Louis L'Amour has a reputation as a prolific storyteller and a dependable one, but not as a remarkable one. Relying on formula to churn out bestselling potboilers by the hundreds, L'Amour established himself as the best-known writer of Westerns, even if he wasn't the best. I had, however, heard The Lonesome Gods described as one of this prolific, dependable storyteller's most remarkable books. This novel, longer than your usual L'Amour fare, was – I was told – more philosophical, more introspective, perhaps (whisper it) more literary.

Unfortunately, I found this not to be the case. The introspection, such as it is, is surface-level stuff; it is unfair to label it superficial, but it doesn't really do anything other than polish hoary old sentiments about desert mysticism. It might get your more casual reader thinking, but it will be completely underwhelming to anyone who reads regularly and widely. Nor is the book helped by the fact that the introspection comes from a very young protagonist: Johannes Verne is six years old when the story begins, and it follows him into his teens, but at all points he speaks logically, soberly and maturely. It's as though L'Amour could only write from the perspective of a taciturn, dyed-in-the-wool plainsman, and couldn't shake the narrative voice even when it's a six-year-old boy. Because of this, the more serious and thoughtful parts of the story are spiked with some unwelcome absurdity.

With The Lonesome Gods falling short in its ill-defined thematic goals, the reader retreats towards more dependable L'Amour terrain, in the hope of salvaging something from the experience. But the book struggles to make a mark even as a pulpy Western adventure. The characters are samey and the plot is unfocused; we're never entirely sure what Johannes Verne's goals are. Is he to defeat the villains and avenge his father? Is he to claim his rightful inheritance as a leader of men? Is he to claim the girl? Or is he meant to retreat into a solitary, spiritual life in the desert? We're never sure, and so when Verne claims a semblance of all of them, but none completely, we're left unfulfilled. L'Amour is on autopilot here, stirring the pot and bubbling up new points of conflict and resolving plot points, until the book's gone on so long that it's all gone a bit off the boil.

The book has its moments, but the moments it does have are ones that you can find more readily in leaner L'Amour adventures. And what it tries to do differently doesn't really work; there are interesting hints of 'the lonesome gods' of ancient, pre-Indian peoples who lived in the desert, but they're never really utilised – a decision made even stranger by the fact they are seemingly lent central importance by the title. Plot, character and theme don't support the book's ambitions, and the book muddles through without striking upon any note of substance. "There's something out there," Johannes Verne says on one of his many longing looks towards the desert, "something I've got to find. I feel sometimes like I'd lost something out there, but I don't know what it is" (pp277-8). L'Amour doesn't seem to know either, and the reader never finds out. ( )

3.5 stars for a good story about life in the early days in California. It was fun to read a Western. The writing is somewhat lacking and all the dialogue reads like the same person is speaking, but still I recommend it.


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A really good novel. Early Los Angeles setting and the Mojave Desert. Boy left orphaned and raised by woman with a past. Mystic elements which really work if you have ever sat alone in the desert. Good reading. Probably his most fully developed and rounded longer work. ( )

Not L'Amour's best or even his second or third best. Protagonist is a six year old boy who is a full fledged adult - learned - mature - well read - unbelievable and ridiculous - 200 pages in and the story had meandered, languidly to, well, exactly, no where - just quit caring about the interminable lead in to whatever happened after page 200 - probably not much. Read something else. ( )

Life-changing. ( )