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The Doctor and the Kid (Weird West Tales #2)
by
Mike Resnick
Welcome to a West like you've never seen before! With the O. K. Corral and the battle with the thing that used to be Johnny Ringo behind him, the consumptive Doc Holliday makes his way to Deadwood, Colorado. But when a gambling loss drains his bankroll, Doc aims for quick cash as a bounty hunter. The biggest reward? Young, 20-year-old desperado known as Billy the Kid. With...more
Paperback, 323 pages
Published
2011
by Prometheus Books
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Resnick has followed up the entertaining The Buntline Special with an even more polished take on a Old West yarn. This is the story of how Doc Holliday gunned down Billy the Kid. What, you declare, Pat Garrett was responsible the Kids' early, but well deserved, demise. Just remember, this is an alternative history. Medicine men, such as Geronimo and Hook Nose have prevented the United States from expanding beyond the Mississippi with the use of magic. Besides, Resnick's Holliday is far more enga...more
I reviewed this for Night Owl Reviews - 4.5 Star Rating
With the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral behind him, Doc Holiday has moved to Deadwood, Colorado where it's supposed to be easier for him to live his remaining days while suffering from consumption. Unfortunately, he didn't plan on a night of drunken card playing leading to him losing all of his money at the gaming tables. He'll have to make some money, and do it quickly, in order to live what remains of his life in comfort.
Considering his optio...more
With the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral behind him, Doc Holiday has moved to Deadwood, Colorado where it's supposed to be easier for him to live his remaining days while suffering from consumption. Unfortunately, he didn't plan on a night of drunken card playing leading to him losing all of his money at the gaming tables. He'll have to make some money, and do it quickly, in order to live what remains of his life in comfort.
Considering his optio...more
This ain't yer grandpappy's Doc Holiday, fer sure. And it ain't the motion picture versions either. "Tombstone" was neither this gritty nor fantastic.
But it's fun. This is a quick, fun read. I zipped through this in just a couple of sittings. It's full of action and humor in a wild west with steampunk marvels and native American supernatural powers.
It was a delight to read how Billy the Kid and Doc crossed paths in an alternate reality. Of course, those aren't the only historical persons to mix...more
But it's fun. This is a quick, fun read. I zipped through this in just a couple of sittings. It's full of action and humor in a wild west with steampunk marvels and native American supernatural powers.
It was a delight to read how Billy the Kid and Doc crossed paths in an alternate reality. Of course, those aren't the only historical persons to mix...more
I liked the setting, although I didn't particularly care for the characters. Sort of an alternate history Wild West with a mad scientist by the name of Thomas Alva Edison who builds all kinds of crazy contraptions, inventions, and weapons as well as Native Americans who control magic (and have kept the US from expanding past the Mississippi). Fun, although a complete guilty pleasure.
One thing that I found slightly annoying is that the series is listed (on the back cover) as being steampunk. I th...more
One thing that I found slightly annoying is that the series is listed (on the back cover) as being steampunk. I th...more
I enjoy steampunk. Not sure why, just do. This book is the second Weird West book by Mike Resnick. It imagines an alternative history where the USA is stopped at the Mississippi River by the combined magic of Geronimo and Hook Nose. A few settlements are allowed west, like Tombstone where live Doc Holliday, Thomas Edison, Ned Buntline and a host of others whose names are part of our wild west mythos. Edison and Buntline are charged by the US government to find a way to defeat the war chiefs/sham...more
(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)
Although it's the second book in the series, this is my first experience with Mike Resnick's "Weird West" novels, in which the tropes of steampunk are exported to the cowboys and saloons of the American frontier; and I have to say, for being a deliberate B-level quickie genre tale, this was much better tha...more
Although it's the second book in the series, this is my first experience with Mike Resnick's "Weird West" novels, in which the tropes of steampunk are exported to the cowboys and saloons of the American frontier; and I have to say, for being a deliberate B-level quickie genre tale, this was much better tha...more
I've read and loved Mike Resnick before-- this book, however, was terrible. The only things I enjoyed about it was the pictures that occurred every so many chapters and the 'steam-punk' feel. It had no pacing, horribly shallow characters that I didn't care about at all and was just filled with sentences and descriptions that added nothing to the story. I'm not sure why I finished it unless it was just to prove to myself that it was terrible the whole way through.
Like its predessor, The Buntline Special, this sequel is a Steampunk Western, featuring Doc Holliday, Tom Edison, Ned Buntline, and many "new" characters to continue the story. There are more shoot outs, more killings, more Indian magic, more devices; all fun, lightweight reading, in this alternate universe where maybe the outcomes of some of the shoot outs ended differently than in our own.
The author has several appendices about the true history of the characters displayed in the storyline. One...more
The author has several appendices about the true history of the characters displayed in the storyline. One...more
The Doctor and the Kid was a book I picked up not expecting to enjoy and I ended up finishing within one day. It’s a steampunk adventure through the fabled Wild West. Resnick did a wonderful job humanizing his famous characters. While some of the action can get a bit over-the-top and the ending is a bit too neat and predictable for my taste, the rest of the book makes up for it. While I plan on reading the first book in the series to give me more of a well-rounded approach to The Doctor and the...more
This was a quick and easy read.
I really loved the old Wild Wild West show and this really reminded me of that show.
The main Characters are ones that most people have at least heard about and know a little about. Doc Holiday, Thomas Edison etc and were depicted in such a way that you can hear Doc's southern Drawl.
I'm looking forward to reading the Buntline Special which was the 1st Weird West Tale.
I really loved the old Wild Wild West show and this really reminded me of that show.
The main Characters are ones that most people have at least heard about and know a little about. Doc Holiday, Thomas Edison etc and were depicted in such a way that you can hear Doc's southern Drawl.
I'm looking forward to reading the Buntline Special which was the 1st Weird West Tale.
I love Mike Resnick and his style of writing. He adds so much and so many little details that you feel like you know Doc Holliday and the rest of the crew. He gets a bit maudlin in this episode-- but it still leaves you wanting more. A must read for any history buff of the Old West!
Good alternate history story with some of my favorite historical characters. I also enjoyed the extras at the end of the book. I didn't realize it was part of a series when I picked it up, so now I'll have to find the first book in the series.
This is by and large a better story - the first book was enjoyable, but not great - this second outing was a much better tale, maybe because I did not know as much about Billy the Kid and so I had no prejudice towards the tale - either way, this was another great romp through a fiction Old Western tale where magic prevents the US from expanding and the unlikely hero within 'Doc' Holiday may just be the answer we all need - I am already aching to read the next in this series and this has been so...more
The continuing adventures of Doc Holliday and Tom Edison in a steampunk AH western. Doc Holliday and Billy the Kid square off. The ending guarantees an additional adventure.
I don't understand how this could be the sequel to The Buntline Special. I was very disappointed. Here is a few words to describe how I feel about this book:
BORING
TERRIBLE DIALOGUE
BORING
TERRIBLE DIALOGUE
It struck me that you either get (and enjoy) Resnick's humor very much, or it will leave you absolutely cold. I'm quite fond of most of his work, and this second foray into steampunk-inspired alternate Western is no exception. The historical characters are charming, and the story is fast-paced and fun.
Not the best novel I've ever read, but it was an entertaining little bit of steampunk western.
This was my first steampunk novel. I loved it. Mike Resnick's presentation of Doc Holliday is wonderful. Makes me want to read up on the real-life person. And with the references provided at the end of the book I can do that!
What's not to like? Cameo appearances by Susan B Anthony and Oscar Wilde, even.
Cute. If I can call a gunslinger book cute. I enjoyed very much.
This is truly in the top 5 of the stupidest books I've ever read.
Just wasn't for me.
I was pleasantly surprised that I liked this book as much as I did. I went out of my normal realm checking this book out from the library and read it last out of the ones I got. But I did enjoy it a lot more than I expected.
American Staempunk at its best. What else can you say great story about great historical figures of the old west. And you have to love the illustrations. A GREAT READ
Good summer time book. Loved the setting but felt the characters were a bit out of sorts and hollow. Lacked connecting with this reader.
Another great book in the series!
May 17, 2013
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Michael "Mike" Diamond Resnick (born Chicago, March 5, 1942), better known by his published name Mike Resnick, is a popular and prolific American science fiction author. He is, according to Locus, the all-time leading award winner, living or dead, for short science fiction. He is the winner of five Hugos, a Nebula, and other major awards in the United States, France, Spain, Japan, Croatia and Pola...more
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