About The English
Post 1265:
I like a good western. For evidence on that score, you can check out my last novel. You guessed it. Western. Anywho, thought I’d give The English a try. It’s a new six-part series on the Amazon. Since Rings of Power was, well, a thing that happened, my expectations weren’t huge.
Got to say, I was pleasantly surprised. There’s a lot of story in six episodes. Layers. And layers are good. The characters are unique and have unexpected motivations. I’ll make a few general observations here because I don’t want to get into spoilers.
The west is depicted in a particularly brutal fashion. It’s not a place for soft souls. You get that from the beginning. One of our heroes is a Pawnee that fought for the US Cavalry. He’s got a code, more or less, but we see that the war and decimation of his people have left him without an overly sentimental heart. Our other protagonist is an English aristocrat. She’s no pushover, but she is in over her head. These characters form a bond through intense struggle and neither are simple cardboard cutouts. I really enjoyed the relationship between them. An unlikely pair, surely, though the story makes it work.
I won’t say much about the main villain, except he is not who you expect and is just about the worst piece of crap you can imagine. There are some morally ambiguous characters in this piece, but not him. He’s all kinds of wrong.
My main takeaway is that The English is worth it. Not for the whole, but more for its parts. There are long scenes that are fantastic. It’s almost best described as a load of short stories that have a connective tissue. I found it to be reminiscent of Tarantino; the dialogue is very stylized and it’s clear the writer is having a lot of fun building his characters. The guy playing the Pawnee scout is stoic, capable, funny and wise—a unique take on the laconic man of the west.
I imagine this one isn’t for everybody. It’s dark and doesn’t give you everything you want up front. It does have its payoffs but takes time getting there through an ensemble of strange, quirky, sometimes malevolent characters. Check it out if you’re looking for something original and engaging. But it’s no picnic. Not for the kiddos or people that don’t like characters riding horses and shooting at each other. Cheers and see you after.
