts add an interesting tidbit.
I think the biggest thing is that, while reading the story, I felt that characters like Wyatt Earp where so almost cursory that there wasn't really any reason why it had to be him. I never felt like the time, the people, the place - the history - was really vital to the story, it was more just backdrop.
I also didn't really feel ever caught up in the romance of the wild west. Granted, much of the romance is, well, romantic - unrealistic notions of the way that it was. But if the history isn't going to be vital, then I at least want the romance of it - but both were lacking.
As for the story itself, it started a bit slow, but picked up pretty quickly. But then there were some weird interludes which slowed everything down again, and then it picked up again, but then it sort of went off the rails. The writing was sort of all over the place. People would do and say things that didn't make much sense in the context of the moment. More than once I would turn a page, read something, and go back to see if I'd missed something or pages were stuck together.
I don't know. I just kept feeling like I ought to like it more than I did, but it just felt thin.
I read that, at one point, there was a planned sequel, but that was back n 2007 and there's been no development that I've heard of since then. It would make sense if this were the first book of a set - that would certainly help explain why it sort of dangled there at the end. Perhaps this story could blossom into something more but, as a stand alone, it's nothing past "ok".
December 9, 2022
I love every moment of this one. But, when I got to the end, I was underwhelmed by the lack of Western Standoff.
November 2, 2007
The Mysterious Stranger and the Independent Widow will always almost hook up--but only almost! Chinese men are wise and gnomic! Women can write good too! Wyatt Earp was a dick! Oh, Emma Bull, your time has passed.
February 12, 2010
4.0 stars. An excellent, beautifully written story. Great characters and a flawless weaving of magical elements into a classic American tale. Highly recommended!!
Nominee: World Fantasy Award for Best Novel (2008)
Nominee: Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel (2008)
Nominee: World Fantasy Award for Best Novel (2008)
Nominee: Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel (2008)
January 25, 2008
Fantasy set in Tombstone, AZ featuring a number of historical figures including Doc Holliday and the Earp brothers. While I liked things about the main characters and found the book quite atmospheric, I just couldn't like it as much as I wanted to. The plot is pretty sketchy, mostly suggesting a 2 book deal rather than a completed story arc. I also could've done without the author's portrayal of the Chinese American characters. This ranges from having them speak in a version of pigeon English to having them engage in bizaarely stereotyped behavior that serves no apparent purpose. Karen Joy Fowler does a much, much better job of portraying Old (American) West Chinese culture and people in Sarah Canary .
Overall, a disappointment from an author whose work I generally love.
Overall, a disappointment from an author whose work I generally love.
July 11, 2019
Territory is a slice of life western set in the small town of Tombstone, Arizona. It follows three characters: Jesse Fox, the mysterious newcomer, Mildred Benjamin, a newspaper typesetter, widow, and aspiring writer, and Doc Holliday, the town dentist suffering from tuberculosis. The main plot is supposed to be about the mystery surrounding a failed robbery, but there's a good deal of...basically everything else instead. Far more daily life than gunslinging.
Which would suit me just fine, but unfortunately it all ends up as a bit...bland. There could be multiple reasons. For one, within the first few chapters, the author seemingly drops the name of every single inhabitant of the town on the hapless reader. It's all done fairly naturally, in conversation between townspeople but that's far too many names in far too few pages. My head was reeling. Characters as well as plot threads are also picked up and dropped without ceremony and combined with a plot that's aimless and never really goes or arrives anywhere, the overall impression is rather underwhelming. It should have been interesting and I liked the romance subplot, but otherwise it's the definition of "just okay".
Pick it up if you're in desperate need of a calmer western. Otherwise don't bother.
Enjoyment: 3/5
Execution: 3/5
Recommended to: fans of westerns and slice of life
Not recommended to: people with a bad memory for names, those who expect...any sort of excitement
More reviews on my blog, .
Which would suit me just fine, but unfortunately it all ends up as a bit...bland. There could be multiple reasons. For one, within the first few chapters, the author seemingly drops the name of every single inhabitant of the town on the hapless reader. It's all done fairly naturally, in conversation between townspeople but that's far too many names in far too few pages. My head was reeling. Characters as well as plot threads are also picked up and dropped without ceremony and combined with a plot that's aimless and never really goes or arrives anywhere, the overall impression is rather underwhelming. It should have been interesting and I liked the romance subplot, but otherwise it's the definition of "just okay".
Pick it up if you're in desperate need of a calmer western. Otherwise don't bother.
Enjoyment: 3/5
Execution: 3/5
Recommended to: fans of westerns and slice of life
Not recommended to: people with a bad memory for names, those who expect...any sort of excitement
More reviews on my blog, .
May 8, 2011
One of those novels that lays a fantasy gloss over documented historical events, in this case the machinations of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday in Tombstone, 1881.
Really enjoyable but not, I think, very successful. It would make a pretty good footnote in an essay about how writing fanfiction permits creativity and depth of reimagination that writing for traditional publication doesn’t. I loved the parts of this book that were about the twisted-up, co-dependent thing between Earp and Holliday, and the literal magic at play. But Bull can’t or won’t mess with her canon, she just wants to explain it, so she can’t actually do much with what she sets up, she can just gesture vaguely towards what we know eventually happens to them. I frankly would have enjoyed this more if someone as good a prose stylist as Bull (not that many, I realize) had posted this as fanfic, with all the free-wheeling that implies, and the ability to comment on the original events by changing them, not just by shoving some magic into the cracks of a rigid structure of set events.*
It was all unsatisfying, actually, including the original character arcs, no matter how charming they were. A bit unfinished, too loosey-goosey at the end. But the whole thing is like that, all about the day-to-day of Tombstone and its newspaper office and horse trainers and Chinese orphans, not about the forward throughline of the plot. And I liked the day-to-day � I think it’s one of the best things about the book � but a little more tension, please, a little more momentum. And a lot more resolution, thanks.
*What other books are fantastical-historical reimaginations of this precision? Not just "inspired by," I mean, but densely-researched interpolations of fantasy into a tightly-documented set of events? Tim Powers's Declare is all that comes immediately to mind -- any others? I wonder if I'd have a similar reaction to all of them, if this is just part of my textual orientation
Really enjoyable but not, I think, very successful. It would make a pretty good footnote in an essay about how writing fanfiction permits creativity and depth of reimagination that writing for traditional publication doesn’t. I loved the parts of this book that were about the twisted-up, co-dependent thing between Earp and Holliday, and the literal magic at play. But Bull can’t or won’t mess with her canon, she just wants to explain it, so she can’t actually do much with what she sets up, she can just gesture vaguely towards what we know eventually happens to them. I frankly would have enjoyed this more if someone as good a prose stylist as Bull (not that many, I realize) had posted this as fanfic, with all the free-wheeling that implies, and the ability to comment on the original events by changing them, not just by shoving some magic into the cracks of a rigid structure of set events.*
It was all unsatisfying, actually, including the original character arcs, no matter how charming they were. A bit unfinished, too loosey-goosey at the end. But the whole thing is like that, all about the day-to-day of Tombstone and its newspaper office and horse trainers and Chinese orphans, not about the forward throughline of the plot. And I liked the day-to-day � I think it’s one of the best things about the book � but a little more tension, please, a little more momentum. And a lot more resolution, thanks.
*What other books are fantastical-historical reimaginations of this precision? Not just "inspired by," I mean, but densely-researched interpolations of fantasy into a tightly-documented set of events? Tim Powers's Declare is all that comes immediately to mind -- any others? I wonder if I'd have a similar reaction to all of them, if this is just part of my textual orientation
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September 3, 2016Bull has a gift for being at the right place at the right time: her War for the Oaks not only was deservedly popular, but hit the zeitgeist so centrally that the subsequent decade or so was filled with spinoffs in which rock bands use their music magic to fight off the bad Sidhe, or Winter Court of Faerie. At that time (gross generalization here) readers were looking for something besides yet another quest for a magical object through a fantasy landscape, so here was magic and pretty elves brought right to our world, and all tied up with True Thomas, which is still a profoundly effective myth: you don't have to believe in anything, but you can still be sacrificed, or give yourself up for sacrifice, for the greater …what?
In Territory, Bull has taken the gritty, gunslinging west with its edgy co-existence alongside other cultures (Chinese, Mexican, Native American). She added the legendary Earp and Clanton feud. She infuses both with disturbing possibilities outside everyday experience, as newly widowed newspaperwoman Mrs Benjamin meets a strange gunman who just rode into town, trailing whispered speculation about robbery—and radiating unexplained heat. I haven't gotten very far yet, but the vividness of the setting, the fascinating characters whose tension is underscored by the alienness of that territory that was far from being civilized, the deft use of dry, electric heat and its opposite cool, life-giving (and sometimes threatening) water, are slowly adding up to a powerful book.
In Territory, Bull has taken the gritty, gunslinging west with its edgy co-existence alongside other cultures (Chinese, Mexican, Native American). She added the legendary Earp and Clanton feud. She infuses both with disturbing possibilities outside everyday experience, as newly widowed newspaperwoman Mrs Benjamin meets a strange gunman who just rode into town, trailing whispered speculation about robbery—and radiating unexplained heat. I haven't gotten very far yet, but the vividness of the setting, the fascinating characters whose tension is underscored by the alienness of that territory that was far from being civilized, the deft use of dry, electric heat and its opposite cool, life-giving (and sometimes threatening) water, are slowly adding up to a powerful book.
April 13, 2008
Territory by Emma Bull falls into the category of a fiction story portraying a real historical event with a twist. In this case the event is the gunfight at the O.K. Corral and all the happenings that lead up to it and the twist is a couple of fictional characters and the fact that Wyatt Earp was a sorcerer. This makes it sounds kind of silly but it isn’t –the fantastical elements of the story are subtly dealt with and I would even wager that folks not normally inclined to fantasy literature wouldn’t be put off.
The events take place in Tombstone Arizona in the 1880’s and the story is told from the perspective of three characters: Jesse Fox a wanderer, horse tamer; Mildred Benjamin a widower and typesetter at one of the newspapers in town and on the sly a writer of trashy western short stories; and finally Doc Holliday, dentist turned gambler and Wyatt Earp’s best friend. Most of this book deals with events in the year or so leading up to the gunfight in October 1886 and of course Emma Bull suggests some other motives and conspiracies behind the fight (which is good because from what I’ve read of the real event, the motives behind it just seemed to be that the participants were violent, drunken asshats who didn’t like each other � not very interesting). Be warned that this book doesn’t actually get to the gunfight � there is a second volume on the way sometime in the future.
This book was great fun and while it didn’t change my life it was a highly enjoyable read. Most of the reviews I’d read of the book before reading it didn’t mention how funny it is and Emma Bull’s talent in my opinion lies in her approach to descriptions with a unique and witty eye that created images that really stuck with me. She has a bartender describe a locally made peach liqueur as “like a pretty whore with brass knuckles�. I found myself re-reading and then writing out several passages from the book that I really loved.
The characters were great - I have a pretty big crush on Jesse Fox and she manages to make Mildred a heroine while being a normal person and not an annoying supergirl.
I really enjoyed it and now anxiously await the second volume.
The events take place in Tombstone Arizona in the 1880’s and the story is told from the perspective of three characters: Jesse Fox a wanderer, horse tamer; Mildred Benjamin a widower and typesetter at one of the newspapers in town and on the sly a writer of trashy western short stories; and finally Doc Holliday, dentist turned gambler and Wyatt Earp’s best friend. Most of this book deals with events in the year or so leading up to the gunfight in October 1886 and of course Emma Bull suggests some other motives and conspiracies behind the fight (which is good because from what I’ve read of the real event, the motives behind it just seemed to be that the participants were violent, drunken asshats who didn’t like each other � not very interesting). Be warned that this book doesn’t actually get to the gunfight � there is a second volume on the way sometime in the future.
This book was great fun and while it didn’t change my life it was a highly enjoyable read. Most of the reviews I’d read of the book before reading it didn’t mention how funny it is and Emma Bull’s talent in my opinion lies in her approach to descriptions with a unique and witty eye that created images that really stuck with me. She has a bartender describe a locally made peach liqueur as “like a pretty whore with brass knuckles�. I found myself re-reading and then writing out several passages from the book that I really loved.
The characters were great - I have a pretty big crush on Jesse Fox and she manages to make Mildred a heroine while being a normal person and not an annoying supergirl.
I really enjoyed it and now anxiously await the second volume.
September 4, 2016
The acknowledgements in the hardcover edition veer cryptically from second person into first person, and an ill-placed adjective in the publisher's dust jacket summary gives too much of the plot away, but otherwise, Wow! Emma Bull writes with the authenticity of Elmer Kelton, the pacing of Loren Estleman, and the empathy of Jane Austen.
This is not just a "horse opera" with which to pass the time; it's also a character study and a penetrating look at nineteenth-century Tombstone, Arizona, in the prelude to the iconic gunfight at the O.K. Corral. I've read nonfiction about Wyatt Earp and John Henry "Doc" Holliday that didn't come within a wide wooden porch of what Emma Bull does to explain both men here. As if that weren't recommendation enough, fictional characters like Jesse Fox, Mildred Benjamin, and Chow Lung round out the story impeccably. Comes then the trifecta: dialog throughout is so sharply observed that the only time it's not achingly good is when it's mordantly funny.
I don't know whether Emma Bull graces the writers' workshop circuit, but reading this novel is like taking a master class in storytelling without even realizing you had enrolled.
This is not just a "horse opera" with which to pass the time; it's also a character study and a penetrating look at nineteenth-century Tombstone, Arizona, in the prelude to the iconic gunfight at the O.K. Corral. I've read nonfiction about Wyatt Earp and John Henry "Doc" Holliday that didn't come within a wide wooden porch of what Emma Bull does to explain both men here. As if that weren't recommendation enough, fictional characters like Jesse Fox, Mildred Benjamin, and Chow Lung round out the story impeccably. Comes then the trifecta: dialog throughout is so sharply observed that the only time it's not achingly good is when it's mordantly funny.
I don't know whether Emma Bull graces the writers' workshop circuit, but reading this novel is like taking a master class in storytelling without even realizing you had enrolled.
January 14, 2009
I keep trying to quantify what I liked about this book and failing. The re-characterization of the familiar names were believable and interesting in the main. The original characters weren't terribly original but they were enjoyable. The dialogue may have been the selling point; I thought it seemed wonderfully authentic (I have no particular knowledge in this area.) The depiction of the setting was appropriately sparse. The structure of the magic was explained just enough to give it structure but not so much as to ruin the mystery.
There were times that the story felt somewhat under-exposed, but my questions were all answered at the end. Ultimately, I feel like there were too many plot elements that didn't quite fit together or weren't quite finished. I enjoyed this book right up until the end but walked away feeling at loose ends.
There were times that the story felt somewhat under-exposed, but my questions were all answered at the end. Ultimately, I feel like there were too many plot elements that didn't quite fit together or weren't quite finished. I enjoyed this book right up until the end but walked away feeling at loose ends.
September 16, 2020
If I hadn't read from a blogger I trust, I'd surely have scoffed at the premise.
Set in Tombstone, Arizona, when the Earps and Clantons are inexorably heading toward that famous showdown at the OK Corral, Emma Bull tosses in some sorcery into the mix as an underlying source of tension. Told from the point of view of typesetter Mildred Benjamin and drifter Jesse Fox, this story puts a new twist on the Western genre.
As odd as the combination of Western and magic sounds, Bull has a subtle touch that reminds me of Connie Willis or Barbara Hambly at their best. Strong on personality and sense of place, Bull tosses us into the action in midstream so we have to pick up what's going on from the characters' mind which just makes it all the more intriguing. Highly recommended.
Set in Tombstone, Arizona, when the Earps and Clantons are inexorably heading toward that famous showdown at the OK Corral, Emma Bull tosses in some sorcery into the mix as an underlying source of tension. Told from the point of view of typesetter Mildred Benjamin and drifter Jesse Fox, this story puts a new twist on the Western genre.
As odd as the combination of Western and magic sounds, Bull has a subtle touch that reminds me of Connie Willis or Barbara Hambly at their best. Strong on personality and sense of place, Bull tosses us into the action in midstream so we have to pick up what's going on from the characters' mind which just makes it all the more intriguing. Highly recommended.
November 22, 2010
I knew I was going to be sold on this when I discovered that it took place in Tombstone and featured Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp. And magic.
But while it is immersed in the people and politics of Tombstone, the novel focuses more deeply on the mysterious Jesse Fox and the writer/reporter Mrs. Benjamin.
The book is utterly charming, and I read through it quickly, though it's difficult to find the plot at times. Making things worse, it's apparently the first of at least two books, so some things are left unresolved by the end.
Still, there's enough here that I didn't mind the lack of thrust and when a sequel appears, I'll happily pick it up.
But while it is immersed in the people and politics of Tombstone, the novel focuses more deeply on the mysterious Jesse Fox and the writer/reporter Mrs. Benjamin.
The book is utterly charming, and I read through it quickly, though it's difficult to find the plot at times. Making things worse, it's apparently the first of at least two books, so some things are left unresolved by the end.
Still, there's enough here that I didn't mind the lack of thrust and when a sequel appears, I'll happily pick it up.
December 23, 2014
Hmmm, this book only barely held my interest. I don't know if I'd have continued beyond page 50 if the author hadn't used the gimmicky hook of having the Earps, Doc Holliday, Johnny Ringo, and the whole Tombstone setting as principle characters and a backdrop. [In retrospect, I feel a little strung-along by this trick!] Also, the magic (hinted to LIBERALLY on the dust-jacket blurb) is only BARELY present. But, there is a nice scene (one of the few that actually worked, for me) about horse-breaking...about 1/3 into the book! So, for a little over 200 pages, this book somehow managed to keep me balancing on the precarious edge of "almost interested".
As for the writing, it was choppy and confusing, with vague or misplaced references and modifiers. And, at times, it was almost like the author felt the reader should be able to fill in the logical gaps in conversation, and so, therefore, decided to omit connective thoughts and sentences. Also, there may have been an attempt to simulate frontier speech and dialogue, but that only worked out marginally � with some antiquated word usages merely leading to confusion or misinterpretation by the reader. Only Doc Holliday’s lingo seemed well designed and unique (although, oddly enough, not always presented consistently throughout the book!)…but that was only because Val Kilmer’s characterization keeps resonating in your head � as you anxiously await SOME reference to “huckleberry�! And at no point did I feel that the author really cared about taking the effort to lead the reader comfortably through this mélange of tangled plotlines and intersecting character-stories.
Oh, but hold the presses (an ironic statement since a primary character in this book works at a newspaper!)! I should have anticipated , we get treated to some PG-14 Cowboy porn! Oh for the love of my sanity, at the 2/3 point, this book began to read like a Fabio-covered Harlequin romance novel, and soon treated me to a lesson in dressmaking. Can we just get to the O.K. Corral gunfight already?
Now, back to the issue of the magic…which is still SO covert as to be almost non-existent. Subtle would be a bit more than one grain of newts-eye per 50K words! This is more like...obscure! And while dark forces did begin to rear their mystic heads a bit near the 2/3 mark - still, I don't think this element was crafted into the overall storyline all that well. Was this just another gimmick? (Probably!) The characters ARE dark but shallow, the suspense is erratic, and the intrigue is questionably developed. And just when I’d begin to care a little about a character, the characterization would stop development, and I was given no further reason to continue caring. So when the text began dwelling on dresses, dancing, and décolletage…well, only the later held my attention!
Now as to this being historical fiction � well, the real historical minutia is pretty scant…yet obvious - nothing that couldn't be cobbled-together from a quick search on wikipedia, or by watching the movie "Tombstone". Throughout my reading, I continued to be repeatedly underwhelmed. More and more I’m thinking that this entire novel is just a clever marketing device (hook) with only a tiny bit of real literary substance.
Then, as quick as a blink, we're absolutely ass-deep in sorcerers…and with only about 80 pages to go, we’re virtually up to our earlobes in magic-wielders � popping up around every corner! Now that's some subtle plot development! (And THAT’S some blatant sarcasm!)
Well, grill my flapjacks and scramble my grits...the last 20 pages were actually pretty darn engaging! SO, all totaled that's, what, about 50-60 pages out of 318 that were captivating? Also interesting to note is that the dialogue/repartee at the end was actually pretty poignant, (e.g., Wyatt Earp: “God damn it, Doc. I’m your friend. If I see someone doing you dirt, what the hell am I suppose to do?� Doc Holliday: “Punish them for usurping your prerogative?�). Okay - THAT was well done!!! Oh sure, there were a few attempts at clever banter all along � but they never really worked out well, not to the previously quoted level…until the end!
Looking back on the entirety, I’m wondering that, if the author had begun the story where the plot was around page 225, brought forward about 80 good pages of character development from the first 200, and then taken us onward through the O.K. Corral � perhaps this book might have been more enthralling!
Having never read any of her other works, I can't help but wonder if Emma Bull has used some of these characters in other stuff? Some of the text felt like I was expected to know a bit about their back-stories. If not, there are SEVERAL character-stories that just pick up in the middle, and leave off shortly thereafter � waltzing in to add some exposition (and confusion), then mambo-ing out again! What was Jesse and Lung’s history together? Why is Ringo such a powerful person? What’s up with little Chu? What was the story on Wyatt Earp’s dad? Questions are raised, potential intrigue waxes; no answers are given, my interest wanes!
So, historically speaking, this book really ended, for me, on a penultimate note that almost verged on cruelty � mere weeks (days?) before the date of the famed shootout! After all that development over months of story-time (a tease?), there really was not much of a denouement! After such a build-up, I want my gun-slinging bloodbath! As is, I was left feeling more than just a little bit cheated…and further underwhelmed. At the end of the maze � no cheese!
ADDENDUM: I just found out that this book is going to have a sequel...and that REALLY cheeses me even more! NOWHERE in "Territory" (neither on the dust-jacket, nor in a forward/afterward, nor even hinted at within the text) was there ANY indication that this was a multi-part story. I guess it figures, though...since we never made it to the actual O.K. Corral! Still, I have a real problem with authors (or publishers!) that create such blatant cliff-hangers! Is this some heavy-handed enticement to buy the next book? How hard is it to wrap up the current action in a nice and tidy package for the first book, and THEN create a sequel that uses those same characters - but in a new adventure? Come on! Really! How about a little consideration for the reader! From where the action (such as it was) ended in "Territory", there are only a few weeks (historically) until the gun-fight. So I'm dubious that much more intrigue - that we don't already know from TV and movies - can be wrung from this turnip! And, how will sorcerers be worked into the actual shootout? I'm not sure it has much potential there! Historically, hardly anybody really hit their targets during the actual gun battle - so saying that Wyatt Earp is "magically protected" would be pretty lame! I probably won't bother to find out! Correction - I have zero interest in reading farther with this storyline. And, I'd be hard-pressed to read anything else by this author.
Oh, and don't EVEN get me started on the cover for this book - which has NOTHING to do with the book, and is a lame-ass rip-off of the Johnny Depp movie (a prominent image in the film) "Sleepy Hollow"!
As for the writing, it was choppy and confusing, with vague or misplaced references and modifiers. And, at times, it was almost like the author felt the reader should be able to fill in the logical gaps in conversation, and so, therefore, decided to omit connective thoughts and sentences. Also, there may have been an attempt to simulate frontier speech and dialogue, but that only worked out marginally � with some antiquated word usages merely leading to confusion or misinterpretation by the reader. Only Doc Holliday’s lingo seemed well designed and unique (although, oddly enough, not always presented consistently throughout the book!)…but that was only because Val Kilmer’s characterization keeps resonating in your head � as you anxiously await SOME reference to “huckleberry�! And at no point did I feel that the author really cared about taking the effort to lead the reader comfortably through this mélange of tangled plotlines and intersecting character-stories.
Oh, but hold the presses (an ironic statement since a primary character in this book works at a newspaper!)! I should have anticipated , we get treated to some PG-14 Cowboy porn! Oh for the love of my sanity, at the 2/3 point, this book began to read like a Fabio-covered Harlequin romance novel, and soon treated me to a lesson in dressmaking. Can we just get to the O.K. Corral gunfight already?
Now, back to the issue of the magic…which is still SO covert as to be almost non-existent. Subtle would be a bit more than one grain of newts-eye per 50K words! This is more like...obscure! And while dark forces did begin to rear their mystic heads a bit near the 2/3 mark - still, I don't think this element was crafted into the overall storyline all that well. Was this just another gimmick? (Probably!) The characters ARE dark but shallow, the suspense is erratic, and the intrigue is questionably developed. And just when I’d begin to care a little about a character, the characterization would stop development, and I was given no further reason to continue caring. So when the text began dwelling on dresses, dancing, and décolletage…well, only the later held my attention!
Now as to this being historical fiction � well, the real historical minutia is pretty scant…yet obvious - nothing that couldn't be cobbled-together from a quick search on wikipedia, or by watching the movie "Tombstone". Throughout my reading, I continued to be repeatedly underwhelmed. More and more I’m thinking that this entire novel is just a clever marketing device (hook) with only a tiny bit of real literary substance.
Then, as quick as a blink, we're absolutely ass-deep in sorcerers…and with only about 80 pages to go, we’re virtually up to our earlobes in magic-wielders � popping up around every corner! Now that's some subtle plot development! (And THAT’S some blatant sarcasm!)
Well, grill my flapjacks and scramble my grits...the last 20 pages were actually pretty darn engaging! SO, all totaled that's, what, about 50-60 pages out of 318 that were captivating? Also interesting to note is that the dialogue/repartee at the end was actually pretty poignant, (e.g., Wyatt Earp: “God damn it, Doc. I’m your friend. If I see someone doing you dirt, what the hell am I suppose to do?� Doc Holliday: “Punish them for usurping your prerogative?�). Okay - THAT was well done!!! Oh sure, there were a few attempts at clever banter all along � but they never really worked out well, not to the previously quoted level…until the end!
Looking back on the entirety, I’m wondering that, if the author had begun the story where the plot was around page 225, brought forward about 80 good pages of character development from the first 200, and then taken us onward through the O.K. Corral � perhaps this book might have been more enthralling!
Having never read any of her other works, I can't help but wonder if Emma Bull has used some of these characters in other stuff? Some of the text felt like I was expected to know a bit about their back-stories. If not, there are SEVERAL character-stories that just pick up in the middle, and leave off shortly thereafter � waltzing in to add some exposition (and confusion), then mambo-ing out again! What was Jesse and Lung’s history together? Why is Ringo such a powerful person? What’s up with little Chu? What was the story on Wyatt Earp’s dad? Questions are raised, potential intrigue waxes; no answers are given, my interest wanes!
So, historically speaking, this book really ended, for me, on a penultimate note that almost verged on cruelty � mere weeks (days?) before the date of the famed shootout! After all that development over months of story-time (a tease?), there really was not much of a denouement! After such a build-up, I want my gun-slinging bloodbath! As is, I was left feeling more than just a little bit cheated…and further underwhelmed. At the end of the maze � no cheese!
ADDENDUM: I just found out that this book is going to have a sequel...and that REALLY cheeses me even more! NOWHERE in "Territory" (neither on the dust-jacket, nor in a forward/afterward, nor even hinted at within the text) was there ANY indication that this was a multi-part story. I guess it figures, though...since we never made it to the actual O.K. Corral! Still, I have a real problem with authors (or publishers!) that create such blatant cliff-hangers! Is this some heavy-handed enticement to buy the next book? How hard is it to wrap up the current action in a nice and tidy package for the first book, and THEN create a sequel that uses those same characters - but in a new adventure? Come on! Really! How about a little consideration for the reader! From where the action (such as it was) ended in "Territory", there are only a few weeks (historically) until the gun-fight. So I'm dubious that much more intrigue - that we don't already know from TV and movies - can be wrung from this turnip! And, how will sorcerers be worked into the actual shootout? I'm not sure it has much potential there! Historically, hardly anybody really hit their targets during the actual gun battle - so saying that Wyatt Earp is "magically protected" would be pretty lame! I probably won't bother to find out! Correction - I have zero interest in reading farther with this storyline. And, I'd be hard-pressed to read anything else by this author.
Oh, and don't EVEN get me started on the cover for this book - which has NOTHING to do with the book, and is a lame-ass rip-off of the Johnny Depp movie (a prominent image in the film) "Sleepy Hollow"!
April 24, 2020
There's a lot to like in this, I think: the characters are mostly well-drawn, the magic is subtle and interesting, the writing carries Emma Bull's usual warm elegance. But I found myself meticulously overlooking a certain carelessness of storytelling and struggling particularly hard at times to slot Bull's version of the Earps into what I know of them. All that work made the book a lot less enjoyable to read.
Bull picks up the thread of her story, weaves an engaging yarn, and then just...drops...it all. I think she expected the shootout at the OK Corral to serve as a satisfying postscript to her own tale...but her tale isn't about the Earps and Doc Holliday. They're in it, and they're important, but her tale is about Mildred and Jesse, the Earp wives and Chu. And the way Bull shifts the weight of her story at the end, leaving us with the sense that her whole intent was to slide magic into the Earps' destiny? It turns Mildred, Jesse, the wives, and Chu into stage dressing; it cheapens their stories.
I want to know where Mildred and Jesse end up, if Chu stays with them, if they keep in touch with the wives. I want to know if Bull's sacrifice of yet another interesting character in service of her plot (see my review of Finder) actually allows these characters to fill that empty space with one another. I don't want to wonder why I just spent an entire book getting to know people who the author seems to have been using as a way to tell a clever story about a bunch of other people entirely.
Bull picks up the thread of her story, weaves an engaging yarn, and then just...drops...it all. I think she expected the shootout at the OK Corral to serve as a satisfying postscript to her own tale...but her tale isn't about the Earps and Doc Holliday. They're in it, and they're important, but her tale is about Mildred and Jesse, the Earp wives and Chu. And the way Bull shifts the weight of her story at the end, leaving us with the sense that her whole intent was to slide magic into the Earps' destiny? It turns Mildred, Jesse, the wives, and Chu into stage dressing; it cheapens their stories.
I want to know where Mildred and Jesse end up, if Chu stays with them, if they keep in touch with the wives. I want to know if Bull's sacrifice of yet another interesting character in service of her plot (see my review of Finder) actually allows these characters to fill that empty space with one another. I don't want to wonder why I just spent an entire book getting to know people who the author seems to have been using as a way to tell a clever story about a bunch of other people entirely.
December 4, 2024
Perhaps if I had watched Tombstone I would be better conversed in this story. But perhaps not?
I had this on my Nook app and as we already know, I am on then great Nook app cleanup of 2024. Only 29 books left, but one is the complete works of Edith Wharton so this thing may outlive us all.
I had read so much about this over the years, I know it was award-winning. This is now my second Bull book in two years (though I had read her short stories before). And I have to say...I don't get it. I also once had Freedom and Necessity as a hardback but that was such a slog I gave up.
So. This is set in Tombstone and involves the Earp brothers, Doc Holliday and the rest of that cast of characters and a horse-tamer named Jesse Fox and a typesetter at the local paper, a Jewish widow named Mildred.
While I liked Mildred and Jesse and every conversation between them, which was engaging, all the Earp shit just landed a thud. So many characters came and went and I had no idea who they were or why they were important. I was so fucking lost, and I don't think that's my fault.
I appreciated the attempt to add sorcery to the old west, but it was so hazy and poorly explained I was just "eh?." Did not care.
Holliday was interesting but he was so pushed to the sidelines.
A worthy effort, but fell flat.
I had this on my Nook app and as we already know, I am on then great Nook app cleanup of 2024. Only 29 books left, but one is the complete works of Edith Wharton so this thing may outlive us all.
I had read so much about this over the years, I know it was award-winning. This is now my second Bull book in two years (though I had read her short stories before). And I have to say...I don't get it. I also once had Freedom and Necessity as a hardback but that was such a slog I gave up.
So. This is set in Tombstone and involves the Earp brothers, Doc Holliday and the rest of that cast of characters and a horse-tamer named Jesse Fox and a typesetter at the local paper, a Jewish widow named Mildred.
While I liked Mildred and Jesse and every conversation between them, which was engaging, all the Earp shit just landed a thud. So many characters came and went and I had no idea who they were or why they were important. I was so fucking lost, and I don't think that's my fault.
I appreciated the attempt to add sorcery to the old west, but it was so hazy and poorly explained I was just "eh?." Did not care.
Holliday was interesting but he was so pushed to the sidelines.
A worthy effort, but fell flat.
December 1, 2017
I am simultaneously angry with myself and thrilled that I didn't discover Emma Bull before now. On the one hand, I missed out on years of rereading her books. On the other hand, I get to read them now for the first time.
"Territory" takes place in Tombstone, Arizona, and follows several characters through the period leading up towards the famous shoot-out, with an undercurrent of magic tossed in as well. The historical characters are nicely developed and made me rush to Wikipedia to see how well their real stories line up with Bull's fictional versions (it turns out, pretty well). As someone who has lived in Arizona, the setting felt authentic, and it was fun to read about places that I have visited.
One of the best things about this book is that Bull does not fall into the trap of thinking that the only people in the Old West who had interesting stories were the white men. Her version of Tombstone is nicely diverse, with attention paid to both the immigrant population and the female characters. The wives of the Earp brothers and Kate Holliday are given voices and personalities. In addition to this, one of the main viewpoint characters is a Jewish widow who works at one of the Tombstone newspapers. She lives by herself, wants to be a reporter, and is wary of any romantic entanglements that might lead to loss of the independence that she has come to enjoy.
The one major drawback of this book is that it ends before events come to a head in Tombstone. I read that Emma Bull intended to write a sequel at some point, but I'm not sure that that second book will ever materialize. That said, there's enough story and character here to make "Territory" well worth reading despite its abrupt ending. I hope that Emma Bull will continue the story sometime in the future, but if it ends here then it's still something that I'm glad to have read.
"Territory" takes place in Tombstone, Arizona, and follows several characters through the period leading up towards the famous shoot-out, with an undercurrent of magic tossed in as well. The historical characters are nicely developed and made me rush to Wikipedia to see how well their real stories line up with Bull's fictional versions (it turns out, pretty well). As someone who has lived in Arizona, the setting felt authentic, and it was fun to read about places that I have visited.
One of the best things about this book is that Bull does not fall into the trap of thinking that the only people in the Old West who had interesting stories were the white men. Her version of Tombstone is nicely diverse, with attention paid to both the immigrant population and the female characters. The wives of the Earp brothers and Kate Holliday are given voices and personalities. In addition to this, one of the main viewpoint characters is a Jewish widow who works at one of the Tombstone newspapers. She lives by herself, wants to be a reporter, and is wary of any romantic entanglements that might lead to loss of the independence that she has come to enjoy.
The one major drawback of this book is that it ends before events come to a head in Tombstone. I read that Emma Bull intended to write a sequel at some point, but I'm not sure that that second book will ever materialize. That said, there's enough story and character here to make "Territory" well worth reading despite its abrupt ending. I hope that Emma Bull will continue the story sometime in the future, but if it ends here then it's still something that I'm glad to have read.
April 11, 2018
Hmm, this may be a case of the audiobook not doing the text any favors. I liked the female narrator quite a lot, but my mind tended to wander when the male narrator was speaking (I liked his voice and found it well suited to the setting, but it somehow wasn't very successful at holding my attention) and, as a result, I think I missed some plot details and sometimes didn't really know what was going on. :/
I like the printing details, though! (And I'm starting to think I should make a label for books involving printing/printers for my Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ organizing!)
I like the printing details, though! (And I'm starting to think I should make a label for books involving printing/printers for my Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ organizing!)
August 29, 2019
Weird westerners are the most wonderful genre but I’ve never read one quite like this. The weaving of the magic between what I can only describe as the “folklore � of the West with a capital W is seamless.
August 6, 2012
This sounded like it would be a kind of "Harry Potter meets the wild west" and I thought that would be an interesting approach to magic. It turned out to be both more and less than I expected.
There was magic, but it was very understated as a part of the story. In fact, you aren't quite sure if magic is happening or not for a good part of the book. The way the author, Emma Bull works the magic in is very, VERY subtle and she almost seems to want the reader to guess what the heck is going on in Tombstone. Personally, I could have used a little more clarity in the storyline on that front, as I honestly wasn't quite sure what the heck was going on for about the first half of the book.
What made the book worth continuing with for me were the characters. All the characters in this story - and there were a lot of them: Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Doc's lady Kate, Earp's brothers, their wives, stranger in town Jesse Fox and his friend Chinaman Chow Lung, and especially widow Mildred Benjamin are wonderfully written, interesting and complex.
These characters are people you'd love to meet in real life just to see if they'd be as fascinating in person as they are in the pages of this book. You think you know who they are and what they'll do, and then they surprise the heck out of you by doing something unexpected that stops you in your tracks and makes you shake your head. The characters are definitely the best part of this book.
The plot was not what I'd hoped, and I would have enjoyed the book a lot more if the storyline had been just a touch clearer. I also did not care for the ending, which I won't say more about to avoid spoilers, but it wasn't what I expected or what I'd been hoping for. The characters, however are terrific, and kept me reading when I probably wouldn't have continued if they hadn't been so very interesting. They made up for the lack in the story development.
There was magic, but it was very understated as a part of the story. In fact, you aren't quite sure if magic is happening or not for a good part of the book. The way the author, Emma Bull works the magic in is very, VERY subtle and she almost seems to want the reader to guess what the heck is going on in Tombstone. Personally, I could have used a little more clarity in the storyline on that front, as I honestly wasn't quite sure what the heck was going on for about the first half of the book.
What made the book worth continuing with for me were the characters. All the characters in this story - and there were a lot of them: Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Doc's lady Kate, Earp's brothers, their wives, stranger in town Jesse Fox and his friend Chinaman Chow Lung, and especially widow Mildred Benjamin are wonderfully written, interesting and complex.
These characters are people you'd love to meet in real life just to see if they'd be as fascinating in person as they are in the pages of this book. You think you know who they are and what they'll do, and then they surprise the heck out of you by doing something unexpected that stops you in your tracks and makes you shake your head. The characters are definitely the best part of this book.
The plot was not what I'd hoped, and I would have enjoyed the book a lot more if the storyline had been just a touch clearer. I also did not care for the ending, which I won't say more about to avoid spoilers, but it wasn't what I expected or what I'd been hoping for. The characters, however are terrific, and kept me reading when I probably wouldn't have continued if they hadn't been so very interesting. They made up for the lack in the story development.
February 21, 2021
It was original and quite good. I had heard the names "Wyatt Earp" and "Doc Holliday" but knew nothing about them, so I am not sure how far this is departing from the story, I am guessing all the supernatural stuff.
The romance only annoyed me when Mildred let Jesse get away with being an annoying male and thinking he was superior (protecting her without answering questions or obtaining consent) and sure she needed that but I felt annoyed that an author would set her up to need it. Jesse's feelings for Mildred were more relatable (to me). Doc and Kate was not my cup of tea but I could deal with it. I didn't like that we did not find out what happened to Kate, to me she was quite a significant character also the way the Earp women were so easily put back into the background I thought was a bit unfair.
I might have missed stuff that was put in there for people who knew the original story and if that is so then I sort of feel apologetic about it. The descriptions were vivid and I guess Bull wanted to feature the setting and costumes as a really strong feature. I had mixed feelings with the stuff around race, I was sad about one of the non-white characters being taken out of the picture there was another one that had a sort of side-story of their own but I feel it would have been better a little more developed. I do wonder if this is Bull getting into a setting she wanted to work with because a lot of the most promising and interesting things were unfinished. Maybe that is just supposed to be enigmatic.
Anyway the focus on women characters some of the time made a story a lot better than it would have otherwise been, even if I would have liked the women to do something more than sewing and romance/sex. At least have ANY scene with a woman shoot a gun? I wonder why it was all kept so stereotypical on what is supposed to be a frontier...that is not at all how it would have been (if you look at what the historians have found)
The romance only annoyed me when Mildred let Jesse get away with being an annoying male and thinking he was superior (protecting her without answering questions or obtaining consent) and sure she needed that but I felt annoyed that an author would set her up to need it. Jesse's feelings for Mildred were more relatable (to me). Doc and Kate was not my cup of tea but I could deal with it. I didn't like that we did not find out what happened to Kate, to me she was quite a significant character also the way the Earp women were so easily put back into the background I thought was a bit unfair.
I might have missed stuff that was put in there for people who knew the original story and if that is so then I sort of feel apologetic about it. The descriptions were vivid and I guess Bull wanted to feature the setting and costumes as a really strong feature. I had mixed feelings with the stuff around race, I was sad about one of the non-white characters being taken out of the picture there was another one that had a sort of side-story of their own but I feel it would have been better a little more developed. I do wonder if this is Bull getting into a setting she wanted to work with because a lot of the most promising and interesting things were unfinished. Maybe that is just supposed to be enigmatic.
Anyway the focus on women characters some of the time made a story a lot better than it would have otherwise been, even if I would have liked the women to do something more than sewing and romance/sex. At least have ANY scene with a woman shoot a gun? I wonder why it was all kept so stereotypical on what is supposed to be a frontier...that is not at all how it would have been (if you look at what the historians have found)
July 4, 2013
This is a very good book, almost rating five stars from me. Bull not only provides a good grounding in the events that led up to the Gunfight at the OK Corral (though the novel ends prior to that) but does interesting things with magic. It has enough grounding to feel organic and she does interesting things with it, particularly with regards to earth magic.
It uses three primary POV characters and does so to good effect. Two of them are fictional and the main protagonists. Jesse Fox is a mysterious wanderer who is afflicted with magic. He is familiar with the Chinese community and speaks the language decently. It allows us to get a deep Chinese character, Chow Lung. Fox's slow education in magic provides one of the main plot hooks and it is effective.
Mildred Benjamin is a Philadelphia debutant stranded in Tombstone after the death of her dreamy, often impractical, husband the previous year. At times she seems almost too perfect but this does not prevent the character from being fascinating.
The historical POV character is John Henry "Doc" Holliday. He is a highly sympathetic character and the exploration of his relationship with Wyatt Earp forms one of the key thematic backbones of the story.
There were some minor flaws in the book. The revelation that Fox's stableboy, Chu, is actually a girl is largely purposeless; it seems like more could have been done with this. The resolution of the plot, involving a gunfight in New Mexico in which Fox is trapped, is confused and not entirely satisfactory. Since the strength of the novel is its characters this isn't crippling, but it is noticeable. That said, the ending that it prompts when Fox returns to Tombstone is exquisite and more than salvages the resolution.
Recommended highly.
It uses three primary POV characters and does so to good effect. Two of them are fictional and the main protagonists. Jesse Fox is a mysterious wanderer who is afflicted with magic. He is familiar with the Chinese community and speaks the language decently. It allows us to get a deep Chinese character, Chow Lung. Fox's slow education in magic provides one of the main plot hooks and it is effective.
Mildred Benjamin is a Philadelphia debutant stranded in Tombstone after the death of her dreamy, often impractical, husband the previous year. At times she seems almost too perfect but this does not prevent the character from being fascinating.
The historical POV character is John Henry "Doc" Holliday. He is a highly sympathetic character and the exploration of his relationship with Wyatt Earp forms one of the key thematic backbones of the story.
There were some minor flaws in the book. The revelation that Fox's stableboy, Chu, is actually a girl is largely purposeless; it seems like more could have been done with this. The resolution of the plot, involving a gunfight in New Mexico in which Fox is trapped, is confused and not entirely satisfactory. Since the strength of the novel is its characters this isn't crippling, but it is noticeable. That said, the ending that it prompts when Fox returns to Tombstone is exquisite and more than salvages the resolution.
Recommended highly.
February 7, 2010
A solidly good read.
I mostly read contemporary- or future-based fiction, so this fantasy novel of the Wild West was unusual for me. But I met and heard Emma Bull at a science fiction convention a few years ago and have wanted to read her work ever since. She's an excellent writer.
The timing in the book felt a little odd. A quarter of the way into the book I still felt like the main conflict driving the story hadn't been introduced. (As a matter of fact I re-read the back cover about then and it felt like one huge spoiler.) And six pages from the end, I couldn't imagine how it would wrap up. And though it did -- just fine -- I felt like it ended immediately at the end of the climax and didn't give me nearly enough information about how life would play out next.
But maybe playing with the timing of the rising and falling action is part of the author's game. The characters were beautifully done. They had history and depth and interest. The plot -- that magic is afoot in Wyatt Earp's town -- was creatively done. I couldn't stand to put the book down, and I will definitely be reading more of Emma Bull's work.
I mostly read contemporary- or future-based fiction, so this fantasy novel of the Wild West was unusual for me. But I met and heard Emma Bull at a science fiction convention a few years ago and have wanted to read her work ever since. She's an excellent writer.
The timing in the book felt a little odd. A quarter of the way into the book I still felt like the main conflict driving the story hadn't been introduced. (As a matter of fact I re-read the back cover about then and it felt like one huge spoiler.) And six pages from the end, I couldn't imagine how it would wrap up. And though it did -- just fine -- I felt like it ended immediately at the end of the climax and didn't give me nearly enough information about how life would play out next.
But maybe playing with the timing of the rising and falling action is part of the author's game. The characters were beautifully done. They had history and depth and interest. The plot -- that magic is afoot in Wyatt Earp's town -- was creatively done. I couldn't stand to put the book down, and I will definitely be reading more of Emma Bull's work.
November 19, 2007
Okay, first of all, it's obvious I've seen the movie Tombstone too damn many times -- or that the actors who portrayed Doc Holliday and the Earps did too memorable a job -- or some combination of both, since I COULD NOT read the dialogue in this novel without hearing their voices and inflections, especially Val Kilmer as Doc H.
Overall, good novel. Never really built to the type of climax I was expecting -- things ended up being much more low-key than I thought (and than I wanted, to be honest). Several of the characters were very enjoyable, and a few (with their attendant problems and personality tics) seemed unnecessary. There's a LOT that Bull could've done with the whole "role of the female in society" subplot that never really came to fruition, especially concerning the Earp wives.
Still, Bull is a topnotch writer, crafting strong dialogue and interesting characters. I'm just happy to have something new of hers to read. :)
Overall, good novel. Never really built to the type of climax I was expecting -- things ended up being much more low-key than I thought (and than I wanted, to be honest). Several of the characters were very enjoyable, and a few (with their attendant problems and personality tics) seemed unnecessary. There's a LOT that Bull could've done with the whole "role of the female in society" subplot that never really came to fruition, especially concerning the Earp wives.
Still, Bull is a topnotch writer, crafting strong dialogue and interesting characters. I'm just happy to have something new of hers to read. :)
December 18, 2009
Emma Bull is one of my favorite authors, a pioneer in Urban Fantasy. I loved this book, as I expected to, despite the fact that it's a western, which I'm not really into.
This one is based on the events in Tombstone, AZ when Wyatt Earp was there. It deals with everything leading up to the shoot-out at the OK Corral. Which, honestly, is the only thing that bothers me about it - the book feels like it ends 50 pages too early. The plot resolution is assumed to be common knowledge because everyone knows what happens to the Earps after that.
I think if you're reimagining history and putting sorcerers in the wild west, it's worth recasting the whole mess. Also, there seems to be a lot of POV switches (all very well done) so if that's a pet peeve for you, FYI. I still enjoyed the book greatly, and will probably re-read once or twice before lending or selling it.
This one is based on the events in Tombstone, AZ when Wyatt Earp was there. It deals with everything leading up to the shoot-out at the OK Corral. Which, honestly, is the only thing that bothers me about it - the book feels like it ends 50 pages too early. The plot resolution is assumed to be common knowledge because everyone knows what happens to the Earps after that.
I think if you're reimagining history and putting sorcerers in the wild west, it's worth recasting the whole mess. Also, there seems to be a lot of POV switches (all very well done) so if that's a pet peeve for you, FYI. I still enjoyed the book greatly, and will probably re-read once or twice before lending or selling it.
February 1, 2010
I liked this a lot, and I should have logged it right after I read it, because I can't think of anything coherent to say about it. It's a mix of fantasy and Western, sort of a secret history of Tombstone, the Earps, and Doc Holliday; the writing is great, and the magic subtle but powerful. I like how Bull mixes her fictional characters into the historical milieu; though I know very little about the period and the people and so can't vouch for historical accuracy, it worked well for me. Do note that this is the first of two books, so there isn't a lot of plot resolution (and no gunfight at the OK Corral). I'm really looking forward to the second book.
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