Product Description

Customer Reviews (10)

exciting
Although the deaths were expected to reach millions, the nuclear strike on the Pacific Ocean floor geothermal power plant Channer Vent was rationalized as the only way to save the surface population from the ancient microbe that threatened the planet (see STARFISH).The surface dwellers destroyed the vent, but as predicted the earthquake led to a tsunami that killed millions on the coasts and left parts of continents like west coast America underwater.Still world leaders insist the collateral damage was worth the cost as the microbe could have made life on the planet extinct and so are the infected crew and any sea life near the drop zone.

However, there is one problem that surfaces beyond the devastation.The Channer Vent supervisor, rifter Lenie Clark, survived the nuke and though her eyes are gone, she seeks vengeance on those who tried to bury her.Part human and part machine Lenie understands collateral damage and like world leaders does not care as her mission starts with killing her abusive father.The cyberspace MAELSTROM notices her advancement as does peacekeepers; both trying to reach her, but she keeps moving forward driven by her quest.However, what neither detects nor does her sudden human following is that she has brought something with her from the sea.

Although much less a cautionary tale than its superb predecessor STARFISH, the second Rifters tale is much faster and filled with more action.The story line grips the audience from the onset with the amount of collateral damage and destruction, but tightens the hold when Lenie walks out from the sea like a monstrous version of Ursula Andress as Honey Ryder from Dr. No.From there the action never slows, as the definition of collateral damage has been globalized.

Harriet Klausner

A tough read
When I read the excerpt from Maelstrom on Peter Watts' website I saw a flash of brilliance and was excited to get my hands on this book; however it was disappointing save for that flash, and can be difficult reading unless one is given to the effects of ADD.
The wordsmithing is excellent in many places, but because of it, the story sometimes stammers or wanders away on tangents and one occasionally has to go back several pages to remember where they left the dock.
Based in a desolate future; the themes are dark and the characters -though initially promising-- are undeveloped, merely dragged along in the shadows and easily lost to description alone; disappointing because of the potential for affect on the reader had they been otherwise.
Through correspondence with the author on his inspiration I was lead to John Brunner and anyone familiar with Brunner's work can see his afflatus in Watts and may appreciate this style of prose; other's may be overwhelmed by the sudden switch of narrative elements and style.
Watts is an intellectual and his scientific mind is evident in this book but those who enjoyed Starfish may not linger past the first twenty pages.
I found the book very interesting --almost inspiring-- stylistically, but as a story, it takes a long time to join the loose strings and is far easier to abandon than it is to return; bits of relevance to the actual story are easily forgotten.
I recommend it as an exercise for any writer wishing to expand creative possibilities but not for readers who are looking for pellucid allegory.

Fantastic sequel to _Starfish_
Peter Watts' _Starfish_ introduced the reader to a fascinating, very well-developed dystopian world, the sometimes wonderful but often frightening world of the mid-21st century. In _Maelstrom_, Watts shows how that world comes to an end.

_Maelstrom_ begins right where _Starfish_ left off. Lenie Clarke and Ken Lubin, "rifters," people modified to work at a deep sea power-generating station (practically cyborgs in some respects), are the sole survivors of an attempt to contain the deadly pathogen dubbed Behemoth, discovered at the deep sea geothermal vent where Bebee Station was located. As the reader learned in _Starfish_, the strange and extremely deadly microorganism lived at that particular vent and was isolated until humans set up shop in its habitat. Aware of the unbelievable risks posed by the microbe, the government of North America used nuclear weapons to destroy the potentially biosphere-ending benthic organism at the end of _Starfish_, hoping to destroy the vent, the station, the rifters, and anything remotely associated with Behemoth. The resulting tsunami and earthquakes - made worse by the very nature of the smart gels assigned to handle the Behemoth problem - killed millions.

Unfortunately, Behemoth was not contained. Not only had it already spread to the North American Pacific coast, it was being carried further inland by Lenie Clark. Quite angry at the betrayals and lies she had been subject to, she journeyed inland to seek answers and revenge of a sort, unfortunately sowing the seeds for North America's if not the world's demise. Wherever she went, she spread Behemoth.

Lenie Clarke became far more successful than she had any right to be, owing to an unusual concentration of forces and alignment of events in her favor, as Clarke became not only a societal force but also a force of sorts in Maelstrom, the whirling, chaotic, violent successor to the modern internet, a place dominated by increasingly intelligent and dangerous "wildlife," rogue computer programs, future descendents of today's computer viruses but much more troublesome. The author's description of the evolution of such electronic organisms and the conditions prevalent in Maelstrom in the mid 21st century were fascinating and chilling. It made me very concerned about my virus protection software on my computer (not that any modern program could hope to prevail against the monsters of Maelstrom)!

Other major players include two members of the "Entropy Patrol," two "'lawbreakers" by the name of Achilles Desjardins and Alice Jovellanos. Given enormous power to react quickly, ruthlessly, and efficiently to mounting global crises, they are information experts, able to interpret, analyze, and quickly act on mounds of data in any field, be it economics, ecology, disaster management, or any other sphere (aided by the fact that they were given incredibly enhanced intellectual reflexes and pattern-matching skills). At first the Entropy Patrol was designed to act quickly and globally in an era of quarantines, diebacks, and crop failures, acting to quickly contain diseases and invasive organisms as they spread over the world as to well as to contend with other things such as global terrorism, they increasingly came to include in their sphere other sources of concern, with the power to instantly ruin millions of lives economically or to even physically end lives with powerful weapons (as long as it served the greater good of course). More powerful than any despot or emperor ever dreamed of being, only one thing stood to keep them in check, a biochemical fix known as Guilt Trip, which prevented `lawbreakers from acting against the greater good. Derived from chemicals used by parasites to control the behavior of their host, Guilt Trip paralyzed anyone with guilt - literally paralyzing them - if they ever sought to do something against the greater good. Guilt Trip was the only way anyone would ever sleep soundly knowing people like Desjardins had such enormous power at their fingertips.

Other players included Sou-Hon Perreault, a botfly operator (botflies are remotely operated flying machines, able to hover or speed to trouble spots and bring to bear as needed a battery of sensors, instruments, and in some cases weapons) and Patricia Rowan as well (a "corpse" - or corporate executive - from the first novel).

An interesting and well-written book, it was a little dark at times though generally never truly disturbing. You can see the large amount of research the author has put into this novel (but not to such an extent that the action drags or characters come off as flat or anything).

Everything that Wm Gibson was supposed to be....
I finished Maelstrom over the weekend. In case you didnt' know, its the sequel to Starfish and number 2 of 4 in the Rifters series. The third and fourth parts are two halves of one book that have been published separately because together it was more than 110,000 words, an obscure number in publishing that means the book can't make enough to be worth publishing alone.

Starfish was one of the more imaginative sciece fiction novels that I've ever read. If you remember the hype that surrounded William Gibson when he wrote Mona Lisa Overdrive, you might also remember how disappointing those books were. More about style than substance.Peter Watts delivers both style and substance in an elegant and beautiful writing style. His books are HARD sci fi. You'll have to pay attention but its very much worth the trip. Watts delivers what Gibson was supposed to...in spades.

Starfish was about adapted humans living in the deep sea vents, mining geologic heat to convert into energy for the world above the waters. They have been modified to be able to live underwater (I want to be one!) and they're psychotic.

Maelstrom picks right up where Starfish ended and turned up the dial about a thousand percent. Wow.What an amazing read!

If you like science fiction, you'll love these books. They are the gold nuggets that we will read a thousand books to try to find. Save yourself the nine hundred ninety nine books and go get this one.

Five stars, which I'm not sure I've ever given before.

Disappointing Sequel
I bought this sequel to Starfish, and to be frank, was disap-
pointed.Narration seemed disjointed, couldn't follow it very
well-may have been too cyber-punk for my tastes.I ended up skipping to the very end to read the conclusion, and it still
disappointed me.I don't think I'll keep it, either, that's how
disappointing it was to me.Too many disaparate strings of the
story just did not seem to be resolved in a satisfying way.Too
cool and too hip a story for me.Needed better editing, perhaps
not enough resolution to keep me interested very much. ... Read more

Product Description

Watts isinvestigating monsters. Gigantic deep sea monsters,surgically-altered-from-human monsters, faceless jellied-braincomputer monsters--which monsters are human, which are more thanhuman, which are less? Watts keeps the story line stripped down toshowcase the theme of dehumanization. The anonymous millions who livealong the unstable shore of N'AmPac come under threat (a triggeredearthquake, and perhaps a disaster that's slower but even morepitiless) from their own dehumanized creations. But Watts is lessinterested in whether Lenie can save the dry world as in whether shecan save herself. In Starfish, Watts stretches the boundariesof humanity up, down, and sideways to see whether its dimensionsreveal anything we'd be proud to be a part of. --Blaise Selby ... Read more

Customer Reviews (37)

Neat near-future, niche sci-fi read
I really did like this book! It presents some neat sci-fi of what it would be like to have a little bubble of humanity at the bottom of the ocean. The science doesn't MAKE the book, the book uses it as a starting point and then focuses more on the people and a neat twist on what happens when you mix two previously separated biospheres. It's got some cool science here - more of the chemistry and biology kind but accessible to the normal science fiction reader. Though at times you could tell this was a less experienced author, I felt like Peter Watts was a younger Neal Stephenson here - along the lines of Stephenson's "Zodiac." And mix that with a little of the Preston/Child books ("Ice Limit", "Rip Tide", "Deep Storm"), and you have the book's formula. The other reviews describing this book as "dark" are very true - it's depressing at times and the characters are based on ....flawed segments of our society.

I liked this book enough to immediately get his sequel "Behemoth" which was devoured equally as quickly. I highly recommend getting both books. I will let you decide on getting the third book of the trilogy, there is much discussion both ways on it.

Science Fiction with science...
I read this after reading about the author's trip down the rabbit hole when crossing the US border and his subsequent trial.Shocking and shameful episode for the US to say the least.That said, I still wouldn't have given Starfish 5 stars if I hadn't thoroughly enjoyed it.It's been a while since I delved into some good sci-fi, I've strayed into more mysteries and thrillers for the last decade or so.This seemed like a good opportunity to check out a new author (for me) and I'm glad I did.This is the first book in a trilogy (4books/publisher thing) and I've plowed through the whole thing in less than a week.I'm ordering his more recent stand alone after finishing this.The author tells a compelling tale of an undersea power outpost with specially artificially adapted divers to man it.The environment is so oppressive that the changes that start to occur are unnoticed by them at first.It's the beginning of a unique journey and geopolitical crisis.One of my better reads this year...

Best writer I've read this year
Can't say enough about these books.Great ideas.Fine science.Bigger then life characters.I'm hooked on Watts.I'm giving his books as gifts to my favorite people.Best writer I've read this year.

Great Hard Science Fiction
Peter Watts takes his reader to the depths of the ocean and the very edge of the human psche.This hard science fiction book is the first in what was to be a trilogy, but turned out as one of a four part series.Watts brings the reader a fast paced and intrguing look at the future of mankind which as the reader finds hinges on the past of all life on this blue dot.I would highly recommend this book to any science fiction fan.In fact, I have just ordered the other three books in the series.

First-rate science fiction novel, definitely among the best I have ever read
_Starfish_ by Peter Watts is one of the finest hard science fiction books I have ever read. It had many elements of what make a great science fiction novel. It extrapolated an interesting and believable though often surprising future, the science was realistic and well-explained (and in this book was discussed at some length in a final chapter on references) yet the author didn't forget that the book was a novel, not a science textbook, many disparate elements were woven together to form a great story (in this case deepwater biology, plate tectonics, microbiology, artificial intelligence, and psychological trauma), the characters were interesting and well-developed, and the book had that rare quality of making you feel very smart, of allowing you to piece together shocking and developing story elements, the author allowing you to form conclusions, neither watering down something nor going over the reader's head with too much jargon or hard to grasp story logic. Hard to believe that this is the author's first novel! Many science fiction authors don't do nearly as well after years in their profession.

I don't want to say too much about the book's plot as I wouldn't want to spoil it for the prospective reader. I will say that the plot's main setting is unusual and interesting and what originally attracted me to the book; a deep sea geothermal power station on the seafloor of the Pacific Ocean (specifically, Beebe Station, located near the Juan de Fuca Ridge hydrothermal vents). The station is populated by a bio-engineered crew dubbed "rifters," people who had been altered physically and mechanically to able to live and work in such an incredible harsh environment, a realm of crushing pressure, arctic-temperature waters (except around the scalding vents), and alien darkness. The type of people able to live in such an environment is a key plot point of the book and makes for some very unusual and memorable characters.

Though Beebe Station and the rifters are dominant in the book, they are not the only story elements. Other notable characters are Patricia Rowan (a CEO of the Grid Authority or GA, which owns Beebe Station and employs the rifters) and Yves Scanlon (a psychologist who works for the GA), characters which become important later in the novel as events come to entangle the rifters in a mysterious and mounting catastrophe.

I will say the novel has a climatic ending and a sequel was clearly meant from the beginning as there were several loose ends. I am currently reading that very sequel, _Maelstrom_, and find it thus far a worthy follow-up, beginning right where the action left off and exploring further Watt's detailed and interesting (if scary) world.
... Read more

Product Description
Lenie Clarke-amphibious cyborg, Meltdown Madonna, agent of the Apocalypse-has grown sick to death of her own cowardice.

For five years (since the events recounted in Maelstrom0, she and her bionic brethren (modified to work in the rift valleys of the ocean floor) have hidden in the mountains of the deep Atlantic. The facility they commandeered was more than a secret station on the ocean floor. Atlantis was an exit strategy for the corporate elite, a place where the world's Movers and Shakers had hidden from the doomsday microbe ßehemoth-and from the hordes of the moved and the shaken left behind.For five years "rifters" and "corpses" have lived in a state of uneasy truce, united by fear of the outside world.

But now that world closes in. An unknown enemy hunts them through the crushing darkness of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. ßehemoth- twisted, mutated, more virulent than ever-has found them already. The fragile armistice between the rifters and their one-time masters has exploded into all-out war, and not even the legendary Lenie Clarke can take back the body count.

Billions have died since she loosed ßehemoth upon the world. Billions more are bound to. The whole biosphere came apart at the seams while Lenie Clarke hid at the bottom of the sea and did nothing. But now there is no place left to hide. The consequences of past acts reach inexorably to the very floor of the world, and Lenie Clarke must return to confront the mess she made.

Redemption doesn't come easy with the blood of a world on your hands. But even after five years in pitch-black purgatory, Lenie Clarke is still Lenie Clarke. There will be consequences for anyone who gets in her way-and worse ones, perhaps, if she succeeds...

ßehemoth: Seppuku concludes the final act (begun in ßehemoth: ß-Max) of Peter Watts's chilling and powerful Rifters series.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Compelling
I am reviewing the last 2 books as one here, which is how the author intended them to be published.First, you will have a hard time with the content if you haven't read the series starting with Starfish.The story is compelling and fascinating and a more than a little horrible.The writing is excellent and the plot unfolds briskly.The science is well researched and accessible to most intelligent readers.The proposed what-ifs of a near-apocalypitcal future are totally plausable.

But sheesh Watts is hard on his characters.I give 4 stars for a great book, because it is, but I admit I'm left cold by the violence: some sexually graphic and sadistic, up close and personal, some happening far away from the characters at hand but with devestating consequence.All in the name of saving the world.The ending is enigmatic: I would have loved a neat wrap up of the surviving characters and and exposition of the future, but it's not that kind of book.So be it: that is Watts' choice and I have no bones with it aside from personal preference.But what I do have bones with is the dilution of Lenie's character from a force to be reckoned with to a a whiny nay-sayer.Even if Lenie more or less killed the whole world in the previous books, at least she did it with style (ya know, in a really twisted way).Now she sets off to save the world with a whimper and a moan.Boo.So that's my beef.

Conclusion: if you love terse, unshirking, compelling and serious sci-fi, Watts is your man.Read in good health.

Meh
The first book in the series was great and the second was good.Lots of fascinating ideas unveiled and explored.The final book wasn't engaging at all and there were hardly any new or interesting ideas. The final "assault" scene felt like it was scripted for a hackneyed Hollywood blockbuster.

In retrospect I wish I'd stopped after book one or two and moved on to some of Watts' other stuff.

Satisfying ending to an intriguing series
Peter Watts concludes his _Rifters_ saga in the fourth and final volume, _Behemoth: Book Two: Seppuku_. Watts had written that he originally planned a trilogy but that changes in the publishing industry had forced him to divide his rather large final volume into two novels, but that he was fortunate to have a good breaking point between the two books and two resulting novels that were different in scope. It seems to have been a good choice, as while _Behemoth_Book One_ focused nearly entirely on the undersea refuge of the corpses and rifters (along with our old friend Achilles Desjardins), _Book Two_ spent no time there at all but instead allowed the reader a tour of a post-Behemoth North America, a taste of international politics, and of course the end game between Lenie Clarke, Ken Lubin, and Achilles (and a new character that the book introduces, a physician by the name of Taka Ouellette).

Overall I found it satisfying. The post-apocalyptic world we got to see was believable and interesting though wasn't perhaps as well-explored as what we got to see in _Maelstrom_. We were shown much more of the sick and sadistic pleasures of Achilles. While never really entering "torture porn" territory, the reader is left with a sense of disquiet (at least this one was) about how far the author would go in that regard. I didn't think it gratuitous, as this was a fundamental aspect of Achilles' character and of what had happened to him regarding his conscience, but it still nonetheless made me a bit uncomfortable at times (and makes me wonder just what the future holds for some forms of entertainment, given the evolution of horror films and the continual apparent need for succeeding films to outdo one another, a point I think the author was trying to make).

I liked the ending, it had two interesting twists I really enjoyed and didn't devolve into what it could have been (one character simply killing another, story over). The world at the end of the novel is fundamentally different and not necessarily a world without hope. It is also a world that would be interesting to see explored in a later novel.

I would like to express my displeasure at this series being out of print despite its recent age (_Seppuku_ came out in 2004). That is a real shame, as it is a worthwhile and interesting series, an excellent addition to the end of the world sub-genre of science fiction as well as probably the finest novel to ever handle the deep sea and ocean themes. The series overall was well researched (the author himself was a marine biologist) and had well-developed characters, a fascinating setting, and was an intriguing exploration of developing trends in our world.

Some images aren't worth seeing
I loved Starfish.I appreciated the smart science (hey, gotta love SF with bibliographies!); I found the world riveting and the characters well-drawn.But I cannot, in good conscience, recommend this book.The sequence of sexual sadism, which stretches on for chapter after excruciating chapter, is simply too visually explicit to be worth experiencing.It's an image I just didn't need, and one I can't get out of my head.It includes an eroticized clitoridectomy, for goodness sake.For me, that sequence overshadows everything else in the book, and however much you may want to see the resolution of issues raised in the other books, be sure you're willing to have that image stuck to your eyeballs before you buy or read this volume.

ugh, don't bother
The first book, "Starfish" was amazing, just a great read. This last book is horrible! Confusing, pointless, and extremely degrading, I wish I had never read it. I agree whole heartedly with "aisian film c" above! The rape and torture of one of the more sympathetic characters is what really pushed this book into the crapper for me. ... Read more

Product Description
Starfish lit the fuse.Maelstrom was the explosion.But five years into the aftermath, things aren't quite so simple as they once seemed...

Lenie Clarke-rifter, avenger, amphibious deep-sea cyborg-has destroyed the world.Once exploited for her psychological addiction to dangerous environments, she emerged in the wake of a nuclear blast to serve up vendetta from the ocean floor. The horror she unleashed-an ancient, apocalyptic microbe called ßehemoth- has been free in the world for half a decade now, devouring the biosphere from the bottom up.North America lies in ruins beneath the thumb of an omnipotent psychopath. Digital monsters have taken Clarke's name, wreaking havoc throughout the decimated remnants of something that was once called Internet. Governments have fallen across the globe; warlords and suicide cults rise from the ashes, pledging fealty to the Meltdown Madonna.All because five years ago, Lenie Clarke had a score to settle.

But she has learned something in the meantime: she destroyed the world for a fallacy.

Now, cowering at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, rifters and the technoindustrial "corpses" who created them hide from a world in its death throes. But they cannot hide forever: something is tracking them, down amongst the lightless cliffs and trenches of the Midatlantic Ridge. The consequences of past acts reach inexorably towards the very bottom of the world, and Lenie Clarke must finally confront the mess she made.

Redemption doesn't come easy with the blood of a world on your hands. But even after five years in purgatory, Lenie Clarke is still Lenie Clarke.There will be consequences for anyone who gets in her way-and worse ones, perhaps, if she succeeds. . . .

ßehemoth: ß-Max is the first of two volumes. The story will conclude in ßehemoth: Seppuku.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Not Free SF Reader
According to Watts, this is one of those American split the book in two deals.Not having read the earlier two as yet, what I would characterise this as most like would be 'Revelation Ocean' rather than 'Revelation Space', with that everybody is out to get everybody type of feel with the Ultras.

You have here modified humans whose brains work differently, opposed to their wealthy creators, and crazy viruses, both organic and machine affecting everyone.

Interesting, though. Maybe a 3.75, because this is not yet finished, as two of the architects of the mess go back up to the ground to see if they can finish things off.

Life after Behemoth?
If _Maelstrom_ showed how the world ended, in _Behemoth: Book One: B-Max_, the reader gets to see what life is like after it is all over, at least among some of the survivors.

For the most part, the world of the _Starfish_ novels (the _Rifters_ trilogy, though technically the third book had to be split into two books for publishing reasons) has shrunk to a single location for this novel, a community established at the end of _Maelstrom_ (if community is the word one would use), a sometimes-friends, more-often-enemies collection of rifters and corpses located at the bottom of the mid-Atlantic Ocean. The corpses in desperation had established an underwater city that they hoped was going to make them not only safe from Behemoth (though they also had medical fixes to make themselves immune to Behemoth) but also any reprisals by a spastic, presumably dying world that was lashing out at both old foes and those presumed to be responsible for the world-ending plague. The rifters, lead by Lenie Clarke and Ken Lubin, found the corpses, at first with thoughts to exact revenge, but instead gradually were forced to work together by various circumstances, chief among them the facts that they were isolated from the rest of the world and were unsure who outside their underwater domain was left alive (and afraid to go looking thanks to the both incredibly hostile electronic lifeforms called Lenies and also a real fear of reprisals from nations and powers outside of North America).

Much of the action centers on the swirling politics of the Mid Atlantic Ridge community, largely from the point of view of the rifters, though there was a thread on the spiraling descent into completely amoral evil of the enormously powerful Achilles Desjardins. Readers from _Maelstrom_ will recall that not only is he free from Guilt Trip he is free from guilt of any kind, yet he still possesses the incredible powers of a `lawbreaker, needed now more than ever (and the powers that be are still completely unaware of his changed mental status). Though they weren't too graphic, I will say the chapters exploring the mind of Desjardins were pretty intense and somewhat disturbing, though some of it was a building sick dread, based on information the author gave to the reader bit by bit, and part of it was my imagination of what happened next after the book's focus switched back to the rifters and corpses.

I didn't think the book was quite a strong as either _Starfish_ or _Maelstrom_ and some of the stridently one-note political attitudes of some of the rifters got tiring and too much time spent at the underwater city made the setting feel a bit claustrophobic (though it did really help drive home themes of the rifters' and corpses' isolation and the destruction of the world). I also felt Watts could have developed some of the corpses a bit more, though as the books are really about the rifters that is understandable. Still, a good book and it held my interest. I am reading book two of _Behemoth_ at the moment and am enjoying it greatly.

ultra dark and gritty action-packed thriller
Five years have passed since a vengeful cyborg Lenie Clarke released Behemoth on the world destroying everything in it path as the microbe is eating up matter.Digital monsters add to the pandemic devastation using Clarke as a rallying cry to devastate survivors through what is left of the Internet.Meltdown Madonna cults dedicated to Clarke pledge mass suicide as they rule alongside deadly war lords on the surface.

However, on the ocean floor, Lenie Clarke has learned the truth that her grudge was built on a false premise.As the altered rifters and the technoindustrial corporate executives hide in fear in Atlantis on the ocean floor of the Midatlantic Ridge, the grim reaper comes for them.Only Lenie Clarke can save the few, but first she must face the consequences of what she wrought for she knows she can never achieve salvation as she can not wash the blood from her hands even with water everywhere.

As with STARFISH and MAELSTROM, BEHEMOTH: B-MAX is an ultra dark and gritty action-packed thriller yet the tale as with the first two books is character driven especially by Lenie.The story line moves forward at a current faster than most science fiction novels, but contains irony throughout as Lenie learns the truth and like Lady Macbeth cannot simply wash the blood from her hands.Though B-Max is book one of a two book conclusion , this is a well written gripping entry, but fans of post apocalypse thrillers would be better served by waiting a few months for the release of the climatic novel and then read all four books in succession.

Harriet Klausner

Exciting sci-fi!
Not only was this book believable and its characters eerily recognizable, in regards to such tense people in our own reality, but it compliments virtually every other sci-fi available, from the space operas like "Starship Troopers", "2001", "2010", "Rendezvous with Rama", "Advent of the Corps", but incorporates the high tech level of cyberpunk like "Neuromancer", "Prey", "Snow Crash", "Cyber Hunter", and many more. Great read!

The best so far!
Before I can review the content of Peter Watts' "Behemoth: B-Max" there are two facts I need to mention.The first is that it represents the third book of a trilogy, and I would strongly recommend one tackle the first two volumes ("Starfish" and "Maelstrom") before reading this one.The second is that "Behemoth" should be one six hundred page book, but because of trends in the publishing industry it's being published as two separate volumes.The author is completely forthright about this fact, and I believe him when he says that this was not his preferred method of publication.Because of this approach, precious little is resolved in this first volume; so if you aren't a fan of cliff hangers, you might want to wait until "Behemoth: Seppuku" is published in late 2004/early 2005 to read this volume.

For those of you who are new to the series, here is a brief synopsis that should tell you whether or not these books are for you.Essentially, the story arc is about evolution: human, animal and electronic.By mixing a blend of biology, computer science and chaos theory, Watts has created a near future Earth where man is simultaneously at the height of his powers and walking the knife's edge of total ecological failure.In an effort to maintain the high standard of Western living mankind has turned to deep sea geothermal power to meet their energy needs.Miles below the ocean, specially engineered humans culled from the dregs of society maintain these power plants.However, what no one could have expected was that they would encounter an organism that would unleash an apocalypse.Part hard science-fiction, part post-apocalyptic, the first two books represent a genuinely original voice in the genre.

All that said, "Behemoth" represents another superb piece of writing by Watts; it contains all the tension and fascinating science of the earlier volumes, but also displays his increasing talent.The structure of the book is more sophisticated and subtle than the previous volumes, and I say this not to criticize the earlier books, but to highlight the strengths of this one.

Set five years after the events of "Maelstrom", "Behemoth" finds the remaining rifters and the surviving North American elite living in an uneasy truce on the floor of the Atlantic.Presumably safe from the disease that is ravaging the rest of the world, they have managed to come to an accommodation that allows everyone to live and let live.Foremost among the rifters are Lubin, the one time spy, and Lenie Clarke, the Meltdown Madonna herself.Opposite them is Patricia Rowan, their one time nemesis and sometime ally.Alone, they might have formed a shifting but stable triangle; however, their constituents, particularly the more militant rifters, force a situation that is never far from open warfare.This dichotomy is beautifully executed by Watts, and represents a shift in his approach.Where much of the tension in the prior two books was environmental, in "Behemoth" he has created a human drama that surpasses its astonishing location.

In contrast from the fragile existence on the ocean floor, the reader is presented with the contrast of Achilles Desjardins, the human god who fights chaos for the CSIRA.While occupying perhaps only a third of the book, these chapters are the most powerful.Consisting only of Achilles' thoughts, history and worldview, they paint a comprehensive portrait of one of the most powerful men on Earth.Perhaps most remarkable is that Watts makes him despicable and sympathetic at the same time, all while keeping him something of an enigma.

Given the fact that this is the third book of a trilogy, and further given the split nature of the title, any more attempts at a plot summary would risk grave spoilers.Simply put, it is science fiction as it should be written.Watts uses his setting as a means to consider our slow suicide as a species in the form of ecological decay, and the complex, and ultimately unknowable workings of the mind.He separates himself from much of what is on the market by injecting humanity and pathos into his writing; his world, no matter how brilliantly conceived and executed, is a means to a greater end.This stands in stark contrast to other "hard" SF novels which exist solely to cram technical information into a fictional setting while ignoring such fundamentals as plot and characterization.

What is perhaps most engaging about Watts' books is that he has made the mundane unique and terrifying.No one gives much though to the web as an environment, but he sees an electronic landscape filled with predators and prey.Most of us think of the ocean as the beach, but Watts reveals a world every bit as alien as the surface of another planet.Finally, his attention to detail is superb, without being overwhelming.Watts' world is replete with history, but much of it is only alluded to; this creates a world that is weighed down by history, and a novel that isn't.An excellent example of this detail is his web site.I can't post the URL here, but a simple web search will turn it up.There one can find mountains of what one might call "side-story" it doesn't fill in any gaps per se, but it does further flesh out the Earth of the 2050's.

If you're a fan, a probably have said more than I needed to to sell you on this book.However, if you are new to the series, I hope I have managed to pass on the incredible originality and superb writing Watts has to offer.This is a trilogy that is unique in my experience, and "Behemoth" represents the best contribution thus far.This is definitely not one to be missed.

Enjoy!

Jake Mohlman ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (90)

Disappointed
I was hoping that this book would be better than it was.There are many interesting ideas presented, but overall it seemed underdeveloped and disjointed for a novel.

For a biologist, he seems to have made some inappropriate biological analogies.

The Vampire Sarasti says at one point:
` "You have a naïve understanding of evolutionary processes. There's no such thing as survival of the fittest. Survival of the most adequate, maybe. It doesn't matter whether a solution's optimal. All that matters is whether it beats the alternatives." '

"Survival of the fittest" is appropriate and commensurate with "Survival of the most adequate", as it never was equated with optimal solutions as Darwin used it (It was co-opted from Herbert Spencer's generalizations).Darwin's greatest achievement was the concept of "descent through modification" not descent through optimization.He recognized that forms continued to change, that the environment seemingly pushes them towards an optimum via Natural Selection, but that they usually end up as a current "best fit".And as far as "beating the alternatives", it doesn't necessarily have to if it avoids competing with them.Subtle differences, I admit, but he is trying to make his point with some rigor.

Another poor analogy:
` "It's true," Sarasti told her, "that your intellect makes up for your self-awareness to some extent. But you're flightless birds on a remote island. You're not so much successful as isolated from any real competition." `

Some birds lose flight on islands not from lack of competition, but lack of predators and in some cases they become the top tier predators.However, they are subject to the same competitive pressures as other similar organisms in their environment.

If you are going to try to razzle-dazzle people with Egghead Mumbo Jumbo, at least try not to reinforce misperceptions.Get your analogies straight, or reread your Darwin and Gould. There are paragraphs that clearly outline applicable ideas and add much to the story, but much of the science and philosophy seems to be inserted randomly - giving the narrative a ramshackle feel, like a first draft written on a caffeine high.

And, of course, there is the Vampire in charge.How can I describe this? The constant reminders of "prey", "predator" and "meat" do not seem like adequate substitutes for personality development or interpersonal relationships.Over all, the characters showed lots of Color and Noise, but little of Art and Music.

Now, when he tries to separate intelligence from self awareness, I don't agree with his resulting species.What you end up with is a reaction machine--how can it initiate action if it is unaware of its own desires?He seems to be implying that the Scramblers are a "hive mind" parasitizing the super-Jupiter for energy and materials, but their objective never becomes clear to me.Obviously, their motives may be alien, yet their later actions and strategies are well planned out and understandable, which seems to be contradictory to their nature.And the initial contact with their machines seems only to be a ploy to get the expedition rolling as it seems to have no bearing on their subsequent actions.

On the theme of Message hostility:
"There are no meaningful translations for these terms. They are needlessly recursive. They contain no usable intelligence, yet they are structured intelligently; there is no chance they could have arisen by chance.
The only explanation is that something has coded nonsense in a way that poses as a useful message; only after wasting time and effort does the deception becomes apparent. The signal functions to consume the resources of a recipient for zero payoff and reduced fitness. The signal is a virus.
Viruses do not arise from kin, symbionts, or other allies.
The signal is an attack."
This explanation of their motivation assumes that although humans can understand alienness (they reach out to investigate it), the aliens themselves cannot?They have no conception of other species?Have they never encountered the equivalent of birds that sing, and frogs that croak, and bees that buzz for no reason other than that is what they do?Are the informationless, but structured and periodic pulsations of the stars interpreted as war cries? Do they rail against the heavens themselves in eternal anguish?How can these dumb bunnies survive? It's a stretch of the imagination that makes absolutely no sense.This reinforces the idea that they are a one-dimensional reaction machine and not intelligent at all.He didn't invent a mysterious alien race, he discovered the Roomba of Outer Space.

"Imagine you are a prisoner of war."-- some brilliant pieces that don't quite work as a whole.
A friend is in a phase of reading everything ever written by Peter Watts, and lent me this book. I'd read one of his novels earlier, and appreciate it, so I has happy to borrow it.

In the end, I enjoyed it a little bit less than I had expected. I'm sorry about that. There were many many elements in the book that I thought were really exceptionally good-- it's very smart, and often very readable.

The things I liked were the predictable Watts plus points: hard science in the science fiction (a refreshing treat, given how science fiction seems to increasingly be the retirement home for exhausted fantasy tropes), clever character observations-- perhaps a touch too predictable in their dark quirkiness? but still very nice characters as characters. The thing I liked best was his take on vampires. If you're into the vampire legend, Blindsight is worth a read for Jukka Sarasti alone. (I'll bet a lot of folks *don't* like it for this very point. YMMV.)

I also really liked the way the book tackled the problem of alien intelligences and the different forms intelligence (sentience?) can take. It's interesting and weighty stuff.

I'm hesitating about why it didn't quite work for me, largely because I'm not really sure. It's something about the sum of the parts not quite adding up. What makes a book work as a book? I'm always puzzled when something which has so many things I enjoy and respect simply fails to work as whole. It was even forgettable. It's been a while since I read it, and I really had to work to remember what I had thought-- or even what it was about.

Watts is a good writer. This reaction may be me as much as the book. I'll keep reading his work.

Existential horror story
This idea-packed novel with it's 'synthesis' of 133 scholarly references is chilling, intentionally bleak, intellectually brilliant while remaining a riveting page turner. I had thought that science fiction was dead, that we have arrived in the cyberpunk future butPeter Watts takes it to the next level. And it's scary. Not in a knives-in-the-kitchen way, but in an shiver up your soul way. Will read everything this guy writes. End transmission.

Who said "hard" science fiction is dead ?
I bought this book over a couple of years ago with no intentions to read it ASAP. I was curious by the review and the synopsis, and said "ok, that could be nice".

When I finally got to read it - I was amazed. The term I use the most to describe this book to my friends is "mind-blowing".

It is deeper than any book I read lately, on so many levels - scientific, psychological, and of course - the plot itself.

The grim and fearful event of an understanding that aliens are coming to the solar system, scanning earth - and obviously planning to visit earth takes a wild twist when a group of "chosen" pioneers are sent to the edge of the solar system to find out just what we're dealing with. Everyone in that team is unique in it's own ways - The storyteller, who went through a lobotomy and can see himself as a stranger to the situation he is in, a body with multiple personalities - and a VAMPIRE.
It might sound kitsch, but it really isn't. Peter Watts had some great ideas about everything.

Most of all, this book makes you wonder. Over a month after I finished reading it, I still ponder about some of the subjects this book dealt with - the "Chinese Room", multiple personalities, concienceness, sentience, and the levels of awareness and cognition.

I recently read an opinion of some Israeli critic who said "hard" science fiction is dead, along with Asimov, Heinlein & Arthur C. Clarke (and many others), and since science is so advanced now anyways, we are only left to deal with philosophic questions, which "soft" science fiction deals with better. Well, Peter Watts proved me otherwise. Writers can still write about much-advanced technology, aliens, spaceships, etc., and they can write fascinating books, such as Blindsight.

Really awesome. Reccomended with all my heart.

Excellent Hard Sci-fi
"Blindsight" is a novel of First Contact. Only the aliens don't look like your dead father, they look like living Mandelbrot diagrams. The captain of the expedition is a resurrected vampire. The alien entity, Rorschach, is also bigger than our moon.
Things only get stranger and darker from there.
This is Peter Watts' strongest stand alone work. It is amazing in its scale of ideas and a masterpiece in plot, pacing and setting. Few novels manage to pack the sheer number of interrelated concepts into a single, manageable package, but Watts not only does that, he makes it damned entertaining, too. The only other author I could compare Watts to in that regard is Neal Stephenson, and that is high praise. The crew of the expedition is, like in his "Rifters" books, basically a group of deeply imperfect humans suited to deep space, i.e., dysfunctional. The captain is the sanest one, due primarily to him being a vampire (and not a campy or- shudder- sparkly vampire, but a BELIEVABLE vampire). In fact, that is a great description of the entire novel- highly believable. Needless to say, things do not go smoothly as the crew attempts to discern Rorschach's true intentions. Unfortunately for them, Rorschach does not appreciate this. The tension is brutal and once it starts, it literally does not let up until the very last sentence. "Blindsight" is a great read that will not only make you think, it will scare the hell out of you while doing it. I highly recommend it. ... Read more

Product Description
In 1918, after the Great War, two Australian soldiers join the British army to help fight the Bolshevik forces in northern Russia. Almost a century later, two bodies are unearthed in the small Australian country town of Valley View.Following the Armistice, Sergeant Joshua Larkin is sent on a special mission deep into enemy territory in Russia. But when he is ordered to do the unthinkable, he must flee across Europe to protect a young woman, Maria, whose family has been executed. With Maria's life under threat from all sides due to her imperial connections, nowhere is safe.Decades later, the discovery of the two skeletons in Valley View poses problems for local policeman Morgan McLean. Who are the victims and why were they killed? Could the rumours of an heir to the Russian throne be true? And what explosive secret is Britain's MI6 desperate to keep hidden by any means necessary?Past and present collide in The Frozen Circle, and the fate of two people unleashes a volatile series of events that could reshape the world. ... Read more

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A gripping and fast paced historical thriller
"The Frozen Circle" is a thriller with two story lines, the first having its historical basis in a pair of Australian soldiers becoming involved with the Allied Expeditionary Force which assisted the "Whites" in the Russian Civil War of 1918-1920.The second story line places the events of the Russian Civil War in the context of the modern day discovery of two skeletons on a property in rural Australia, which causes an Australian cop (and former military man) to become involved in determining not only the identity of the skeletons but how they got there.These two separate events are connected, and the Aussie cop does his best to link them, while trying to remain detached from a growing attraction to the female owner of the property on which the skeletons were found.To complicate matters, the British Special Intelligence Service becomes involved, in an attempt to disrupt the cop's investigations.

The story switches back and forth between a war ravaged Europe in 1919 and present day rural Australia throughout the book, revealing the events of each time line in chronological fashion.The author does this quite satisfactorily without detracting from the pace of the story - although invariably at many points, the author leaves one time line on a cliffhanger to switch to the other time line.This tends to leave the reader on edge, and certainly helped me power through the book.The main characters are generally well written, although supporting characters tend to be shallow sketches, and a couple of characters are quite "convenient" for the story narrative.

Of course, no modern day thriller would be complete without a plot twist of some kind, and "The Frozen Circle" is no exception.Trouble is, the observant reader should be able to spot these early on (and perhaps the not so observant reader as well - I'm normally pretty slow catching these things but even I spotted this one coming).Thus, the impact of the plot twist is not perhaps as astonishing as the author hopes.Still, don't let this detract from what is quite an enjoyable and fast paced novel about one of the more chaotic events of modern history. ... Read more

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The second edition presents 28 specially commissioned essays by leading geographers across the world, addressing questions about how and why the world has changed, is changing, and will continue to change. Softcover. ... Read more

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Flight of the Eagle
I ordered this book as a replacement for a copy that has nver found its way back to us. My husband had bought it when we visited Australia and its not easy to find. I wanted to be ableto read it some time. ... Read more

Product Description
In this collection of short stories from best selling author Peter Watts, enter strange new worlds that defy the imagination. Journey to the depths of the ocean floor with genetically engineered human beings ... push the boundaries of life with a scientist obsessed with death ... and watch as sentient gaseous entities offer destruction and salvation to the human race. Nine stories make up this stunning new collection from a rising talent in the field of Science Fiction. ... Read more

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Deep, short stories
Nine excellent, thought-provoking stories. Shouldn't be read cover-to-cover. Take time to absorb what you've read. Life experience necessary; not for the young. Don't know how the title relates to the contents. ... Read more

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Shadow of the Osprey
Great follow-up to Cry of the Curlew!Couldn't put the book down and am now anxiously awaiting the completion of the triology.Peter Watt is one of the best writers I have encountered.He has a way of capturing your attention from the first page to the last. ... Read more

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Two thousand five hundred years ago, Tibetan monks developed a series of just five exercises, called "rites," which heal and rejuvenate. This is Peter Kelder's "lost" 1946 "Eye of Revelation" with new information about these Tibetan Rites and their history. ... Read more

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Fountain of Youth/Five Tibetan Rites
This is by far the best of the 7 or 8 books I have read on the subject.The editor has collected most of the books in print as well as the two self published by Peter Kelder in 1939 and 1946 which are long out of print.He has compired all of them and presents a complete corrected version with all of the original instructions, and he has removed a lot of errors and additions that were included in the various reprints.These are not lost however, if one in interested, as he includes them all in footnotes or additional text.Highest recommendation!

Swami K.M.Tayumanavar (AKA: L.Shippen) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Australian Frontier Saga - gripping, breathtaking, real...
Cry of the Curlew is book one of four. Real Australian history is brought to life with passion and edge of the seat excitement! Like the "Wild West", the Australian Frontier is depicted with all it's beauty and excitement as well as danger and suspense. Peter Watt has brought to life a story of the interplay of two families which allows us to be the bystanders on a knife edge that cuts deep into our hearts as it slices a portion of Australia out of its very core. The story continues with the second title "Shadow of the Osprey" Shadow of the Osprey. This is an opportunity to read the Wilbur Smith of Australian Authors. I'll warn you now, don't plan anything for the weekend as you will not be able to put this down. Patrick Duffy & Donald Macintosh cross paths and their entire families are drawn into webs of love, honour, passion, murder, deceit and betrayal. Travels through New South Wales, Queensland, the South Pacific and America provide backdrops for the scandals, twists and turns of a breathtakingly gripping saga. Can't wait for the movies, meanwhile start putting Peter Watt in the best sellers list.

Talent equal to Wilbur Smith
Even though Mr. Watt is relatively new he is simply one of the best historic novelists currently in print.Cry of the Curlew, the first book of a trilogy, which will have at least four novels, tells a multi-phase story of mid-1800 Australia with a thorough portrayal of characters and clear definitions of the Australian life styles. The challenges presented are very similar to those faced by tough settlers in the US during the same time period. His characters are real and his vivid depictions of Australia life result in the reader believing that he is an actual eye witness to the story.Only Wilbur Smith's talent can equate to that exhibited by Mr. Watt in this series of novels.
For those who want to get an understanding of the life and times of the 1800's Australian settlers while enjoying an excellently portrayed story, this book and its published sequels of Shadow of the Osprey and Flight of the Eagle are an absolute must.

Cry of the Curlew
A can not put down story of two families in early Australia.
This book is part one of a trilogy. We need to get this book and the succeeding books on the shelves of our book stores here in the USA.

WOW,Brilliant
This is a brilliant novel ,of historical Colonial Australia.His style of story telling sweeps you away to watch events unfold so realisticlly in your mind, like you are watching a movie in your head.Its so real you feel a part of it.All events are interwoven like an expert weaver . The very atmosphere soaks through your viens and draws you close into the action.An eye opener on the history of Colonial Australia.I am now reading his second novel Shadow of the Osprey and look forward to his third.This book certainly captures the imagination and if you like books like this , then DON"T MISS THIS.You won't be disappointed .Believe me I wasn't ... Read more

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This reproduction was printed from a digital file created at the Library of Congress as part of an extensive scanning effort started with a generous donation from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.The Library is pleased to offer much of its public domain holdings free of charge online and at a modest price in this printed format.Seeing these older volumes from our collections rediscovered by new generations of readers renews our own passion for books and scholarship. ... Read more

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"Women & Dogs" and "Men & Dogs" are a stunning pair of books. Each contains 80 images of people and their dogs, from Maria Callas to Robbie Williams, Churchill to Jilly Cooper. They are an amazing collection of photos, covering a century of dogs and their owners. But they are far more than picture books, with fascinating text, full of compelling anecdotes, and dog lore, which show people in a fascinating new light -through the story of their relationships with their pets. ... Read more

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Great Book For Dog Lovers
I ordered this for my mother and she loves it. It has many great photos and is perfect for the dog lover in your family. It is small, but most books of this nature (niche) are as well. It is a cute book with great photos. ... Read more

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Boy Green travels through the Red Cosmic Color Tunnel to get light to brighten the world. ... Read more

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yellow lemmony wheee!
I remember this picture book from my childhood. There are 2 male characters, friends, and one of them (the one with wings on his back) decides to take a trip into the land of red (or is it green). The dialogue and narration are dated and very "groovy" and "far out" "zing-zap zowie wowie" and so forth. Each page is an artwork with a caption at the bottom, inside an artful border, to tell the story. It is an extremely trippy book. ... Read more

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A fascinating dictionary of terms from the Wild West of 1850 to 1900 lists the origins and meanings of many currently used expressions and phrases, noting their frequent adaptations from original Mexican words. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

An excellent addition to my Old West library.

It's been a long time since I started reading Old West (1850-1900)till I found out about this excellent Old West Dictionary.It was first published in 1977 and later republished in 1994.Both are shown here on Amazon but as far as I am able to determine they are exactly alike.9.4 X 6.3 X 1.5 inches and 300 pages.My copy was published in 1977 by Promontory press,and has a lovely imitation leather cover with a colored picture on the cover of a rider on horseback firing a rifle.It resembles the excellent series "The Old West", published by Time-Life books which are somewhat larger at 8.5 X 11 X .75 inches.
I have been a fan of the Old West for years and was often stumped by some of the words that are forever turning up in descriptions,names and expressions.However;there was no place that I knew of to find their meaning.Now that is no longer a problem.I have already spent a few hours just reading and thumbing through it from beginning to end,and am amazed how comprensive it is.It not only gives the meaning of the words,but also a great deal of explanation of the word.There are also many illustrations.
How much can one really say about a dictionary ,other than that it is really good and I have no doubt that I will keep it handy and will turn to it often.

darn tootin best dictionary on the Old West ever!
Normally, I am not a big fan of Westerns, either novels or movies (or TV series or even really non-fiction works either), but I couldn't resist this book. This almost 400 page work details exhaustively any Western term, definition, piece of equipment, animal, plant, or slang you could ever want to have defined.

Some examples? Sure! Many slang terms are defined. Above my huckleberry means basically out of one's control. A granger was a settler or farmer, as opposed to a cattleman. A soiled dove is a prostitute. A grub pile is cooked food; a meal. A mockey is a wild mare.

Watts details more than fun to read slang though. He has some fairly extensive definitions as well. You learn that the term ghost town was probably never even used in the 19th century for instance. There is a nice map and defintion for cattle trail, showing the route of the Chisolm Trial, the Shreveport Trail, and others. There is more cattle and horse related terms than you ever imagine, from entries on castration to hot-bloods to peggers to under-bits. There is an extensive discussion of stampedes, particularly on how they relate to writers of fact and fiction.

Many defintions are accompanied by 19th century style illustrations or rarely photographs, often showing equipment such as pole fences, chuck wagons, soddies, and mantillas and animals and plants such as elks, prickly pears, heelers, grizzly bears, and burros.

So if you have even a slight interest in the Old West, rattle your hocks and get this book! It's a mother lode of terminology, fits for fans of the history of the Old West or of novels and movies set in it.

Watts has done an admirable job.
Peter Watts' stated purpose was to create a guide for the readers of Western Americana - to identify the words and phrases used in the Old West during the period 1850-1900.He furnishes the "how" and"why" of standard range words such as: roping, brands, saddles,trail drives, and so forth.

Watts faced several obstacles in thepreparation of this book.A major obstacle was separating words, whichoriginated in the writings and communications of the twentieth century,from those which were actually used on the western frontier.Watts freelyadmits he wasn't always successful in separating genuine words from admixedand adulterated words.

Another problem was the discovery that 19thcentury records, diaries, et. al., listing eyewitness' accounts ofhistorical events, contained an abundance of misspelled or inaccurate wordsand phrases.Watts offers little help in proper pronunciation becausethere is no way of knowing how some words were pronounced by people longdead.In their lifetimes, the western pioneers heard variouscolloquialisms, sometimes incorrectly, and often mangled words and theirmeaning when making conversation or when keeping diaries and other records.

Another factor was the polygot population inherent on theAmerican frontier.Anglo- Saxons brought English and Celtic words to theUnited States, some of which were further influenced by the speech andpronunciation used by Africans, Spaniards, and people of French descent. Gold seekers from Europe, American Indians, Metis, Dutch, Swedes, Swiss,and many other races also contributed to the words and phrases usedthroughout the Old West.

Cattle range words generally originated with theMexican vaquero. These words were changed, twisted, and combined withEnglish by the American Cowboy into the range language often used today. Language grows healthy and powerful with the infusion of words from thevarious strata of a society and this held true in frontier America.Wattscontends the educated class causes a language to lose its rich taste, itscontact with all the people, and its very means of renewal unless lowerclass words are continually being added.

This book is incomplete but notby design.It was an impossible task to capture every frontier word andphrase; however, Watts has done an admirable job under the circumstances. He used reliable sources such as Andy Adams and Ramon Adams, used a numberof dictionaries, and read the works of western fiction writers Wister,Haycox, Grey, L'Amour, Short, et al., in order to identify crucial wordsused in the Old West.

This is a pretty good book which will prove ofimmediate value to readers interested in Western Americana.Watts' book isas complete and as accurate as time and circumstances have allowed. ... Read more