Valley of the Sun: Stories

"Valley of the Sun," Frontier Stories by Louis L'Amour The bestselling book "Valley of the Sun" consists of nine short stories written by the award winning author Louis L'Amour. The stories take place in the Midwest cattle country during the 1600's lawless frontier days. This was the first book I have read by Louis L'Amour and I found the stories to be fantastic. They are easy to read stories that go straight to the characters and the action without fluffy introductions. I have very little time to read for pleasure, but I found that I needed as few as ten minutes to experience a full range of emotions among the simplest of dialog and get my mind off the daily grind. Ultimately the stories revolve around the difficulties settlers faced without modern resources, morality and human conscious, and personal relationships. All of the stories detail situations of early settlers trying to earn a living off the land. The cattle business at that time was very profitable which made the movement of the cattle over great distances very dangerous. L'Amour does a great job describing the environmental challenges of moving hundreds cattle hundreds of miles and the need to continuously reprioritize physical exhaustion over dwindling supplies while navigating along side hostile Native American land. Any delays along the way due to heat, cold, or human conflict would result in lame live stock or personal death. The characters were continuously faced with moral dilemmas associated with, killing, stealing, lying, cheating, the human conscious, love, and trying to right a previous wrong which kept the stories exciting. I very much enjoyed how L'Amour quickly dove into character interaction. The language was simple and definitely depicted a time when education was limited, which made everything that was said, very meaningful. With limited complex language, I feel L'Amour excelled in his ability to describe fear, guilt, desire, and greed through body language and common sense descriptions. With this, I found the characters moral choices for all of the stories, rational and very believable. Given the many challenges early Americans faced in the Midwest and limited education, L'Amour's stories detailed the need for trust and loyalty to ensure daily survival. I enjoyed how the characters felt the need to prove themselves with actions not words. Loyalty was first above morality, and if a friend was in trouble it was acceptable to kill despite the reason for the conflict, there was no time for explanations when everyone had a gun. The rules were simple, women and children were off limits, and trust was maintained through honesty and hard work that complimented others as well as your self. Louis L'Amour's efforts to capture the frontier period have been recognized in over 120 publishing and have sold nearly 270 million copies. My brother is an avid reader of Louis L'Amour and when I had to choose a book to review for a college English course it was an easy opportunity read something new. Most of all, I found the stories took me back to a time when hard work was respected most and common sense prevailed. I will purchase another book soon.L'Amour, L. (2004). VALLEY OF THE SUN. New York, NY: Bantam.

I never thought I would find an authentic short Story collection that was written by Louis himself that I haven't read yet! You can tell quickly if it was written by him or finished by someone else. Victoria's country went on to become the novel High lonesome this is an excellent short Story collection authentic Louis L'Amour through and through five star rating for sure

These were very short stories with different types and different endings. I can't say they were my favorites. Louis L'Amour still my favorite.

I began reading western novels for my own personal enjoyment about ten years ago. They became one of my favorite kinds of books in my recreational reading routine. I knew Louis L’Amour was considered the master of this genre, strangely I did not read very many of Louis L’Amour’ western tales until fairly recently. I am now a huge fan of L’Amour’s fantastic western stories.This beautiful hard cover book (Valley of the Sun by Louis L’Amour) contains nine western tales that are so compelling I could hardly put the book down until I finished reading the entire book. I never give away too much when reviewing a novel and short stories because it spoils it for the reader. I will tell you that the story telling skills of the late Louis L’Amour is the absolute best when it comes to telling western tales.The nine short stories are as follows: We shaped the land with our guns, west of the pilot range, when a Texan takes over, no man’s mesa, Gila crossing, medicine ground, valley of the sun, that slash seven kid and in Victoria’s country. I actually loved reading all nine of these stories but I especially enjoyed Valley of the sun, we shaped the land with our guns and west of the pilot range.If love stories about the old west with a writer that makes the characters come alive, you should check out this excellent volume.Rating: 5 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Never Trust a Politician: A critical review of politics and politicians).

Very good read. The book kept me reviewed. I like reading this type of book. It was a good read.

They were good stories to be read again except for the last story,it was good shows how back in the past adults good or bad took care of children,that's nice

I have never read a book from this author I didn't like. This book was no exception.

I have enjoyed some other longer stories by L’Amour, but was looking for a book of Western stories that could be consumed quickly. This hit the mark.Entertaining, short, and fun.If you are a busy person with small gaps of time in your day and trying to fit in more reading, these stories are perfect.

For a L'amour short story book it is one of his best. Includes follow up stories to some of his better characters.

I had not read these short stories before, however you can see where some have grown to other full books. Great reads and classic LL all of them.

My cousin loves the Louis L'amour cowboy books I always buy him a couple he is in his 80'sreminds him of his child hood I like to spoil him

Another collection of short stories from Louis L'Amour that tell the story of a time gone by and the people who road it's trails, walked the streets and deserts of the old west. No movie can bring these characters to life any better than the words on the pages, they evoke the sights, sounds and smells of the time. Each story is a tale of good overcoming bad and reflects our own hope's.

Louis l'amour simply the best Western writer bar none - stories are great, can't put them down, sackets, talon and chantry my favourites