Title: Cold West
Author: Clayton W. Snyder
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Fantasy / Western
Release Date: February 29, 2020
Star Rating: 7/10
*Disclaimer*
Everyone is different and likes and dislikes different things. Reading is no exception. One person’s all-time favorite might seem too bland or too high stakes for another. That being said, the opinions of our judges in this contest are just that, opinions. Just because we let a book go, doesn’t mean it isn’t good. It could be your next favorite, who knows?
If you have no idea what I’m talking about, you can learn more about the contest here.
Today we are reviewing Cold West, which was Before We Go Blog’s pick for this year’s Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off. You can read their review here. And you can see the finalist spreadsheet here.
Summary
Bastard.
Killer.
Husband.
Father.
His wife cold in the ground, and two young boys to feed, Wil Cutter turns to what he knows: Violence. But a bounty is never just a bounty, and blood is never spilled in drops. Forced to ever more violent acts, he’ll have to ask himself: Is Hell too far to ride?
Our Thoughts
So let’s see what our judges thought of it!
Lana
Cold West is a short, grimdark, weird western, fantasy. And even at 140 odd pages Snyder manages to pack a gut punch that forced me to slow down and read this slowly, though the pace of it is actually quite fast. The narration style forced me to slow and experience every visceral moment along with Wil Cutter. It was like whiskey on the rocks. It burnt all the way down but left a nice taste in my mouth and a heat in my belly long after I read it.
There is no shortage of violence or bloodshed as one would expect from grimdark in this tale of revenge. And I was here for it.
There are multiple flashbacks and fever dreams that some may find confusing, but I found they connected me to Wil Cutter better. I knew what kind of man he was through these bittersweet and sometimes horrifying recalls.
The choice of prose and narration was perfect for this type of book. The magic is intriguing, and I’d love to read more in this world.
Julia
This is well written, and the grief at the start really bleeds from the page, but I couldn’t enjoy it.
Not because it’s too dark—it is that, but I like my soul torturing books after all. The start was super intriguing and engaging actually, and for the first few chapters I was hooked.
No, for me it’s the way it’s written that just doesn’t work. I reread some sections of this short book four times, because I thought I missed something or zoned out—turns out I didn’t. It’s just a mix of what’s actually happening, sudden flashbacks of random memories, and even some fever dreams or hallucinations. This is intentional, and probably does exactly what it’s meant to do, it just didn’t work for me. I had no idea what was going on for a lot of the book, and to be honest, I just didn’t really care. Live or die, doesn’t make much of a difference to me, never a good sign in a story.
If this wasn’t quite as well written, and for SPFBO I’d have DNFed it early on, and not reviewed it at all. As I have to judge it, I came back to it over and over and while it’s a short book I think I read it three times all in all just to make sure I didn’t miss anything.
Probably a great book for others, but I am not the right reader for this sort of manic main character/storyline.
Kerry
A grimdark tale of a man driven by revenge, of whom one feels both pity and loathing; set in a desolate landscape created by warfare and demonic magic.
Though Cold West is a relatively short book it is extremely layered; a book set in our protagonist’s present, recollections of actions of brutal past and sometimes in what could be termed fever dreams. While this style may not appeal to everyone, I enjoyed it and like Lana, it helped me see all the nuances that made up who Will was and why he was the man he was.
The book’s beginning is grief laden and heartbreaking. Will Cutter “was nearly broken inside, all brittle and hard, winter ice on a pond,” due to the death of his wife. The only person he loved, and who had seen a glimmer of who Will mighthave been. The thing is though, I think Will was too much of a broken man because of his past; though his wife may have given him the chance to do penance, once she passed away, he was back in the bottle and the saddle as if his marriage and his children were boxes, he’d ticked off on a bucket list. He is a man of talents and endurance though and we get glimpses of his horrific ability to survive.
Though the world at large has that Western genre feel, it’s actually a dystopian world laid bare by both war and by magic. The magic here is brutal; large gates (or portals) are ripped open and Will, with a couple of associates due to the large losses and pointlessness of the deaths around him, ripped open one of the largest.
“3 of us… broke everything… we ripped reality apart.”
However there comes a point where Will realises this world is not his world anymore and he picks a path that will either make him or break him.
Snyder has once again written a dark, nuanced, and visceral read I thoroughly enjoyed. It certainly won’t be to everyone’s liking but I was caught up in Snyder’s writing every dark page along the way.
Max
not a fan of too much darkness. What the author created was certainly interesting and unique, but for me, not very palatable.
Yaniv
This is my first ever Snyder read, and while I do very much enjoy dark fantasy, this was quite a haunting book.
Snyder’s narrative is a compelling blend of motion and emotion, where the excitement of the plot’s forward thrust is deeply connected with the undercurrents of loss that define the protagonist’s journey. It’s almost a physical reminder that beneath the surface of any quest lies the complex human experiences that fuel it.
Without realising that, I would think Cold West couldn’t be read fully, as it is a tale about navigating the landscapes of dark grief as much as the physical dangers that lurk in Snyder’s meticulously crafted world.
The worldbuilding is so very different from what we usually get in fantasy. Snyder challenges traditional Western fantasy conventions by introducing atypical and captivating elements. These features enrich the story’s backdrop and intrigue and engage the reader with the promise of depth beyond the immediate tale.
This nuanced setting, where the echoes of expansionism meet the fantastical (even if in a way that is abstract), allows Snyder to explore themes of exploration and conquest in fresh, unexpected ways.
The mention of a broader, more complex world beyond the book’s scope hints at a richly imagined universe, offering the tantalising prospect of further stories within this distinct landscape.
The story is more than just a novel; it is an invitation to journey through a world where the personal and the fantastical intersect profoundly. While for me I would have preferred a less abstract narrative, it’s still a very powerful one and Snyder’s untraditional decision deserves a lot of credit just for attempting it.
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And again, you can see the list of all the finalists and their scores here. Our judges are Adawia Asad, Julia Kitvaria Sarene, Kerry Smith, Lana Taylor, Robert Max Freeman, Yaniv Rosenfeld Cohen, and Jennie Ivins (me). If you’d like to learn more about us, including our likes and dislikes, you can read about them here.
Any queries should be directed at me, Jennie Ivins, via DM on Facebook and Twitter.
