The Drowned Horse Chronicle Volume One:
by
David Boop
(Wolfpack Publishing, October 25, 2022, pb, kindle, 380 pp.)
“Kiiyíi”
“The Metal Skins” (reprint, not reviewed)
“Paradoxes and a Pair of Six-Guns”
“Taxes are Heavy”
“Where Justice Ends, Vengeance Begins” (reprint, not reviewed)
“Kit Carson Versus the Toad Men of River Gila” (reprint, not reviewed)
“The Widow Wore Glass Spurs”
“Taxed Twice for Idleness”
“Never Wage War in Drowned Horse in Winter”
“The Dragon and the Shark” (reprint, not reviewed)
“Taxed Three Times for Pride”
“Love…In the Time of the Weird West” (reprint, not reviewed)
“The Bose Ikard War”
“Taxed Four Times for Folly”
“To Dance with the Highwayman”
“Unlocking the Gate of Fear” (reprint, not reviewed)
“Journey to the Center of Drowned Horse”
“Sinking to the Level of Demons” (reprint, not reviewed)
“Dragon Draw” (reprint, not reviewed)
Reviewed by Victoria Silverwolf
This volume collects linked stories of the Weird West set in a fictional Arizona community where strange things happen. Although the author’s introduction suggests that the result might be considered a mosaic novel, the tales are episodic enough to make the book more of a collection of individual short works.
The volume opens with a section entitled “Allegro: Noqoìlpi the Gambler,” taken from a Nineteenth Century journal of folklore, which relates a Navajo myth. This tale of a deity of wagering sets the tone of the collection, and offers a hint of why the area is full of supernatural events.
“Kiiyíi” involves the sheriff of the settlement, who features in most of these stories, and a giant bat-like creature from Mayan mythology who captures people fated to be human sacrifices. This typical monster-hunting adventure serves as an introduction to the setting and the hero.
In “Paradoxes and a Pair of Six-Guns” the sheriff gets trapped in a time loop caused by a witch from Russian folklore. He rescues an infant over and over again from the same situation, while the baby magically grows into a school-age child. A deal with the witch, who wants the youngster for herself, changes the fates of both man and child.
This is the most complex and original story in the book. It serves as an origin story for the town’s most mysterious citizen, as well as hinting at the sheriff’s future. This imaginative work offers the intellectual pleasure of a time travel story and the intrigue of a supernatural fantasy.
“Taxes are Heavy” is the first in a series of encounters with a man whose greed has transformed him into an underground-dwelling being from Celtic legend. Officials arrive at his cave, where he produces and sells valuable ores, in order to collect taxes. The once-human fellow is friendly and cooperative, but things change for the worse when he overhears an insult. This introduction to the character has the mood of black comedy.
“The Widow Wore Glass Spurs” is a murder mystery, as the sheriff investigates the killing of a rancher, apparently slain by a vengeful ghost. A Native American deity of gambling makes a bet with the hero, offering to help him learn more about the town’s curse if he solves the case, but making him promise to leave the place if he fails. Fans of film noir will anticipate the story’s major plot twist.
“Twice Taxed for Idleness” brings back the Celtic being. A bureaucrat tries to steal his treasure. It’s easy to predict that this doesn’t work out well.
“Never Wage War in Drowned Horse During Winter” features another battle with monsters, this time a pair of deadly creatures from Inuit mythology. In an otherwise familiar adventure, the author creates an overwhelming sense of intense cold.
The underground being returns in “Taxed Three Times for Pride.” The plot involves a woman who has killed herself and returned as a vampire after being rejected by her faithless married lover. The Celtic entity, now acting as a sort of supernatural lawyer for the dead woman, takes possession of the baby of the lover and his wife. It will be returned only if the lover literally gives his heart to the vampire. The sheriff and his deputy have to figure out a way to solve this dilemma without more deaths.
More complicated than its predecessors in the series, this story is cleverly plotted. It blends dark fantasy with a light touch of wit, resulting in a most enjoyable mixture.
The title of “The Bose Ikard War” refers to a real individual of the Old West, who worked for the famous cattlemen Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving. In this story, Bose Ikard is falsely arrested for rustling while transporting cattle. In addition to freeing him from a military prison, the heroes have to fight the real rustlers, as well as hostile Apaches and dangerous pig-people from Hawaiian folklore.
This story is probably the most Western of all the tales in the volume, with a strong sense of authenticity. Frustratingly, the narrative ends with a cliffhanger that is never resolved.
“Taxed Four Times for Folly” is another entry in the series about the underground Celtic being. In this story, the deputy faces him alone. The young man discovers that the entity is now an enemy who refuses to pay taxes and has control of two criminals who have been transformed into dog-monsters. The young man makes a wager with the Native American gambling deity who appeared in previous stories in order to defeat the being and his minions.
Making the inexperienced deputy the hero of the story adds tension and allows the protagonist to display courage and resourcefulness. Unfortunately, the way in which the wager with the deity alters the plot is anticlimactic.
“To Dance with the Highwayman” introduces a new protagonist, the wife of a military quartermaster. She discovers that a deserter from the Army accidentally killed a Native American woman. As a form of punishment, he was cursed to become a werewolf. Determined to end the fellow’s suffering, she finds a way to end the curse but faces great danger in her attempt to use it.
The story is surprisingly leisurely, taking place over more than a year and involving a journey to San Francisco and back. The woman is an appealing character, although her love of dangerous adventures makes her seem a little foolhardy at times.
The woman returns in “Journey to the Center of Drowned Horse.” When the Army discovers a source of warm sulphurated spring water, they build a bathhouse for the enjoyment of the staff and their wives. The quartermaster is kidnapped by aliens living underground while soaking in a tub. With the help of the sheriff and another heroic man, she travels deep below the bathhouse in order to rescue her husband.
The addition of a science fiction premise to a volume full of supernatural concepts adds novelty, but somehow seems harder to accept than gods, ghosts, and monsters. The story appears to be a bit tongue-in-cheek, and borders on becoming silly.
Victoria Silverwolf grew up in the not-Weird West.