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Shadow on the Sun

by Richard Matheson

3.08 · rating details · 49 ratings · 6 reviews

Southwest Arizona, a century ago. An uneasy true exists between the remote frontier community of Picture City and the neighboring Apaches. That delicate peace is shredded when the bodies of two white men are found hideously mutilated. The angry townspeople are certain the “savages” have broken the treaty, but Billjohn Finley, the local Indian agent, fears that dark

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Paperback, 192 pages

Published January 19th 2010 by Tor Books (first published 1974)

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Aug 04, 2011

AudioBookFans rated it

· review of another edition

Originally posted at http://www.audiobookfans.com

Story: Shadow On The Sun is a horrific mystical journey into the borderlands of early America where wary townspeople and neighboring Apaches have finally agreed to a truce. Matheson wastes no time in building tensions that threaten to break the treaty and thrust the countryside back into a bloody war. It is ultimately left to Billjohn Finley (the Indian agent who negotiated the truce) to attempt to maintain the peace.

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Mar 06, 2011

Dave rated it

Though my interests in the genre has waxed and waned at various points in my life I’ve always been interested in Westerns. Growing up the Lone Ranger and Tonto were the first Western characters to ever capture my imagination. In my teen years I discovered the Westerns of Clint Eastwood and numerous other “Spaghetti” Westerns, a genre which I still find cool today. Then in my twenties I discovered the type of Western I loved best, the “Weird Western”. Weird West tales are usually a hybrid of West...moreThough my interests in the genre has waxed and waned at various points in my life I’ve always been interested in Westerns. Growing up the Lone Ranger and Tonto were the first Western characters to ever capture my imagination. In my teen years I discovered the Westerns of Clint Eastwood and numerous other “Spaghetti” Westerns, a genre which I still find cool today. Then in my twenties I discovered the type of Western I loved best, the “Weird Western”. Weird West tales are usually a hybrid of Western and horror stories some times with fantasy and even steam punk science fiction elements thrown in. My introduction to “Weird Westerns” came in the form of the Jonah Hex stories published by DC Comics Vertigo Imprint and the “Deadlands” Roleplaying game. Both of these properties were so rich and mixed the genres so well that to me the “Weird Western” was like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup of cool.

So I was very intrigued to discover that legendary horror writer Richard Matheson had penned a Weird Western novel titled “Shadow on the Sun”. I was familiar with Matheson’s horror writing but when I picked up the book I discovered he had penned several Western stories as well. So Matheson had background with both genres and in “Shadow on the Sun” he demonstrated a knack for mixing them together in a potent combination.

“Shadow on the Sun” takes place right around the time Indians are being forced upon reservations through out the country. In Picture City, Arizona Billjohn Finely, the local agent for the Bureua of Indian Affairs, has helped broker a peace treaty between the U.S. government and a band of Apache Indians. Shortly after the treaty is signed, two townsfolk are found savagely murdered. David Boutelle, a young southern Politician sent to town by the U.S. government suspects the Apaches have broken the treaty. Finley suspects something stranger and more sinister is going on. His fears are confirmed when a strange man comes to town; a stranger who is not exactly human.

So the bulk of the action unfolds as a mystery story as Finley and Boutelle try to figure out the truth behind the murders. Discovering the truth doesn’t take long though because “Shadow on the Sun” is a short novel and moves very quickly. Matheson doesn’t skimp on story though. The pacing of the story is incredibly satisfying.

The other aspect of “Shadow on the Sun” that made it a fun read was that it was essentially a buddy book. At the beginning of the story Finley and Boutelle don’t like each other. They’re the classic pair of mismatched heroes, but as they try to uncover what’s really happening in their town and the nearby wilderness a friendship grows. You also get the sense that the character of Boutelle, who starts of as your typical Indian hating rich city slicker, grows.

I only had two complaints about “Shadow on the Sun” and they were slight ones based more on personal preference than the quality of the writing. I thought the character behind the murders in the story was more interesting when we didn’t know who he was. I didn’t find Matheson’s back story for him to be as compelling as the one I concocted in my mind. Plus the climax of the book and the way Finley and Boutelle stopped the thing behind the murders, happened in a different manner that I would have liked. It was an interesting manner, but I would have preferred something a little more exciting.

All in all though. “Shadow on the Sun” was a fun, quick read. It also proved that Richard Matheson knows how to deftly blend the horror genre with a Western tale for a proper and compelling Weird Western.(less)

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Sep 14, 2011

David rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Apaches, Indian agents

Shelves: audiobook, western, horror, american-fantasy

A pretty straightforward horror/western: the gruesome murders of two white men threaten a treaty between a band of warlike Apaches and the U.S. before the ink has even dried, but when Indian agent Billjohn Finley investigates, he discovers that the murderer may be supernatural.

Matheson's writing is pure story: he doesn't set up more than he needs to, and his characters get only as much detail as they need. This would make a good movie, though unlike many of Matheson's other stories, ...more

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Aug 11, 2011

Joey Cruz rated it

· review of another edition

Another case of Matheson taking a relatively ordinary story and making it shine with the power of his prose, pacing and characters. This one is well-labeled as a tale of the Weird West. A supernatural thriller set against the backdrop of tense negotiations between a struggling town and the local indian tribe.

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May 23, 2010

Terri rated it

Shelves: horror, historical-fiction, native-american

Set in the 19th century west, Finley has signed a peace treaty with an apache band. But now horrific murders have occurred and the people in town believe the Indians are responsible. Only he isnt too sure. A strange man has been in town and the Apaches are frightened. But what he finds terrifies him. Pretty good tale.

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Jan 16, 2012

Andrew Scaife rated it

Shelves: horror

Simple, cinematic, fantasy western. Reads like a fairy tale. Loved it.

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Jan 31, 2012

MB Taylor rated it

Jan 28, 2012

Gary rated it

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Shelves: fantasy

Jan 20, 2012

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Shelves: own-nook

Jan 12, 2012

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Dec 31, 2011

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Dec 25, 2011

Naty rated it

Shelves: horror, western

Dec 15, 2011

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Shelves: science-fiction

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Shelves: 100-200

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About Richard Matheson

Born in Allendale, New Jersey to Norwegian immigrant parents, Matheson was raised in Brooklyn and graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School in 1943. He then entered the military and spent World War II as an infantry soldier. In 1949 he earned his bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and moved to California in 1951. He married in 1952 and has four children, three of w...moreBorn in Allendale, New Jersey to Norwegian immigrant parents, Matheson was raised in Brooklyn and graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School in 1943. He then entered the military and spent World War II as an infantry soldier. In 1949 he earned his bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and moved to California in 1951. He married in 1952 and has four children, three of whom (Chris, Richard Christian, and Ali Matheson) are writers of fiction and screenplays.

His first short story, "Born of Man and Woman," appeared in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in 1950. The tale of a monstrous child chained in its parents' cellar, it was told in the first person as the creature's diary (in poignantly non-idiomatic English) and immediately made Matheson famous. Between 1950 and 1971, Matheson produced dozens of stories, frequently blending elements of the science fiction, horror and fantasy genres.

Several of his stories, like "Third from the Sun" (1950), "Deadline" (1959) and "Button, Button" (1970) are simple sketches with twist endings; others, like "Trespass" (1953), "Being" (1954) and "Mute" (1962) explore their characters' dilemmas over twenty or thirty pages. Some tales, such as "The Funeral" (1955) and "The Doll that Does Everything" (1954) incorporate zany satirical humour at the expense of genre clichés, and are written in an hysterically overblown prose very different from Matheson's usual pared-down style. Others, like "The Test" (1954) and "Steel" (1956), portray the moral and physical struggles of ordinary people, rather than the then nearly ubiquitous scientists and superheroes, in situations which are at once futuristic and everyday. Still others, such as "Mad House" (1953), "The Curious Child" (1954) and perhaps most famously, "Duel" (1971) are tales of paranoia, in which the everyday environment of the present day becomes inexplicably alien or threatening.

He wrote a number of episodes for the American TV series The Twilight Zone, including "Steel," mentioned above and the famous "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet"; adapted the works of Edgar Allan Poe for Roger Corman and Dennis Wheatley's The Devil Rides Out for Hammer Films; and scripted Steven Spielberg's first feature, the TV movie Duel, from his own short story. He also contributed a number of scripts to the Warner Brothers western series "The Lawman" between 1958 and 1962. In 1973, Matheson earned an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for his teleplay for The Night Stalker, one of two TV movies written by Matheson that preceded the series Kolchak: The Night Stalker. Matheson also wrote the screenplay for Fanatic (US title: Die! Die! My Darling!) starring Talullah Bankhead and Stefanie Powers.

Novels include The Shrinking Man (filmed as The Incredible Shrinking Man, again from Matheson's own screenplay), and a science fiction vampire novel, I Am Legend, which has been filmed three times under the titles The Omega Man and The Last Man on Earth and once under the original title. Other Matheson novels turned into notable films include What Dreams May Come, Stir of Echoes, Bid Time Return (as Somewhere in Time), and Hell House (as The Legend of Hell House) and the aforementioned Duel, the last three adapted and scripted by Matheson himself. Three of his short stories were filmed together as Trilogy of Terror, including "Prey" with its famous Zuni warrior doll.

In 1960, Matheson published The Beardless Warriors, a nonfantastic, autobiographical novel about teenage American soldiers in World War II. During the 1950s he published a handful of Western stories (later collected in By the Gun); and during the 1990s he published Western novels such as Journal of the Gun Years, The Gunfight, The Memoirs of Wild Bill Hickok and Shadow on the Sun. He has also written a(less)

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