ONE NIGHT IN SIXES
(Children of the Drought, #1)
by
Tex Thompson
Genre: Epic Western Fantasy
Publisher: Solaris
Date of Publication: July 29, 2014
Number of Pages: 464
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Appaloosa Elim is a man who knows his place. On a good day, he’s content with it.
Today is not a good day.
Today, his so-called “partner” – that lily-white lordling Sil Halfwick – has ridden off west for the border, hell-bent on making a name for himself in native territory. And Elim, whose place is written in the bastard browns and whites of his cow-spotted face, doesn’t dare show up home again without him.
The border town called Sixes is quiet in the heat of the day, but Elim’s heard the stories about what wakes at sunset: gunslingers and shapeshifters and ancient animal gods whose human faces never outlast the daylight.
If he ever wants to go home again, he’d better find his missing partner fast. But if he’s caught out after dark, Elim risks succumbing to the old and sinister truth in his own flesh – and discovering just how far he’ll go to survive the night.
The first book in an epic fantasy Western series, One Night in Sixes tells the story of the fragile peace between the industrialized east and the indigenous west – and how it threatens to fall to pieces when two strangers cause a terrible accident. Recommended for fans of the Western mythos of Stephen King’s Dark Tower series, the post-war frontier dynamics of Firefly and Deep Space Nine, and the multicultural fantasy realms of Ursula K. LeGuin.
PRAISE FOR ONE NIGHT IN SIXES:
“Clearly written and engaging” – Publishers Weekly
“This author can really write. If you loved Stephen King’s Dark Tower series – or even if you’re a hardened Cormac McCarthy fan – you will find this book right inside your wheelhouse. Living, witty dialogue, and a familiar-yet-strange world inhabited by vivid characters. I loved it.” – Paul Kearney, author of The Ten Thousand, Hawkwood and the Kings, and A Different Kingdom
“Sixes is a tinderbox of a town with tensions just waiting to go off – and Sil and Elim provide the match to set the volatile town ablaze.” – GCE
“One Night in Sixes tears the covers off the Western and Fantasy genres and turns them into something that will grip you from the first page to the last.” – Rebellion
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The overall plot in One Night in Sixes is often cloaked in the mistaken identity of a slow and meandering story. Don’t be fooled. The reader is accorded no restful moments as the story shifts and undulates without apology. Startling events methodically unfold and reveal the fleshy underbelly of racism, hatred, greed, prejudices, and multi-faced liars. Amidst this muck and mire lies beauty in unassuming characters and bold heroes alike.
Is the story complex? Yes. Is the story confusing? At times. But this complexity and confusion are layered in One Night in Sixes, and through thoughtful and mindful comprehension, the reader is rewarded with a story rife with deeply developed characters that show all sides of humanity: the good, the bad, and the indifferent.
For me, One Night in Sixes is a clearly muddled presentation of how humans can shape shift when it fits a purpose, good and evil. The overall story assigns labels to identify the Other and the privileged and identify people veiled as the high and mighty and those constantly underfoot or camouflaged to stay alive. Duality is a stark theme here: night and day, hot and cold, water and earth, dark and light, man and beast, human and inhuman, and opposite worlds on either side of the river.
Appaloosa Elim is both brown and white but neither brown nor white. He is a half, a speckled mule, an abomination with no sure foothold in any world. But it is through Elim that the reader sees and feels the frustration of this strange world saturated with prejudices and hierarchy. The reader becomes ensnared in Elim’s resentment of needing to chase after and protect Sil Halfwick, a hot-headed Northman hell bent on a fool’s errand. Elim both hates and loves Sil, ultimately forging an unwanted connection that can only have one ending.
Interested yet? You should be. One Night in Sixes is not meant to be read halfheartedly or with divided attention. The language is lyrical, beautiful, humorous, and showy. The plot is stratified and rich. The characters are bazaar and recognizable as caricatures of all walks of life. The ending is the beginning of the next adventure.
My favorite characters are Fours and Día. They are not whom they pretend to be. They are enigmas wrapped in seeming conformity and servitude. I would love to learn more of their stories.
A much-needed glossary is located at the end, but a quick reference to its existence before the start of this intriguing and highly complex story would be helpful.
Enter the giveaway below for a chance to win a signed copy of One Night in Sixes by Tex Thompson.
Arianne “Tex” Thompson is a home-grown Texas success story. After earning a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s in literature, she channeled her passion for exciting, innovative, and inclusive fiction into the Children of the Drought – an internationally-published epic fantasy Western series from Solaris. Now a professional speaker and instructor for the Writers Path at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Tex is blazing a trail through writers’ conferences, workshops, and fan conventions around the country – as an endlessly energetic, relentlessly enthusiastic one-woman stampede.
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PLUS EXCLUSIVE BONUS! CHAPTER ONE SNEAK PEEK AT TEX’S NEXT FANTASY WESTERN!
November 5-November 14, 2017
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CHECK OUT THE OTHER GREAT BLOGS ON THE TOUR:
| 11/5/17 | Promo | Hall Ways Blog |
| 11/6/17 | Excerpt | Chapter Break Book Blog |
| 11/7/17 | Review | Reading by Moonlight |
| 11/8/17 | Scrapbook | Texan Girl Reads |
| 11/9/17 | Author Interview | Books and Broomsticks |
| 11/10/17 | Guest Post | Tangled in Text |
| 11/11/17 | Review | Syd Savvy |
| 11/12/17 | Review | The Librarian Talks |
| 11/13/17 | Sneak Peek | A Page Before Bedtime |
| 11/14/17 | Review | Forgotten Winds |
