Western Heroes: "Riders of the Purple Sage", "Last of the Plainsmen", "Lone Star Ranger

"Riders of the Purple Sage" has everything a person has come to know and understand that belongs in a story of the west--the taciturn gunfighter; the woman in distress fighting a losing battle; great scenery; fast horses; and evil men. Yet "Riders" is more than that. It has sub-plots upon sub-plots that keep the reader wondering what is going to happen next. "Riders of the Purple Sage" would immortalize both the author and the genre of "westerns". From then on every "western" would be compared to this one. The ironic part is: Zane Grey never considered them to be "westerns"; they were romances, romantic adventures, romantic novels. And to be totally accurate, the word, "western" did not exist at the time this book was written; it did not come into use until 1927 at the earliest, so to insist Zane Grey was a "western" writer is suspect, at best. And, what most people don't know or realize today, Zane Grey wrote quite often from a woman's viewpoint, and does so in this book. At the time of Zane Grey's greatest popularity more than half of his readership were women, and he was published in such magazines as, Cosmopolitan, Colliers, and Ladies Home Journal. If you have never read a "western" I whole-heartedly urge you to try this one. "The Last of the Plainsmen" was Buffalo Jones. When Zane Grey met Buffalo Jones in New York City in 1908 Zane Grey instinctively knew he had met someone special. And the two men remained friends until Jones' death many years later. This book recounts only a small portion of the plainsman's life, but what is provided relates to us the life of an adventurer, an empire builder, and a conservationist. Included are stories of the man's trying to rope lions in the Grand Canyon and to his attempt to preserve the last of the buffalo from extinction, after once having slaughtered them to provide meat for the railroad workers. When this book was first published it did not receive very good reviews, but has since been praised for Zane Grey's prose and narrative skills. Furthermore, the people Zane Grey met on this trip with Jones led directly to his creation of such great novels as Heritage of the Desert and Riders of the Purple Sage and set the stage for his entire career. Without this trip and the writing of this book there might not have been a Zane Grey as we know him today. It all began here. "The Lone Star Ranger" has traditionally been one of the best selling of Zane Grey's novels, and considered by some to be one of his best, I find far inferior to the two novels from which this book was created by the editors at Harper Brothers. The two novels, Last of the Duanes and Rangers of the Lone Star stand far above this book. There are too many missing events and characters in this version. The female love interest is completely missing in Part Two of the book and there are many other unanswered questions created by the melding of these two works. But, if one is to have a complete set of Zane Grey, then this book is collectable and readable; but NOT one of his best. It is however far superior to anything being published today. I'd say this book is average, or little below average.