User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
Ah, such a delightful reading experience. I would've never picked this up if it wasn't on the Giller Prize shortlist. So, I'm grateful for its inclusion. I rarely gravitate toward historical fiction type books so it felt good to get swept up in an epic like this for a change. It was an enjoyable experience: delightful and comforting.
This is one of those books that will have you falling in love with the characters. You'll get invested almost instantaneously. Jack, the title character's 12 year old son is the star of the show. I was charmed by this rambunctious kid. Even though this book is epic in nature, it's heavily character-driven, which I appreciated. Jack, Sister Beatrice, and Ridgerunner are fascinating characters. This book is full of surprises and manages to go into some really shocking places. I don't have any complaints. It's just good.
(You don't need to read the first book to enjoy this one. The author purposely wrote it as a standalone)
Rating: really liked it
Gil Adamson took ten years to write this novel. In her own words, she writes at a “glacial pace”, and this incredibly finely polished work is a testament to her research, careful plotting and deeply chiseled characters. The story is a slow if icy burn much like the mountainous area of its setting- deep in the Canadian Rockies, primarily at Lake Louise, Alberta and circling via rail from mining town and camp to the USA border and back, with WWI in its backdrop.
I lived in some of these areas during my life, and was able to landmark most of the sites Adamson mentioned. I was also familiar with much of the history, so was very satisfied with how she brought some of the grimmest aspects of the internment of innocents, who cleared, built roads and helped to establish Lake Louise as a travel destination for the wealthy. I travelled through Frank slide, before it was cordoned off, and felt sickened by the horror at that site of mining malpractice.
Against the richness of this history, the utter wildness of this part of the world which had barely gotten a railroad through to connect Eastern and Western Canada a few decades earlier, motherless Jack Boulton tries to make his way. A wandering father, the nun entrusted with Jack’s care, an old lawman and neighbour, a part wolf dog... a sumptuous story, gently flavoured as a”Western”, truly a tasty brew with spice, adventure, hope and real history.
Very, very good.
Rating: really liked it
Of the 3 novels shortlisted for the 2020 Giller Prize this is the one that sits at the top of the list for me. This has everything I love in a novel - the lush and literary writing, it is evocative of time, character and place. I really enjoyed this one. I know literary awards are not always about overall enjoyment, but Ridgerunner definitely hit the right reading spots for me!
Rating: really liked it
Unpopular opinion incoming alert!
If I hadn’t spent so much time and money on this book I would have thrown it out a long time ago. If you have to wait until chapter 36 for things to start to get somewhat interesting, you know something has gone wrong. It’s sad because I was so excited to read this book and even voted for it when it came time to pick books in my book club but I was so disappointed.
Now, if you enjoy books where nothing much really happens I think you might enjoy the book. The author is great at getting the reader to visualize the scenes. However, I didn’t feel an emotional connection to any of the characters. Therefore, when things happened in the book I kept wondering why I should care.
Rating: really liked it
I enjoyed the plot and writing style, but there was something about this book that left me uninterested in how things would play out. I just never felt compelled to get back to it.
Rating: really liked it
A ripping good yarn that pushed aside all the other books I was reading for a week so I could finish it. Characters I wanted to spend more time with, landscapes I wanted to see more of, and story that compelled.
Rating: really liked it
This has to be my most anticipated book of this millennium. The Outlander was always going to be hard act to follow as it was one of my top reads almost 10 years ago. To find the authors latest book is a followup to her first was a real thrill, then I was gutted to learn that her wonderful protagonist Mary is absent from this book, apart from being a memory who comes to her sons mind at times of need.
At first I thought The Ridgerunner wasn't going to engage with me quite so much. It has a somewhat more masculine feel with mainly male lead characters apart from the Nun who actually turned out to be one of the most complex characters in the book after a slow burn beginning.
But young Jack is such a likeable and well drawn boy I soon fell in love with him and wanted to step through the pages and Mother him.
The Ridgerunner is a Western, it is a follow up to the Outlander which if you haven't read it I urge you strongly to read before reading this.
The story of a Father and Son and a few great secondary characters who played their parts admirably. Admittedly father is a total recidivist, robbing and thieving and blowing things up with his skewed sense of duty to his son. Parted whilst he sets off to steal enough money to assure his sons future, he leaves the lonely 12 year old lad with a Nun, who loves young Jack obsessively yet fails to provide one touch of affection, no wonder he runs away. The story centres around him surviving alone helped by a friend or two. At first his most loyal friends are a horse with no name and an, also nameless, dog.
The Authors writing style is wonderful, lyrical and imaginative and shines through the entire story.
I absolutely loved every word and it proved the perfect lockdown read, taking me to another time and country. It warmed my heart and gave me a sense of kinship as the boy survives alone, whilst missing his Mum who died and his Father who seems to have completely abandoned him.
Rating: really liked it
Really enjoyable sequel to The Outlander, a book I’d found unexpectedly terrific. I didn’t remember the details of it at all though, and this didn’t impair my enjoyment. Focuses on 12 year old Jack Boulton, son of the Ridgerunner of the title. Jack finds himself thrown into turmoil when his mother dies and his father leaves him in the care of a nefarious nun in Banff, while dad heads out to thieve from mining towns and distant outposts in an effort to build a nest egg for his son. Great historical setting in the Banff and Lake Louise area during the First World War. A couple of slightly awkward segues into the author’s research, but those are minor quibbles. Satisfying.
Rating: really liked it
I groaned inwardly as I read the description for this book as a ‘literary western’. I generally hate the western genre, I find it very dull, I don’t like guns and I’m not really a horse person, so what is there for me? Luckily I picked up Ridgerunner by Gil Adamson anyway, mainly because I enjoy reading books that are set in my own town or province. Gil Adamson also won a bunch of awards for the prequel to Ridgerunner called The Outlander, so I knew it would be written well. Despite my snobbish misgivings I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I anticipate it will find itself on many a prize list this coming Fall.
William is an outlaw of sorts, but one with a kind heart. He’s left his son Jack in the care of a nun in the town of Banff in the Rocky Mountains (for my international readers, this is about an hour’s drive from where I live in Calgary). He takes off on foot, walking south to the Alberta/Montana border, stealing from mining companies, taverns, banks, anywhere he can find some loose cash and practical tools to help him along on his journey. A widower, he is desperate to collect a decent sized amount of money to give to Jack so he can live a life of fulfillment, the money offering him the flexibility to do whatever he likes. Meanwhile, Jack is resentful of his dad for leaving him, he hates living in the town of Banff because he grew up in the woods, living off the land with his mother and father before she died. He’s fed up with trying to fit into the mold of the perfect son the nun insists he be, so he rides off on horseback in search of his old homestead.
Author Gil Adamson, photo Jean-Luc Bertini
Although it sounds like I’m setting up the plot of an action novel, this book is primarily character-driven. Jack’s caregiver is probably the most fascinating and surprising character of them all, and the twists that develop within her storyline are shocking. Because I haven’t read The Outlander, William was more of a mystery to me, but I want to assure people that I never once felt like I was missing out on Ridgerunner by not having read it’s predecessor-it stands strongly on its own. Jack is fun to read along with and we get his perspective most often. Although he’s extremely capable for a 12-year-old, his attempts at living on his own are humorous, one of my favourite scenes is when he brings a horse into his cabin from the cold. The ancillary characters are also well done, many of them exhibiting unique quirks that bring them into focus for the reader, making them unforgettable even though they play a smaller role in the book.
It takes place during WWI, and it highlights an often-ignored part of Canada’s shameful history, which was the internment camps they erected and imprisoned ‘alien’ men in. These prisoners, many of them completely innocent, guilty only of being an immigrant built the highway from Banff to Lake Louise, and Jack comes across these men and their guards while living in the mountains. Years ago I read a book that really opened my eyes to the challenges of living and homesteading in Canada at the beginning of the 20th century, which I still think of to this day because it makes me so thankful for our modern-day amentiies. And although Ridgerunner doesn’t get into the political reasons for these camps, it lays bare the horror of them, which is an important reminder as we travel these same roads to reach the beautiful scenery and tourism hot spots on a regular basis, especially for Calgarians like me. Canadians may be feeling smug these days as many view us as a diverse country accepting of differences, however our history is just as shameful as every other developed nation. Ridgerunner focuses on the beauty of our country, but it doesn’t shy away from the darkness either.
To read the rest of my reviews, please visit my blog:
https://ivereadthis.com/
Sign up for my newsletter here: https://ivereadthis.com/subscribe/
Or follow me on social media!
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Ivereadthis/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ivereadthisblog
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ivereadthis
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD6E...
Rating: really liked it
There's no doubt that Gil Adamson's Ridgerunner deserved to be shortlisted for the 2020 Giller prize and I'm disappointed that she didn't win. Her historical research is so meticulous that I often found myself thinking: "How does she know that?" because it would be impossible to find such detailed descriptions of sounds and smells and sights in any history book. It's as if she went time travelling back to Alberta -- Banff and Lake Louise, and environs -- at the turn of the century. Since I live in this area myself, I was particularly fascinated.
The novel features three complex characters who interact in a deadly triangle of misunderstandings -- father, teenaged son, and the nun who cares for the boy. There's also a wonderful secondary character, an indigenous elder. It's difficult to say more without spoiling the plot. I've heard people complain that the book moved too slowly -- I didn't find it slow, because I was so engrossed in the author's powers of description.
Rating: really liked it
An absolutely wonderful book. This can be read as a stand-alone book, but you should read The Outlander to get a brief glimpse into the characters of this book & Ms. Adamson's writing style.
Each of the main characters; William, Jack, Emilia (the nun), Sampson, Wilson were well-crafted and easy to either like or dislike and, to me, proved integral to the story and I liked how they all were part of each of their lives in someway or another.
Really enjoyed the mentions of Banff and Lake Louise and all other cities in Southern Alberta & the descriptions of the Rocky Mountains with it's scenery and wildlife.
Highly recommend for anyone and everyone.
Rating: really liked it
I picked this up because I read The Outlander and really enjoyed it, and I was interested to see what Adamson would do with her next historical work. I didn't even realize it was a sequel, though you don't have to read The Outlander first to understand and enjoy Ridgerunner.
But you should absolutely go out and get both of these books and read them right now! Because they're both excellent.
On it's face, this is wilderness/western story set mostly around Banff and Lake Louise. But it's also about burglary, parent-child relationships, what happens when love curdles, and how people respond when they're trapped. It's exciting and compelling, and I could barely put it down for the last quarter. Adamson never tells, only shows, and slowly we come to know the truth of the characters. There's a villain, although you don't realize it until well into the book, and that villain was believable and terrifying. The writing is beautiful, and even though I've been to Banff a lot, I feel like her writing would have taken me there, even if I'd never seen it. Adamson also studs her work with allusions, many of which I'm sure I missed.
Adamson also writes about the 'Austrian' prisoners of war interned in Banff in WWI. (The Canadian government rounded up immigrants and travellers from what they felt were Austrian countries, but it really amounted to any Eastern European that caught their eye.) These men were housed in the park in fairly terrible conditions and put to work on all kinds of projects, including building the highway between Banff and Lake Louise. This is a little known part of Canadian history, and I love that they made an appearance in this book.
Rating: really liked it
3.5
Edit: Wanted to add a bit more of a review seeing as no one else has written one for this novel yet.
I didn't realise going into this that this was a sequel to The Outlander and I was pleasantly surprised to find this out (you don't need to have read The Outlander to enjoy this book, but I highly recommend you do as it's one of my favourite books of all time). Though this novel wasn't quite as poetic as The Outlander, I still really enjoy Gil Adamson's writing; it feels like soaking in a warm bath.
Some people might consider this book slow, but that type of thing doesn't really bother me. I thought I might as well mention it for those who are put off by leisurely pacing.
(view spoiler)
[ The main thing that bothered me about this novel is Mary's fate. I came to feel very fond of Mary in The Outlander, and it felt a little cheap to have such a strong character killed off in the manner she is, and with so much of her life yet to be lived. (hide spoiler)]Sorry if this review reads weirdly, I haven't written anything longer than a tweet in such a long time that I can't remember exactly what the last thing I properly wrote was.
Rating: really liked it
Well - if you like a book where nothing really happens for most of the book - this is the book for you. That being said- I loved the character of Jack Bolton and think the book should have been named for him and not his father. Very slow paced and very much about character development- but I would liked it. Giller prize nominee.
Rating: really liked it
Not quite as absorbing as The Outlander but still a good read.
