The Best of the Weird West: 8 Alternate History Westerns

In this alternate historical past novella from the acclaimed writer of Black Sun and Trail of Lightning, angels and demons run rampant in the distant mining city of Goetia. Only the descendants of the Fallen are in a position to mine the invaluable new component referred to as Divinity, however they’re additionally scorned as a result of of their heritage. For Fallen sisters Celeste and Mariel, this implies little likelihood of a good trial when Mariel is accused of murdering one of the Archangel elect who rule the city. Celeste’s solely choice is to characterize Mariel in the trial herself to make sure she’s given a good likelihood at redemption. But her ties to a demonic ex-lover and an awesome urge to guard her sister may distract her from what is admittedly occurring. I beloved this angels and demons tackle the Old West, which meshes so completely into the points of class, discrimination, and outlaw justice.

My authentic Weird West favourite is that this duology from writer Sarah Gailey, reimagining the historical past of the United States if they’d handed a proposed invoice to introduce hippos to the Mississippi. The hippo-riding cowboys who grace its pages are prepared to tug the heist — excuse me, “operation” — of the ages to take care of a bayou overrun with feral hippos and cease a corrupt businessman. And Winslow Houndstooth may simply have yet one more motive for taking this job: revenge.

In a city the place barren ladies are sometimes hanged as witches, a younger girl decides to depart behind every little thing she is aware of and be a part of a band of outlaws referred to as the Hole in the Wall Gang, led by a preacher who’s turned to crime. They’re decided to make a protected haven for outcast ladies like Ada, however doing so will show simply as lethal as staying put. And finally, Ava must determine whether or not she’s keen to threat her life for a greater future — for herself and for everybody like her.

“Westworld meets The Handmaid’s Tale“? Say no extra. That seems like a profitable mixture to me. The Good Luck Girls aren’t truly fortunate in any respect; they’ve simply been offered by determined households into the Welcome Houses that promise to offer for them. In actuality, they’re little greater than brothels. But when one of them unintentionally murders a person, the women threat every little thing to flee and set out on a journey towards a life of freedom, justice, and perhaps even a bit revenge.

This isn’t Frankenstein as you realize it. In this retelling, a younger curandera is murdered by witches. But her brother, unable to lose one other member of their household, brings her again with the assist of science and magic. Now, she’s extremely highly effective, however her connection to the Earth is irrevocably modified. And the witches that killed her the first time are nonetheless on the market, mendacity in wait. Clockwork Curandera has a steampunk western really feel, set in a North America with very totally different map boundaries than the ones we all know immediately.

The west is gorgeous and lethal on this atmospheric comedian from famend comedian guide author Kelly Sue DeConnick. Death’s daughter rides a horse made of smoke, and her story is one of retribution. A skeletal bunny recounts her story to a butterfly, however that’s not even the weirdest factor to occur on this alternate-history western comedian. It’s a wild, considerably bewildering, however relentlessly lovely experience from begin to end.

What’s higher than one alternate-history western? How about a complete bunch of ’em? In Nicole Givens Kurtz’s brief tales, uncover an Old West the place pistols and magic wands go face to face, and the threads of an typically horrific previous meet a wild world of potentialities.

Described as a “Dust Bowl-inspired fantasy,” this novel follows a city getting used as a chess sport for the gods. Life in Elysium isn’t straightforward, however it’s higher than the various. That is till a woman who’s been tapped to change into the successor for the city’s strongest witch will get right into a magical duel that ends catastrophically. Left to the deserts exterior Elysium, the place cannibals supposedly roam, Sal discovers a gang of women led by a fellow banished witch. It is their hope {that a} herd of magically animated scrap metallic horses will save Elysium from the coming apocalypse. But with the goddesses of Life and Death towards them, Sal and her new associates must do extra than simply play by the guidelines of the sport. In order to win, they’ll have to interrupt them.