User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
A deliciously, eclectic “blend” of
Weird Western meets
Kabbalah/ Jewish Mysticism meets
Kung Fu (the series) meets
The Cthulhu Mythos meets
Biblical apocrypha meets
magical weapons and abilities meets
secret societies meets
plenty of pulp meets
loads of demons and other nasties…..
….INTRODUCING:
The Merkabah Rider: Tales of A High Planes Drifter.
Reading as much as I do, it is always a warm and fuzzy moment when I find something new that is both original and very well done. The Merkabah Rider is it and these stories are a wonderful stew of pulpy, weird-western, mystical YUMMINESS.
In this collection of 4 novellas, we are introduced to “The Rider,” an Orthodox Jewish mystic and member of an ancient secret society known as the Sons of Essenes. The Rider (whose real name is kept hidden because “to know one’s true name is to have power over them”) is following the trail of his former teacher, Adon, who betrayed the Sons of Essenes and has embraced “dark forces” in his quest for power. The Rider, armed with a kick ass volcanic pistol and a host of magical talismans, travels Post Civil War America finding trouble and adventure wherever he goes.
The Blood Libel: It was on a dying, red sun Friday when he passed into the town; only the black gummed growl of a scrawny, long-nippled cur that slid from underneath the shadows of a boardwalk, welcomed him…Curtains drew. Fleshy lips moved behind lily hands. Whispers carried words he’s heard a hundred times before in towns better than this. Questions both bemused (What do you make of that?) and pregnant with fear-born threat (Who does he think he is?). Speculations (Some kinda Mennonite? A Mormon? A Mexican-Mormon?) Then, probably from some drummer who had been out of the valley once or twice-maybe as far as Tombstone or Bisbee he heard another; Jew.
In this first novella, The Rider arrives at a town known as Delirium Tremens (yes, that’s DTs) where he discovers that the local inhabitants are fixing to slaughter all of the Jewish residents in nearby Little Jerusalem. It seems some of the local children have disappeared, including the daughter of the local preacher, perceptions of “blood sacrifices and Jews eating Christian babies” have raised the level of prejudice against the Jewish population to 11. Even worse, there may be some supernatural elements at work that make the locals’ feelings more or less justified.
This story, in addition to laying out the first chunk of The Rider’s back story also tantalizingly teases about the
Lovecraftian connection when one of the characters references
The Hour of Incursion when
The Great Old Ones will bring war to the Earth and reclaim supremacy. As you might imagine, this caused me to have a major
Cthulhugasm.
The Dust Devil:The Rider, continuing his quest for Adon and showing definitely shades of Roland, the Gunslinger, on the trail of The Man in Black, arrives in Polvo Arrido, a town engulfed in a perpetual dust storm that appears anything but natural. In this one, we get another chunk of back-story on The Rider as well as neat slice of
Hoodoo magic and lore that broadens the mystical playing field of the series. I thought this was excellent, but I did have one minor and ONE MAJOR gripe about it that I will now discuss in my brief “bitch” section.
**The Dust Devil–BITCH section**First, a very minor bitch and probably not worth mentioning, but bitch that I am, I am going to do so: At the beginning of the story The Rider is playing 5 card draw. He discards two cards (a 2 and a 4) and the dealer gives him THREE cards (a 10 a 3 and an Ace). That was a little sloppy.
My Second, and MAJOR gripe happens later on in the story. This is only a minor spoiler but I will hide it anyway: (view spoiler)
[ The Rider gets captured by the main bad guy Scarchilli and his Hoodoo associate Kelly. He is stripped of all his talismans and protections and tied up outside for the “evil dust storm” to kill him. However, he is able to escape because he has “his magic FUCKING glasses.” Uh…NO. They take everything else, but leave his “rune-etched” mystical glasses. This bothered me. (hide spoiler)] Hell’s Hired Gun:Medgar Tooms, the titular character, is mean, nasty, supernatural maker of murder that reminded me a little of
The Saint of Killers from the Preacher Series by Garth Ennis (though I hasten to add the Toomy Boy is not even close to the level of
Ball-Busting-Bad-Ass-NESS as S.O.K.). Well after finding a local monastery FUBAR and all of its inhabitants horribly slaughtered, The Rider finds himself on a collision course with the Demonic death-dealer.
In addition to an excellent main plot, this story also provides a large piece of The Rider’s back-story and continues to flesh him out as an epic character. Plus, like the previous story, the magical world is expanded once again by bringing in Christian mysticism and power in the form of a local pastor whose history is inter-connected with Medgar Tooms. I really enjoy how faith and religion are embedded in the stories without any whiff of this being “religious.”
Finally, we get some additional insight into the
The Hour of Incursion and preparations that are being made for the war to come. Uh…YES!! If I was not already spent from
The Blood Libel I would have likely had another “happy ending” with this one.
The Nightjar Women:What a great way to tie up this first collection. The Rider finds himself in the town of Tip Top in the Arizona Territory where there are (1) no children, (2) a bunch of gravestones marking the recent death of infants and (3) a WHOLE LOTTA prostitution going down (no pun intended). The reason behind these events are for you to decide but this story certainly has the “grandest scope” of any of the stories and fills in a lot of the mystical back-story.
It relies heavily on Biblical apocrypha and ties in beautifully with the
Lovecraftian world. I would never have thought that the creation story could tie so neatly into Lovecraft but I was fascinated.
OVERALL, I loved this book and The Rider is fast becoming a new favorite character of mine. The second collection of novellas is already out and I am looking forward to seeing how well the momentum continues. With a shade more Lovecraft and some further progression towards both a reckoning with Adon and The Hour of Incursion, this the next one has 5 star potential.
Rating: really liked it
Merkabah Rider: Tales of A High Planes Drifter is a collection of four tales about a Jewish mystic gunfighter.
The Blood Libel: Fate draws The Rider to Delirium Tremens, a mining town where hostility is brewing between the residents and the Jews of nearby Little Jerusalem, who've allegedly turned away from God and kidnapped the daughter of the local preacher. Can The Rider find the cause of the trouble before the Angels of Death wipe out everyone in Little Jerusalem?
The Blood Libel does a great job of introducing The Rider and his world. The Rider's continuing quest is to find his mentor and betrayer, another mystic calling himself Adon. The world building is surprisingly deep for a 70 page novella. Erdelac introduces the Sons of the Essenes, a Jewish mystical society with branches in all parts of the world, as well as revealing parts of the Rider's history.
The story itself is a nice melding of western standards and Jewish mystacism. I'm looking forward to when The Rider goes up against The Great Old Ones.
The Dust Devils: An unending dust storm grips the town of Polvo Arrido as The Rider rolls into town. Can The Rider find clues to Adon's whereabouts and save the residents of Polvo Arrido from the bandits that have them under thumb?
While I didn't like this one as much as The Blood Libel, it was still pretty good. It reminded me of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom more than anything else. The Rider's past was fleshed out a little bit more and, once again, he took a pretty good beating and still came out on top. The one complaint I have is that he walked into an ambush a little too easily when he visited Scarchilli.
Hell's Hired Gun: The Merkabah Rider encounters an old preacher, who recounts the tale of Medgar Tooms, a gunfighter that killed an entire town after the death of his family and now stalks the prairie dragging chains and leading a pack of ravenous pigs. Can the Merkabah Rider put an end to his reign of terror?
Hell's Hired Gun was pretty good but didn't involve much in the way of magic from the Rider. The violence was well done and the subplot of the Hour of Incursion by the Elder Gods mentioned in the first story was elaborated upon.
The Nightjar Women: The Merkabah Rider finds himself in a town where no children are born and three prostitutes seem to be in league with a dark power...
At last, The Rider gets a hint of Adon's whereabouts. More of The Rider's past is revealed, and more about the Hour of Incursion. Lots of Talmudic stuff in this one and The Rider seems more human than ever. The Merkabah Rider continues his transformation into one of my favorite weird western characters. That's about all I'm going to reveal for fear of spoilage.
Conclusion:For fans of weird western, look no farther than the adventures of the Merkabah Rider. I'll be tracking down the second volume very soon.
Note: You can read an interview with Edward M. Erdelac here.
Rating: really liked it
These Merkabah Rider stories are all I could have wished for yet never dare imagined in a weird western series! A halachically bad-ass gun slinging sorcerer roaming the old west, dispatching all manner of hellspawn demons using his secret knowledge of ancient Jewish occult. It's a totally outrageous concept, written without a drop of irony, and man does it work.
The final story, The Nightjar Women, is where it all really came together for me, giving a deeper look into the Rider's psyche, showing him vulnerable and nearly giving in to carnal temptation. He battles some incredibly grotesque and sultry demonesses, and the story finally sheds some real light on the larger plot arc that carries through to some extent across all the stories. This involves the pursuit of his former mentor, turned nemesis, and some out of this world Lovecraftian horrors that are really only hinted at yet impart an ominous foreshadowing of events to come in future stories.
Erdelac's knowledge of Jewish mysticism far exceeds my own and is incredibly impressive. The book includes a handy reference lexicon in the back for those who may not be up on their biblical Hebrew. His style is exciting, graphic and evocative and leaves one wanting more, which thankfully he has supplied in three followup volumes collecting more Merkabah Rider stories.
Rating: really liked it
I read the first line of the blurb...
A Hasidic gunslinger tracks the renegade teacher who betrayed his mystic Jewish order of astral travelers across the demon haunted American Southwest of 1879....and I one-clicked so hard I almost sprained something. And look, the second book is titled The Mensch With No Name. Gahhhhhh, I am in genre mashup heaven. No way can this live up to expectations -- or can it? I'm tempted to hoard it unread, simply for the joy of having something so weird to look forward to.
Rating: really liked it
Just to give a bit of reference to this review, most of my weird west reading has been in comic form. From old school DC
Weird Western Tales, Jonah Hex: Shadows West to the more recent The Sixth Gun, Vol. 1: Cold Dead Fingers and The Guns of Shadow Valley. For whatever reason my enjoyment of these types of stories rarely migrated to novels or short stories in the genre.
Also, the author sent me a digital copy of the book, purely as a courtesy with no stipulation for a review in return.
This is a collection of four novellas and I'm not going to go in to detail about the individual stories. I will say I loved the last two, one about a man who has a group of pigs following him around and the last dips in to the Lilith mythos. I liked the first story about an enclave of Jews but the second story, which involved a voodoo priest didn't wow me like the rest.
Instead of concentrating on the stories I'm going to spend the rest of the time on our protagonist, The Rider. I spent many a hour in my youth watching the spaghetti westerns on Saturday afternoon. Loved 'em! Enjoyed westerns of all types but those movies with the horrible sound editing and impossible six shooter shots really formed my image of the old west gunfighter.
The Rider, is not that guy. He's tough and quick but that's about where the similarities end. I've pulled a few lines from the stories to help introduce you to Merkabah Rider: The Mensch with No Name.
He had long, John Brown whiskers. They were black like his clothes, blue where the sun gleamed; a long nose poked out over them. Displayed on either side of his head was a pair of womanly curls, long enough to sway when he worked at tethering the animal.
He tightened his grip on the rail and it creaked. The Jew looked up at him. The setting sun flashed for a minute on his fancy blued spectacles, his pale face drawn and expressionless, like a mask.He does carry weapons
It was an antique, a Volcanic pistol. They had gone out of favor some years back. Its finish was gold gilded and silver chased, stamped with intricate designs and glyphs of a nature none in the saloon would have understood even if The Rider had the patience and time to explain. He drew his inscribed cold iron Bowie knife and held it to the cardinal directions, muttering as he did so.and protections
He not so much looked for, but felt the presence of the corresponding talismans and mystic implements about his etheric body. Every charm, every snatch of holy text, bit of rare colored animal, Turkish eye, and sacred stone he wore, lent their individual power and protection to his ethereal double.
the Hamesh hand amulet and other strictly kabbalistic talismans to protect against spiritual assault on his ethereal form, but also such non-Jewish bodyguards as he had first been introduced to by his master, such as the powerful Mohammaden Ayat-Al Kursi amulet, the Tibetan Ga’u box, the Hindu svastika, and the Abbada Ke Dabra.He is that last member of the American enclave of the mystical order, The Sons of the Essenes.
the Merkabah Riders had been scholarly mystics inspired by the vision of Ezekial and the Chariot of God. Entering into ecstatic trances, they left their bodies to explore the upper reaches of the celestial Empyrean, transcribing accounts of their journeys into sacred homilies. The most dedicated eventually came to stand in the innermost of the seven hekhalots of Araboth, the highest heaven, before the Divine Image of the Most High.Oh, and he doesn't come sauntering or galloping in a stallion, nope. He walks in to town leading a shaggy white onager.
I was completely fascinated by these stories and this character. I loved that the author put his own twist on the genre and look forward to exploring more of The Rider and his exploits.
8/10
Rating: really liked it
What a strange little book!
An Hassidic Jewish mystic gunslinger fighting demons in the Old West? This is perhaps the most bizarre concept for a novel (or, as in this case, a series of four novellas) that one could possibly imagine. In fact, when I first read the back-of-book copy for one of the later installments in this series, I suspected that someone--very probably the author!-- needed the dosage on their medication adjusted. Some months later, I had opportunity to meet the author and he graciously gave me a copy of his book. I'm not lying when I relate that keeping myself from bursting out into laughter when I accepted it was extraordinarily difficult.
"Read it," Ed told me. "It's not what you think." I remember sarcastically thinking,"Yeah. Right."
A month or so later, I was looking for something to read and came across "Merkabah Rider" where I'd tossed it into the If-I-Get-The-Time-To-Read-It pile of books. Figuring it would be good for a laugh, I started it. I was amazed at what I read.
As strange as the concept it, the book is GOOD! Erdelac's main character known only as Rider is absolutely fascinating. Moreover, while I was expecting some overly self aware, quasi-religious, pseudo-comic book type of book, what I got was a fascinating and engaging action adventure novel. Also, I generally loathe Westerns. But this book overcame my dislike of the genre and drew me right in. While it isn't exactly a "can't put it down" kind of read, I did find myself compulsively reading each novella to the end before taking a break.
Erdelac takes what is one of the oddest ideas for a book and makes it extraordinarily readable while giving his non-Jewish readers an intriguing glimpse into Jewish mysticism. The Rider is a cross between a rabbi, Indiana Jones and Clint Eastwood--an outre combination to be sure. Yet Erdelac not only makes this mish-mosh of disparate characters work, he managed to stimulate this reader's interest and effortlessly overcame my initial doubts and captured me without my ever being aware he'd done it.
It's rare in today's world where everyone and his brother self-publishes an ebook and calls themselves an author that someone manages to TRULY come up with a novel concept which is both exciting and interesting without being precious or pretentious. Edward Erdelac has done so admirably--a truly impressive feat!
Putting my enthusiasm for this book aside for a moment, there are two minor flaws in the work. First, Erdelac tends to over-sprinkle Yiddish and Hebrew words throughout, necessitating the inclusion of a Glossary at the end of the book. I would have much preferred it had he been more clever in his use of foreign terms for ambiance and authenticity and subtly defined them within the text. Instead, the reader is sometimes forced to flip back and forth which was distracting and interrupted the flow of the read. Second, the author is overly fond of metaphor; after awhile, they become obtrusive. Moreover, in many cases, he's stretching and the metaphors don't always make sense or appear downright bizarre.
However, these criticisms are minor. All in all, "Merkabah Rider" is a marvelously inventive book, an exciting bit of originality that is sorely lacking in most modern works of literature. I urge you to give Erdelac's work a try.
Rating: really liked it
In Ed Erdelac’s Merkabah Rider: Tales of a High Planes Drifter readers are presented with a world wherein the time is of the late 19th century and the setting of the stories have a western flare. The authorial twist to this tale is that the protagonist is a Jewish gunslinger of sorts. The setting of this story and the main character potentially seem very Dark Tower-ish and the main character also seems akin to the character of Jon Shannow[that is in search of someone:]. The book is made up of four different novellas which seem to progress in a serial order. The titles of the four stories are:
- The Blood Libel
- The Dust Devils
- Hell’s Hired Gun
- The Nightjar Women
The first story opens up and shows the Rider riding into a town wherein a heinous crime has been committed. A recent child kidnapping has lead to a mob building up its nerve for burning down a Jewish settlement. The Rider has to face enemies on dual planes both physical and spectral as he investigates the happenings. This story was a nice introduction to the rider and his story however it just scratches the surface of the world and its Protagonist as it offers small clues here and there.
In the 2nd tale we come across the Rider as he arrives at a town wherein foreigners die and the town is being governed by a violent gang. The Rider discovers that the town has a sorcerer whose powers seems equal to himself. The story shatters the invincible nature of the rider and shows that he can be overcome. This adds a further zing to the story when you know the main character is indeed fallible. This story was a bit longer and shows a bit more of the mythological background of this world as well.
The third tale was a very atmospheric one and was the first in which we are shown connections with the previous episodes. Also showcased in this story is why the rider is constantly on the move. The villain of this piece Medgar Tooms is one who begins as a monster but in the end we realize has more to him than just plain brutality. This tale also gives a bit of the Rider’s past and was the tale which truly hooked me onto this book much more so than its predecessors.
The last tale is my favorite one as it is the one with the least amount of action, however it unveils the most background story about the Rider; his life, his mission and the over all back story. The story has him finding solace in a town with a stranger. However he comes finds that the town’s whorehouse is providing much more than simple human pleasure. This piece was the clear winner for myself, as after finishing it, the future becomes very enticing and the reader will be very compelled to see what the rider does next armed with the information he has gleaned in this tale.
Ed Erdelac has written a very straight forward story which at an earlier glance might not offer much appeal. However, on reading the entire collection, these stories come together and give readers a nicely detailed world, that shows us that this is much more than a simple mystical western. The book also has a bigger story going on in the background as there is talk amongst various characters referring to the “Hour of incursion” and also thrown into the fray is the Rider’s search for his wayward master, Adon, which fuels his resolve. This book was another surprisingly good read and definitely has me hooked for the further adventures of the Merkabah Rider and the weirdly dangerous world which he abides in.
Rating: really liked it
Merkabah Rider; Tales of a High Plains Drifter, was a book I greatly enjoyed. The complexity of this weave is outstanding and I learned a few things about writing by reading this book.
The Rider hunts down demons for God, but that is only his side job. He's been searching the American wild-west for his betraying teacher who'd murdered his enclave of Jewish mystics. This collection of stories is about a spiritual gunslinger, trail-blazing and gun-smokin’ for God. It is power to behold. How can anyone not like this character?
There are four mini-novellas here. Loosely, they each connect with the first and the last. It was alpha and omega. Read it and see coolness appear before your eyes.
This is not a churchy book, but it does have a great message of good over evil.
I appreciated the first story for its incredibly complex layering. Artistically, Mr. Erdelac panned the deep dimensions of The Rider's spiritual battleground with a relatively quick dissection. It’s only a few pages and before we know it, we’re quickly immersed in astral space and find ourselves standing before the altar to the demon lord Moloch. Very soon, a little girl’s soul will be fed to Moloch unless the Rider can alter the outcome through means of astral traveling.
Each story is better than the one before.
The second story begins with a mega-suspenseful card game between the Rider and two rotten banditos. Not like the poker games on ESPN---here the stakes are life and death. The town is more than overtaken by a bandit gang, the Rider finds a deeper evil is afoot.
In the third story, the gun-slinging Hasidic Jew teams with a Baptist Christian to stop a demon Jesus once had to face down.
The fourth story was my favorite in the book, having a very fitting end to an incredibly enjoyable read. I will say nothing about this one. It is so incredibly well done, I want you to experience it for yourself.
I do recommend purchasing the paperback over buying the e-book. There is a much needed glossary at the end of this book. Unless, of course, you know the difference between a Poyo and a Tzitzit, or a Lili from a Mazzik, you might want to use the glossary.
Rating: really liked it
I enjoyed this amalgamation of the western, weird fiction, Lovecraft's flexible pantheon of mighty monstrosities, theology--and adventure writing that is just plain awesome. This is fantastic fiction written with a sure, mature hand. It is fun, intelligent, well-written, and creative. Erdelac combines many traditional elements in novel ways, and steers his protagonist through a landscape of eerie evils and arduous trials.
One thing that surprised me is how often our protagonist, The Rider, gets the tar beat out of him by wily opponents. Far from pitting a super-competent hero against colorful paper tigers, Erdelac puts The Rider through some serious pain, and there are times when it is difficult to tell how The Rider is going to get out of some of these jams--even though the presence of future stories implies that he must. The means by which The Rider overcomes these threats are just as varied as the world that Erdelac has crafted his textured; beyond mere heroes and villains, Erdelac's stories are populated with regular folk who suffer the ramifications of these wide-reaching conflicts.
I like how Erdelac has started his chronicle of the Merkabah writer as a series of loosely linked novellas. In the very first, it is apparent that great things are afoot, and that a titanic climax looms somewhere on the distant horizon. By the fourth and final story in this collection, Erdelac plays some high cards with admirable savvy, adding both depth to his character--who, to be honest, starts the series as a stoic cypher--and weight to the proceedings. At the close of this volume, I cared about the character and his fate, and I placed the follow-up volume on my short to-read list.
Rating: really liked it
A review of
The Merkabah Rider: High Planes Drifter
By
Edward M Erdelac
I randomly came across these books and they piqued my interest. I haven’t read a huge amount of Wyrd west novels and these strangely called to me. They feature the main character, The Rider, a Hasidic Jewish gunslinger, if you can believe that, who fights demons. Cool!
In the opening story we are thrown into his strange world of good and evil, he speaks with an angel, then sets off to save a Jewish community from Hell’s denizens and the wrath of the western locals. I found him a very cool character from the start, like many gunslingers he has that cool Clint Eastwood vibe, but the Jewish aspect brings a fresh feel and interesting feel to it. He wears Solomonic symbols and religious fetishes under his long coat—items to guard him from evil, he carries an old volcanic pistol inscribed with magical Jewish symbols which makes it deadly to demons, and wears round blue glasses, also inscribed, which allow him to see into the “other world”. Really cool stuff.
The book is a collection of interlinked short stories, each one linking into the next. As the stories progress we discover more of his Hasidic sect’s secret ways and a larger over arcing story is hinted at. He is trying to track down his former master, Adon, who has turned to evil, and despite the short stories being relatively contained, and although I read them in order, I imagine readable separately, the overall story drives you onward to discover more.
I enjoyed the demons, the dark magic, and evil creatures he battles, it was exactly what I was looking for from a wyrd western horror. So much so, I bought the entire for book series and have dived in. I’d very much recommend checking this series out.
Thanks for reading,
Lee
Rating: really liked it
There is something about a weird western that just sets my imagination alight. I think it is the fusion of a bygone era such as the Wild West with fantasy elements like magic and monsters. And I've become a real fan of the genre over the last few years, and much like urban fantasy, I think I've always been a fan of the genre and just didn't know it yet. And Ed's collection of four novellas here is a prime example of just how weird the west can be.
The Merkabah Rider might earn some comparisons to Roland, from Stephen King's Dark Tower series, but with each successive story in this book the Rider carves out his own identity and makes clear that the two are worlds apart. The Rider definitely has that spaghetti western vibe that most hard-bitten gunslingers exemplify, but certainly strikes his own chord.
"The Blood Libel" kicks things off with the Rider wandering into a small town with a Jewish settlment on the outskirts that is about to be struck by an angry mob over the disappearance of a little girl. All the antisemitism simmering among the whites builds up and the Rider faces down a good deal of it before heading into the settlement in search of the truth--and an old enemy. While the story had its hiccups, it did a great job in establishing who the Rider is and what he's capable of when trouble's brewing.
From there, "The Dust Devils" managed to show a little more vulnerability from the Rider, as he finds a ghost town in the middle of a storm, its people devastated by a desperadoes and a formidable sorcerer that may have the Rider's number. A much more exciting turn this time around, at least more suspenseful and the bad guys were a real treat. Scarchilli kind of felt like he escapes a Clint Eastwood film, while Kelly the hoodoo man was just plain menacing.
Vulnerability aside, the Rider survives moving on to the other two tales, "Hell's Hired Gun" and "The Nightjar Women." The former delves a little deeper into the history of the Rider and the impending "Incursion." It also features a pretty bad-ass villain that roams the countryside with a pack of about a dozen pigs. Hey, if you're gonna have a posse, why not a bunch of bloodthirsty demon pigs? The latter tale involves Lilith leading a band of prostitutes in a town with no children.
The wandering hero harkens back to the kinds of stories I watched on TV as a little kid and loved, like The Incredible Hulk and Kung Fu and those Clint Eastwood westerns I'd watch with my dad. I can't think of anything from those shows and movies that rival the violence/mysticism blended in this book's pages. It's not quite a blowout, but it felt each novella surpassed the last, and there are two more volumes of these bad boys to go, so I'm optimistic to see what else Ed has up his sleeves, and what's in store for the Rider.
Rating: really liked it
“Tales of a High Planes Drifter” is a collection of four novella-length tales featuring the Merkabah Rider and his adventures in the 19th-century American West. The Rider himself is reminiscent of no one more than Stephen King’s Roland of Gilead; a gunman with conviction, who is prepared to kill but still has lines he won’t cross. Dropping an Hasidic Jew into the Wild West is a pretty gutsy move, but it just might make this one of the genre’s standout books this year.
Not only is the Rider a gunslinger, he’s also a potent Qabbalist (one skilled in the secret arts of Hebrew mysticism; seals of Solomon and the like) capable of astral travel and creating magical talismans. He uses his many talents in a series of battles against bigotry, attackers both supernatural and mundane, and his own tortured conscience.
The general thread woven throughout the stories in the book is that of a man, betrayed by his master, seeking justice in the name of his fallen brethren. In the course of the Rider’s search for the traitorous Adon he takes on a bloodthirsty cult (“The Blood Libel”), a group of bandits in league with a voodoo bokor (“The Dust Devils”), a demon-possessed, grief-stricken father and husband (“Hell’s Hired Gun”), and a cathouse staffed by the daughters of Lilith (“The Nightjar Women”).
Erdelac is a self-proclaimed history enthusiast, and “Tales of a High Planes Drifter” is packed with what must have been a staggering amount of research into Jewish history and mysticism. His descriptive skills are top-notch and he exhibits particular skill at knowing when to throw in a bit of extra gore. The second book comes out this fall, which only adds to the win.
Rating: really liked it
Reviewing books for FBR has given me the opportunity to read books that I normally wouldn’t, and to be honest I never thought that I would be reading fantasy stories about a Jewish mystic chasing down his former mentor in the Wild West. While the "Weird Western" genre was somewhat popularised a number of years ago by Robert E. Howard, the genre has remained largely untapped, but with the incorporation of Jewish religion into Wild West culture, Ed Erdelac has created a story that is fresh, original, and fun to read.
Merkabah Rider: Tales of a High Planes Drifter is split up into four independent episodes which tell the story of The Rider, a Jewish mystic and gunslinger who is able to leave his physical body and traverse the Merkabah plane in order to achieve his objectives. While the overall story has The Rider hot on the trail of the mentor who betrayed his enclave, each episode is its own self contained story as The Rider deals with all the problems and issues arising from the local populous. These stories are quite short but each one introduces a problem, some new ideas, and slowly build towards a well planned action sequence that uses the new ideas to resolve the problem.
Despite being slightly ‘formulaic’, I like what Erdelac has done here – it allows for a steady stream of world building and back story to filter through while exposing the reader to some intense action sequences on a periodic basis. The short, sharp, and punchy episodes create the illusion of a fast pace story, a necessary illusion given how much the steep learning curve slows the pace of the story. The problem for me, aside from the action sequences and the excellent fourth episode, was that I couldn’t maintain my interest in the story during the early stages of each episode. This problem was exacerbated by my lack of knowledge in Jewish mysticism, making the learning curve very steep and impacting my ability to connect and become fully immersed in the story. It is a hard slog to start with but if you are willing to persist, there are more than enough rewards to br reaped towards the end.
The characters for the most part have been well crafted, with the mysterious Rider slowly being unmasked through each episode and with each supporting character fulfilling a specific purpose that will either aid or hinder The Rider on his journey. It is very efficient character building, there is very little waste to be found and this allows the characters to stand out a little more than usual and own the story. I quite liked The Rider, I found it fascinating how his motivations were never entirely clear and would often waver despite being a devout religious man. He is honest and courageous, shows all of the qualities that we come to expect from a hero, but he is also a very practical man and will often try to limit his heroic actions to ones that will provide some benefit to him in his mission. What I think is missing here is a companion, someone who will tease out the finer complexities from The Rider, someone who will challenge rider from episode to episode, someone who will provide some contrast to the very serious and very driven Rider.
Erdelac’s writing here is very clean, very stylish, and very elegant. He has an obvious mastery of the English language and employs it to good use. He has paced his story very well, his writing is easy to read despite all the complex Jewish terminology, and his action scenes are up with some of the best I have read.
Merkabah Rider: Tales of a High Planes Drifter is a very good book. While the early episodes did not appeal to me very much, they did a lot of hard work establishing the foundations for the overall story and exposing the reader to Jewish culture. The more I read, the more comfortable I became with the concepts being used here, and with Erdelac really hitting his stride in the last episode it gives me hope that the future books in the series will be much better from start to finish. If you are into Westerns or if you are into trying new things, then you will definitely get something out of this book.
Rating: really liked it
From my blog: http://serialdistractions.com/2011/02...
I love me some weird west. From the supernatural tales of Joe R. Lansdale and Robert E. Howard, or even the Deadlands RPG, to science fiction stories like Cowboys and Aliens (both the graphic novel and the upcoming film), The Adventures of Briscoe County, Jr. and the original Wild Wild West, I love it all. Now I have another work to add to this collection. Edward Erdelac‘s Merkabah Rider series is a highly entertaining foray into one of my favorite subgenres.
So far two books comprise the adventures of The Rider: Tales of a High Planes Drifter and The Mensch With No Name. Both are composed of novellas (“episodes”) that work as stand-alone adventure tales but are also strung together into an overarching story of Lovecraftian horror. The Merkabah Rider, who has forsaken his name in order to deprive his enemies of power over him, is a Judaic mystic and traveler between the planes. He travels alone, the last of his Order, the sole survivor of the slaughter wrought by Adon, his former mentor. As the Rider and his faithful onager make their way across a desolate West in search of Adon, they encounter all manner of demons, godlings, and supernatural beasts. They also encounter greedy scoundrels and bloodthirsty outlaws, as well as ordinary folks who must face the darkness with only their faith and their courage. As the stories progress, the Rider becomes more beat down, more despondent, and more confused. His resolve is tested constantly by several faith-shaking revelations as he grows closer to his prey and discovers how deep Adon’s treachery has gone. He learns more and more of an “Hour of Incursion” in which the world will be torn apart by ancient forces of darkness beyond even the Rider’s vast knowledge.
The first book, Tales of a High Planes Drifter, introduces the Rider and his quest. While the prose sometimes takes on a decidedly purple tint and slows down in some passages, the stories build in suspense and in readability until, by the end of The Nightjar Women, you are completely engrossed in the story and in the character. It is in the second volume, The Mensch With No Name, that Erdelac really hits his stride. The stories here are stronger, as is the characterization of the Rider. The fun that he’s having with the series really comes through on the page.
It is also clear that Erdelac has steeped himself in mythology, history, and other works in the genre. The stories drip with esoteric lore from all over the world, with an obvious emphasis on Judaic mysticism and Biblical apocrypha. As the stories progress we see the emergence of Lovecraft’s celebrated Mythos but used in new and very creative ways. Further, the Rider encounters figures from history (such as Doc Holiday and Dave Mather), from the works of Howard (Kelly the Conjure-Man), and references to the “spaghetti westerns” from which Erdelac borrows so much of his esthetic. Erdelac is skilled at ensuring that all of the references and outside knowledge do not threaten to pull the reader out of the story and instead manages to give his tales a resonance and a depth that really engage the reader. He also helps by including an incredibly useful glossary of terms at the back of each volume.
The Merkabah Rider series is a fine addition to my Weird West library. I’m looking forward to the release of the next set of adventures Have Glyph Will Travel.
Rating: really liked it
Merkabah Rider: Tales of a High Planes Drifter is my new favorite book so far this year. Four interconnected short stories follow the journey of a gunslinging Jewish mystic through the Weird West. Voodoo, demonic possession, restless spirits, and metric tons of folklore and occult details -- basically, there was nothing I didn't like! I stayed up late to tear through the first volume and will be gleefully devouring the next one.
If I were to offer one word of caution, it would be that the horror in these stories can be fairly unrelenting. Erdelac loves him some graphic descriptions of horrifying deaths. They aren't the focus of the story, but I found myself wincing a few times. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
