Lando

Up to this point my experience with Westerns has been limited to shelving them at the library and observing how much the Amish young men of my hometown loved them. That and the aggressively male tone of the genre combined to make me think that Westerns were somehow inferior to my usual reads — too formulaic, too predictable, and too blinded by their own conventions to be enjoyed by anyone outside the circle of the campfire. But I have come to realize how much I enjoy genre-driven books. Don't formulas exist because they work? Anyone who enjoys a good murder mystery, as I do, would have to agree. Formulaic isn't always bad.

Prolific and immensely popular, Louis L'Amour is to Westerns what Agatha Christie is to mysteries. I wanted to show more break into the genre with something in the mainstream, and considering L'Amour's 80+ titles, he seemed a good choice. And so I picked up the audiobook of Lando, seventh in L'Amour's Sackett saga. Perhaps L'Amour experts can tell me if this was a good option for my first Western or if there are other titles they would have recommended, but I certainly enjoyed it. This unabridged audiobook was read by Josh Hamilton for Random House Audio.

Lando tells the story of Orlando Sackett, who, at age eleven, is left by his recently widowed father with Mr. McCaffrey for his education and upbringing, paid for in mysterious Spanish gold. But McCaffrey is a hard man, and Lando runs away to live alone at the old family homestead in the Tennessee mountains. Five years later he leaves those mountains with the Tinker, who brings news of Lando's three uncles who are bent on murdering him. They wander west, in a way that seems aimless at first. But it soon becomes clear that there is a secret purpose to the Tinker's travels — a long-lost treasure sunk off the Mexican coast. Where did Lando's father Falcon Sackett get that rich Spanish gold? And did he teach Lando the clues to its whereabouts before he left?

The story is surprisingly complex, encompassing a quest, exile, horseracing, a monumental boxing match, imprisonment, torture, revenge, lovely ladies, double-crossing landowners, pirates, outlaws, and more. I can see why the Amish boys would gulp this stuff down so hungrily — I found myself inhaling the story impatiently as I made my daily commute. Perhaps those Amish boys and I aren't so different after all. We both love good storytelling. And there's just so much that is fun about a tale like this... the manly men, the pretty women with their various secret agendas, the gunslinging and fist action, the history woven casually into the narrative.

L'Amour is a master of pacing and more than once I smiled (and grimaced!) at the cliffhangers at the end of his long chapters. Occasionally the prose felt a bit stilted; maybe it's just the way that Hamilton reads. But I noticed this less and less as the story gathered steam.

So I read my first Western, and I'm glad curiosity got the best of my snobbery. Lando is great fun and I'll be looking for more of L'Amour's books, especially those in the Sackett cycle. show less

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Title: Lando
Series: Sacketts #7
Author: Louis L'Amour
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Western
Pages: 176
Format: Digital Edition

Synopsis:

Lando Sackett was given into the care of a neighbor when his mother died and his father just took off. Lando ended up taking off and living off the land and eventually calls out the man who stole his inheritance.

He heads out West with a tinker Gypsy, finds out his uncles are on the trail to kill him (for the sin of his show more father daring to marry their sister), comes across the fact that his father knew where a sunken treasure ship is and finds out that his dad isn't dead and always meant to return but couldn't, due to being in a mexican prison.

Lando saves the town from the gambler and is headed out West again.

The End (sunset and all)

My Thoughts:

L'Amour definitely has a thing for skipping huge chunks of time. Lando spends 6 years in the mexican prison and that time and his rescue take about 3 pages. He is skipping from peak to peak in the story and only gives us details when it suits the story he wants to tell. A very different style than what I'm used to in SFF.

I had read this in highschool but the only thing I remembered was the prizefight at the end. But my goodness, it was worth remembering. A boxing fight where the crowd is under the control of the gambler and using dirty tricks against Lando. A rifleman trying to shoot him from a window. His Ranger friends showing up and making things even. The joy, sweat, blood and tears of one man fighting another. This fight is why I gave this book 4 stars instead of 3.5.

The rest of the book was pretty good too. Showed how greed and pride could destroy men from the inside and how obsession could take over and ruin a man from living a quiet, satisfying life. A great Western that shows Rugged American Individualism at its best.

To close, the cover. While this edition does a decent job of showing the prizefight at the end, the guy just doesn't look like Lando. THIS cover does a much better job:

★★★★☆ show less

Lando is the 8th book in Louis L’Amour’s Sackett Family series of which I have been reading on and off for years. This particular story features Orlando Sackett, a young man who has had misfortune follow him all his life. He ends up in Texas and involved in a hunt for missing pirate plunder. He is captured and spends years in a Mexican jail, when he escapes he returns to Texas and plans revenge on those who wronged him.

Although there was plenty of action in this story, I felt it was a little thin on story-line. The reader is told that Lando spends six years in jail, but I would rather have read a little more about this as he went into jail a boy, and came out a fully formed man. As the story progressed, characters came and went with show more very little explanation, leaving me confused as to their purpose or motives. I also felt that the ending seemed very rushed and wasn’t really very conclusive. I thought perhaps the next book in the series will continue Lando’s story, but a quick check shows that the next few books deal with a different member of the Sackett clan.

Overall this was a very quick read that I was able to finish in one sitting. It was enjoyable enough at the time, but I highly doubt that I will remember much about this story in the future. show less

Lando has had more than his fair share of misfortune. Looking for his father and some lost gold, he eventually finds both, but before he can enjoy the life he envisions, he is captured by Mexicans and spends six brutal years in a Mexican prison. A twist of fate allows him to escape, but his trials aren’t over yet. This wildly adventurous tale is gripping and terrifying at times. Intriguing and entertaining, it’s another fine example of the writing genius of Louis L’Amour.

This Western starts out in Tennessee and moves west. It's theme seems to be revenge and it is explored in several ways. Sadly, I don't think the character of Lando was as well developed as the Sacketts were in the earlier novels. However, the character of the Tinker was rich with hints about his past. The mystery behind Falcon Sackett was also nicely created. Those and a racing mule raised the book above the average Western.

Fans of Louis L'Amour will like this book. Fans of the Sackett series will want it.

As a child Lando is left in the care of a faithless neighbor, but within a few years strikes out on his own, heading west. His travels take him eventually to Texas and Mexico, competing with outlaws and relatives on a quest for gold. Standard but enjoyable fare from this author.

Historical Fiction. A young man after losing his family, running away from home and raising himself in the mountains of Tennessee heads west to make his fortune. On the way he learns to fight, makes some friends and enemies, and learns his father was much more than he thought. He attempts to find his fathers treasure and gets captured and put in a Mexican prison as slave labor. He escapes the prison and gets revenge on his old enemies.

I like ready Louis L'Amour's books, and his Sackett series is some of his best work but they do tend to fit a pattern. I enjoyed the book and will likely read it again someday.