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Post by andydecker on Dec 30, 2018 19:35:34 GMT
I think Laurence James and John Harvey shared writing duties, with James doing odd numbers and Harvey the even ones, and reading a few in sequence really shows the two authors' differing styles. They are indeed quite different. I think I liked LJ more. But after No 30 it got more complicated. JH wrote 31, 32, 34, 37, 39,41, LJ the rest.
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Post by ripper on Dec 31, 2018 9:15:19 GMT
I think Laurence James and John Harvey shared writing duties, with James doing odd numbers and Harvey the even ones, and reading a few in sequence really shows the two authors' differing styles. They are indeed quite different. I think I liked LJ more. But after No 30 it got more complicated. JH wrote 31, 32, 34, 37, 39,41, LJ the rest. Hi Andy, I thought that the Herne series ended with no. 24 The Last Hurrah. Were more published in Germany or elsewhere?
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Post by andydecker on Dec 31, 2018 9:59:37 GMT
They are indeed quite different. I think I liked LJ more. But after No 30 it got more complicated. JH wrote 31, 32, 34, 37, 39,41, LJ the rest. Hi Andy, I thought that the Herne series ended with no. 24 The Last Hurrah. Were more published in Germany or elsewhere? I am terribly sorry. Of course there were only 24. I looked wrong at the list I made years ago, when I found Harvey's list on his website. And I didn't think.
It must be 12 - Sun Dance,13 - Billy the Kid, 15 - Till Death, 18 - Dying Ways, 20 - Hearts of Gold, 22 - Wild Blood .
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Post by ripper on Dec 31, 2018 10:50:53 GMT
Hi Andy, I thought that the Herne series ended with no. 24 The Last Hurrah. Were more published in Germany or elsewhere? I am terribly sorry. Of course there were only 24. I looked wrong at the list I made years ago, when I found Harvey's list on his website. And I didn't think.
It must be 12 - Sun Dance,13 - Billy the Kid, 15 - Till Death, 18 - Dying Ways, 20 - Hearts of Gold, 22 - Wild Blood .
Hi Andy, No problem, but I really do wish there were more, as Herne is one of my favourite PC series. I have to agree with you about preferring the LJ written books. That final entry, The Last Hurrah, commands prices that I have been reluctant to pay, but Piccadilly Publishing have published the entire series on Kindle for around £1.50 per book. They have also published the Crow and Caleb Thorne series, plus many other non-PC series and stand-alone novels.
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Post by andydecker on Dec 31, 2018 13:05:51 GMT
I am terribly sorry. Of course there were only 24. I looked wrong at the list I made years ago, when I found Harvey's list on his website. And I didn't think.
It must be 12 - Sun Dance,13 - Billy the Kid, 15 - Till Death, 18 - Dying Ways, 20 - Hearts of Gold, 22 - Wild Blood .
Hi Andy, No problem, but I really do wish there were more, as Herne is one of my favourite PC series. I have to agree with you about preferring the LJ written books. That final entry, The Last Hurrah, commands prices that I have been reluctant to pay, but Piccadilly Publishing have published the entire series on Kindle for around £1.50 per book. They have also published the Crow and Caleb Thorne series, plus many other non-PC series and stand-alone novels. Thankfully I tried to get a full set of the Piccadilly Cowboys 15 years ago or so. Then they were much more avaiable and cheaper. I guess I have 85%, but I am still missing a few books of the lesser series like The Lawman or Peacemaker. And some copies I would like to exchange for better ones; meanwhile there is a danger of breaking them when reading them. But these last years they have become scarce or are offered for those fantasy prices.
I have bought a few books from Piccadilly Publishing, so I could had a complete set of Fargo for instance. They have done a lot to preserve those novels.
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Post by ripper on Jan 1, 2019 11:29:49 GMT
Hi Andy, No problem, but I really do wish there were more, as Herne is one of my favourite PC series. I have to agree with you about preferring the LJ written books. That final entry, The Last Hurrah, commands prices that I have been reluctant to pay, but Piccadilly Publishing have published the entire series on Kindle for around £1.50 per book. They have also published the Crow and Caleb Thorne series, plus many other non-PC series and stand-alone novels. Thankfully I tried to get a full set of the Piccadilly Cowboys 15 years ago or so. Then they were much more avaiable and cheaper. I guess I have 85%, but I am still missing a few books of the lesser series like The Lawman or Peacemaker. And some copies I would like to exchange for better ones; meanwhile there is a danger of breaking them when reading them. But these last years they have become scarce or are offered for those fantasy prices. I have bought a few books from Piccadilly Publishing, so I could had a complete set of Fargo for instance. They have done a lot to preserve those novels. I don't think I have any more than 50% of the PC westerns and probably less than that. I am particularly lacking in the Adam Steele and Jubal Cade series, plus many of the later Edges. Yes, I agree, volumes are getting scarcer and prices higher. For those reasons I expect to buy far more Kindle books to plug the gaps, or more accurately, gaping holes, in my collection. It was sobering to discover that I could buy the whole Crow series on Kindle for the price of a single print Breed. Even though I prefer print books, economics will dictate that I buy more Kindle and fewer print books.
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Post by andydecker on Jan 1, 2019 20:40:50 GMT
I don't think I have any more than 50% of the PC westerns and probably less than that. I am particularly lacking in the Adam Steele and Jubal Cade series, plus many of the later Edges. Yes, I agree, volumes are getting scarcer and prices higher. For those reasons I expect to buy far more Kindle books to plug the gaps, or more accurately, gaping holes, in my collection. It was sobering to discover that I could buy the whole Crow series on Kindle for the price of a single print Breed. Even though I prefer print books, economics will dictate that I buy more Kindle and fewer print books. I used to buy Edge and Steele end of the 70s via mail-order. I added Jubal Cade, because I suspected that they were somehow connected, C.R.Pike was a character in an early Edge, if I remember correctly, which seemed to big a coincidence. But never had an idea that all these books were the work of just four guys. Then I lost interest and stopped ordering them. That the novels became tamer was also a factor. (Not Cade; Wells always wrote a blood-bath. Still, I missed the last books.) I don't recall when and how I discovered the back-story of Terry Harknett, Laurence James and the rest of the gang. Maybe in an early issue of Justin's excellent Paperback Fanatic. Or Terry's first message board? Anyway, then I began collecting the different series in earnest and completed Edge and Steele, achieved mostly full sets of the rest. I read a lot of the novels, but also put a lot just on the shelf. Some are still unread. One day, when I really have the time ... A few never did work for me. Apache for instance I never cared for, the only series I missed most novels. The ones I liked most and even re-read a few are Herne, Hawk and Gringos. I don't know what it is with Hawk, it is absolutely generic, the handicap of the hero - no PC-hero without a special weapon or handicap - is truly unbelievable in this context. But the novels are quite good. I think the more successful ones are those where there were two writers at work. The one writer series like Cade or Breed gets a bit repetitive after a while.
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Post by ripper on Jan 2, 2019 11:59:36 GMT
I don't think I have any more than 50% of the PC westerns and probably less than that. I am particularly lacking in the Adam Steele and Jubal Cade series, plus many of the later Edges. Yes, I agree, volumes are getting scarcer and prices higher. For those reasons I expect to buy far more Kindle books to plug the gaps, or more accurately, gaping holes, in my collection. It was sobering to discover that I could buy the whole Crow series on Kindle for the price of a single print Breed. Even though I prefer print books, economics will dictate that I buy more Kindle and fewer print books. I used to buy Edge and Steele end of the 70s via mail-order. I added Jubal Cade, because I suspected that they were somehow connected, C.R.Pike was a character in an early Edge, if I remember correctly, which seemed to big a coincidence. But never had an idea that all these books were the work of just four guys. Then I lost interest and stopped ordering them. That the novels became tamer was also a factor. (Not Cade; Wells always wrote a blood-bath. Still, I missed the last books.) I don't recall when and how I discovered the back-story of Terry Harknett, Laurence James and the rest of the gang. Maybe in an early issue of Justin's excellent Paperback Fanatic. Or Terry's first message board? Anyway, then I began collecting the different series in earnest and completed Edge and Steele, achieved mostly full sets of the rest. I read a lot of the novels, but also put a lot just on the shelf. Some are still unread. One day, when I really have the time ... A few never did work for me. Apache for instance I never cared for, the only series I missed most novels. The ones I liked most and even re-read a few are Herne, Hawk and Gringos. I don't know what it is with Hawk, it is absolutely generic, the handicap of the hero - no PC-hero without a special weapon or handicap - is truly unbelievable in this context. But the novels are quite good. I think the more successful ones are those where there were two writers at work. The one writer series like Cade or Breed gets a bit repetitive after a while.
For a long time I thought that the PC westerns were written by American authors and published in the UK. It wasn't until coming across a web site around 2001 that I found out who the PC authors were and that they were British. The toning down of the violence in the Edge series also put me off buying them, and that is a factor in why I lack a large number of the later entries, plus that prices for print copies can be far more than I am willing to pay. I have only a single example of the Apache series, the first one, and likewise it just didn't grab me for some reason. I quite like the Hawk series, even though it is as you say rather generic, and the inclusion of a flashback scene in nearly every book showing why Hawk wears that glove gets annoying imo, though for new readers I suppose it has to be there. I have most of the Breeds and quite like the series as it can get pretty bloody at times. I have all the Crows. I like the series, though Crow himself is hard to like--is he the meanest s.o.b. in the PC westerns? I mean, right at the start of vol 1 he shoots a little girl's dog just because she couldn't get Crow's neckerchief from it quick enough. Yes, the series where a couple of authors shared writing duties did seem to keep the stories fresher, and it is interesting to view how their styles contrast. I would have liked to see more team-ups between PC heroes, but I suppose that might not have been so easy given many had different publishers, though there is sometimes a passing reference to a character from another series. I know that there are the Edge meets Steele team-ups, and Mike Linaker has written at least one Bodie meets Brand team-up (though I am not really sure if Brand is viewed as a PC character by die-hard fans).
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Post by andydecker on Jan 2, 2019 17:13:28 GMT
For a long time I thought that the PC westerns were written by American authors and published in the UK. It wasn't until coming across a web site around 2001 that I found out who the PC authors were and that they were British. I have all the Crows. I like the series, though Crow himself is hard to like--is he the meanest s.o.b. in the PC westerns? I mean, right at the start of vol 1 he shoots a little girl's dog just because she couldn't get Crow's neckerchief from it quick enough. I would have liked to see more team-ups between PC heroes It is quite interesting that they never made a big secret of this; I have found a interview with Angus Wells where he discusses his westerns and is quite candid about who writes what. But this was for a small fan circle, I guess. I had a difficult time with Crow. It tries too hard and sometimes borders on self-parody, IMHO. Maybe I read too much of them at the time, but for me this is always James' last hurrah, and it shows. The Edge meet Steele are a bit varied. The first one does works splendid - if one as a long-time reader can suspend your disbelief right at the start of the novel where one of the guys does something which I still think after all these years is very out of character :-) -, it is one of those town under siege tales. The second one is okay, the third one a bore, if you ask me. There are a few walk-ons of the heroes in other series. Of course they remain nameless, but if I remember correctly, Edge is mentioned in one Jubal Cade and one Gunslinger. And Cuchillo Oro, the Apache, is mentioned in one Herne. It is fun to spot them., Of course more often the guys lets their collegues die terrible deaths in the stories. Some are of the opinion that in-jokes are poor wit, but I like them.
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Post by ripper on Jan 3, 2019 10:43:24 GMT
For a long time I thought that the PC westerns were written by American authors and published in the UK. It wasn't until coming across a web site around 2001 that I found out who the PC authors were and that they were British. I have all the Crows. I like the series, though Crow himself is hard to like--is he the meanest s.o.b. in the PC westerns? I mean, right at the start of vol 1 he shoots a little girl's dog just because she couldn't get Crow's neckerchief from it quick enough. I would have liked to see more team-ups between PC heroes It is quite interesting that they never made a big secret of this; I have found a interview with Angus Wells where he discusses his westerns and is quite candid about who writes what. But this was for a small fan circle, I guess. I had a difficult time with Crow. It tries too hard and sometimes borders on self-parody, IMHO. Maybe I read too much of them at the time, but for me this is always James' last hurrah, and it shows. The Edge meet Steele are a bit varied. The first one does works splendid - if one as a long-time reader can suspend your disbelief right at the start of the novel where one of the guys does something which I still think after all these years is very out of character :-) -, it is one of those town under siege tales. The second one is okay, the third one a bore, if you ask me. There are a few walk-ons of the heroes in other series. Of course they remain nameless, but if I remember correctly, Edge is mentioned in one Jubal Cade and one Gunslinger. And Cuchillo Oro, the Apache, is mentioned in one Herne. It is fun to spot them., Of course more often the guys lets their collegues die terrible deaths in the stories. Some are of the opinion that in-jokes are poor wit, but I like them. I have the first Edge meets Steele book and have read it once only. I had read 4 or 5 PC westerns beforehand and had probably binged-out on them, and consequently didn't really enjoy it that much, so should give it another go at some time. I don't mind the references to other characters and in-jokes, as for me it sort of adds a bit of believeability. I mean, if all these guys were wandering around the American west in the 1860s-1880s, it would make sense that they would get to know of one another, if only by reputation.
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