Ebook635 pages8 hours
Code of the West: A Novel
By Aaron Latham
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
()
About this ebook
In this magical and epic novel, the celebrated author of Urban Cowboy delivers a Texas-size love story that transplants the legend of Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, and Merlin alive and well to the Old West -- to stunning effect. Code of the West begins when Jimmy Goodnight, a young, earnest cowhand, recovering from having been brutally abducted by Comanches who slaughtered his family, sets his life on a new and surprising course by visiting a county fair. There he agrees to try to pull out an ax that has been deeply imbedded in an anvil and that has defied the efforts of the strongest men in Texas.
Jimmy's astonishing and triumphant achievement at the fair changes his life. With the prize money he follows his dream, recruits cowboys, puts together a herd of cattle, and drives them across the plains to a deep canyon, where he intends to make his own private kingdom. Goodnight's luck and courage bring him an early and gratifying success. Above all, they bring him the comradeship of his men, and the friendship of a lifetime, when he meets Jack Loving, who is everything Jimmy Goodnight isn't -- handsome, graceful, a naturally gifted horseman, and a great dancer. Together, Goodnight and Loving make a formidable team, and their relationship is one of complete trust, the bedrock on which Goodnight's growing empire rests, on a seemingly solid foundation -- until a woman appears with whom both men fall in love.
All goes well until Goodnight makes a fearful, vengeful, and unforgiving enemy, takes on an Eastern big businessman as a partner -- and falls in love with his beautiful daughter Revelie, and fails to notice the growing mutual attraction bet-ween Revelie and Loving...
Compulsively readable, cleverly interweaving Western history (Loving and Goodnight are both based on real people in the historical West) and Arthurian legend, Code of the West is a powerful love story, a sweeping adventure, a great "Western" -- and just the kind of unexpected, unusual, and hugely successful work of fiction that has sealed Aaron Latham's reputation.
Jimmy's astonishing and triumphant achievement at the fair changes his life. With the prize money he follows his dream, recruits cowboys, puts together a herd of cattle, and drives them across the plains to a deep canyon, where he intends to make his own private kingdom. Goodnight's luck and courage bring him an early and gratifying success. Above all, they bring him the comradeship of his men, and the friendship of a lifetime, when he meets Jack Loving, who is everything Jimmy Goodnight isn't -- handsome, graceful, a naturally gifted horseman, and a great dancer. Together, Goodnight and Loving make a formidable team, and their relationship is one of complete trust, the bedrock on which Goodnight's growing empire rests, on a seemingly solid foundation -- until a woman appears with whom both men fall in love.
All goes well until Goodnight makes a fearful, vengeful, and unforgiving enemy, takes on an Eastern big businessman as a partner -- and falls in love with his beautiful daughter Revelie, and fails to notice the growing mutual attraction bet-ween Revelie and Loving...
Compulsively readable, cleverly interweaving Western history (Loving and Goodnight are both based on real people in the historical West) and Arthurian legend, Code of the West is a powerful love story, a sweeping adventure, a great "Western" -- and just the kind of unexpected, unusual, and hugely successful work of fiction that has sealed Aaron Latham's reputation.
Read more from Aaron Latham
Riding with John Wayne: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Cowboy with the Tiffany Gun: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Code of the West
Related ebooks
Daniella's Eyes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Works of Jack London: Novels, Short Stories, Poems, Plays, Memoirs & Essays: Over 250 Titles in One Edition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Jelly-Bean Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTales of the Jazz Age Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Reason For Living Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Bad Boy Bargain Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5River Tales: A Zimbell House Anthology Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Art of Anatomy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMystery on Bear's Island: A Short Adventure Novel for Girls Aged 8-11 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPoems By Pom Pom: Verses for children about countryside animals Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ring: The Dupre Family, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDeath By Deceit: Shadow Ancients Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPassing, Quicksand, and Other Stories Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Six of the Best by F Scott Fitzgerald Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMy Dear Alice: Cyber Overture, #5.5 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsI Hear a Melody Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLiving Things: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Girl from Snowy River (The Matilda Saga, #2) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Armazindy: The Poems and Prose Sketches of James Whitcomb Riley Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnlovely Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Bernice Bobs Her Hair Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRed Dove, Listen to the Wind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and 11 Other Tales of the Jazz Age Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Jewel and the Key Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDaddy's Home Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Cruise of the Dazzler Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5SeaSide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Literary Fiction For You
Little Birds: Erotica Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Annihilation: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5East of Eden Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Life of Pi: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Who Have Never Known Men Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Covenant of Water (Oprah's Book Club) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Demon Copperhead: A Pulitzer Prize Winner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Handmaid's Tale Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sympathizer: A Novel (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tender Is the Flesh Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Flowers for Algernon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All the Ugly and Wonderful Things: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lady Tan's Circle of Women: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pride and Prejudice: Bestsellers and famous Books Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Old Man and the Sea: The Hemingway Library Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Catch-22: 50th Anniversary Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Piranesi Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I'm Thinking of Ending Things: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silmarillion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Farewell to Arms Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anna Karenina: Bestsellers and famous Books Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Confederacy of Dunces Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Prophet Song: A Novel (Booker Prize Winner) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Leave the World Behind: A Read with Jenna Pick Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Nigerwife: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Code of the West
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
2 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Latham retells the story of King Arthur as it could have happened in Texas in the late 1860’s. Love triangles are a common theme in literature. I feel that a deliberate retelling of a story should also include a fresh perspective on the events especially a perspective that is dependent on the particular time and location. This story doesn’t meet that requirement.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Very sad story. I wonder if goodnight was a lucky man or unlucky. He had a difficult life but he always survived. He lost everything he loved. His sister, his Human life, his best friend, his wife, his ranch, his staff, his sheriff, even on the last few pages his horse and his only son whom he hated and killed and was killed by.
Book preview
Code of the West - Aaron Latham
8.a book_preview_excerpt.html }ێ#GD0ճVPTݭ*A% jpSqI4/{%k瘙3KFd\bw;f߾j4*s՟䟯 \}c_L/^}t605S|\c&m}c3cӆa7Ρ7
u[>%Фen{/i1-cI~c8i)\9r87O8MMݑ clͻ}NgN9ty3sh.A9M=b~:1jk]}](jy7o|6f:u=x