What are the top 5 Louis L'Amour Westerns

[runco]

I would like to read a couple of good westerns this long weekend, and I have never read any Louis L'Amour books before, what top 5 do you recommend.

[Mark A]

Just about all of them... I would suggest reading them in order of date published.

[dlm37015]

some stand out more than others but they are all good

[Spots]

I love the sackett books the best. Probably since they are from the mountains of TN so I feel I can relate better. Im honestly more of a william johnstone mountain man series person, preferring the first mountain man Preacher books.

[Timestepper]

Heller With a Gun

The Man Called Noon

Hondo

Reilly's Luck

Any of the Sackett Novels

Brionne

Chancy

The Ferguson Rifle

Under the Sweetwater Rim

The Proving Trail

All of those are more or less excellent books and I think I have pretty much everything he's ever written if you'd like to borrow or do some swapping sometime.

Reilly's Luck stands out as a classic to me because the main character is raising a young boy to manhood and the book contains snippets of advice and wisdom which ring very true, even in today's society.

Some of Mr. L'Amour's books are better than others and I believe it's because back in the '70's he allowed himself to be contracted for a minimum of three books per year and you just can't write that fast without sacrificing a bit of quality.

Spots - if you really want good mountain man stuff, I'd suggest you toss W. Johnstone in the can and pick up something by Terry C. Johnston. Start off with "Carry the Wind" and go from there. Better yet, when we get together next month, I'll try to remember to bring my copy of "Carry the Wind" and you can just have it as a gift and a starting point.

[Defender]

Ditto on the Sackett series.

[enfield]

I enjoyed all of the L'Amour books, and Ralph Cotton is a current Western writer who also is very good. I go through his novels like popcorn.

If you want to get hooked on a story, read the introduction to "Killing Texas Bob".

[Guest Scramasax]

All of the Sackett books I have read and worn out at least two copy's of each one. Get them in the chronological order of the history not publishing. Other top picks for me are the Iron marshal, Reilly's Luck, The Ferguson Rifle. It is hard to pick a favorite. I plan on one day starting over again with the Sackett series in chronological order. I've read the Mountain man books, they are good just don't care to read them again. I much prefer reading biographies of real mountain men.

Cheers,

Ts

[Jonnin]

IIRC the sackets are not westerns until much, much deeper in the series. I think it starts with the father of the clan in england, he comes to the new world, has kids (this is several books worth...) then, eventally, a couple of the kids or grandkids make it out west and become "true" westerns. So If you want a "western" you might skip to the middle or even end of the series. Just a heads up.

[Timestepper]

FWIW, Elmer Kelton is one of the very best unsung Western writers of all times and this isn't just my opinion. I didn't mention him earlier because the thread title is about Louis L'Amour, but Mr.Kelton would easily be my second choice. Far as that goes, the late Robert B. Parker (author of the "Spenser for hire" novels) is no slouch when it comes to Western novels either.

[Guest cardcutter]

Hondo is what started it all for Louis. It is not a western but I highly recomend both Jubal Sacket and the Walking Drum. If you like a good biography read The Education of a Wandering Man.

[Varmint]

At one time, I had every book that he had written, but gave them all away except the Sackett series.

For other excellent reading try either

Outlaw. By Warren Keifer or

The Frontiersman. Alan Eckerd

Both of them tie for second, right behind Lonesome Dove.

[chemprof]

Any of 'em--all good!

Huge DITTO to William Johnstone's work, and nephew(?) J. A. Johnstone, Ralph Cotton, Ralph Compton. I, too, devour these like popcorn. I'm incredibly impressed to hear of Varmint's suggestion for "The Frontiersman"! It's prob been 20 years since I read that and it was wonderful!

Since my wife is a Librarian, I'll also suggest heading to your nearest branch and they'll give you more suggestions than you can hope to read!

Good reading!

[Ropin4gold]

I'm not big on westerns but he wrote Last of the Breed, which I thought was a good read.

[Moped]

Sackett's Land

To the Far Blue Mountains

Jubal Sackett

The Daybreakers

The Walking Drum (Not a Western, but a damn good book!)

I've read just about all of his books and love all the Sackett books. Here is a list.

http://www.louislamour.com/sackett/index.htm

[runco]

Thanks guys, I knew in the gun world there would be some western readers!