[Review] Wake of Vultures - Lila Bowen

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In a similar vein to Elizabeth Bear’s ( @matociquala ) “Karen Memory” and @lauraannegilman‘s “The Devil’s West” series, Lila Bowen (Delilah S. Dawson’s nom de plume for a certain chunk of her ouevre) has thrown her dusty, sweat-stained, and trail-ridden hat into the “weird west,” and done a damn fine job of it.

Nettie Lonesome takes approximately no shit and makes fewer excuses in a world that is rough and surreal, kind and cruel by turns to her and everyone else in it, and holds her stubborn chin up against a litany of adversity that would have turned lesser men (and women, and variations thereupon) into buzzard buffet. Every time the characters or audience gets a breather, it’s because there’s another headlong sprint coming.

There’s no shortage of character development for both Nettie and those folks around her, regardless of precisely how human (or not) they are, and the characters and story pull no punches with each other or the reader.