Rating: 
Summary: The Saga Continues
Review: This is by far the longest of the first three Berrybender books. I got the feeling that McMurtry decided he liked the story and characters after the first two short but engaging chronicles and decided to add some heft to this follow-on.
The Berrybenders, the dis-functional fictional family of the old American West, are journeying with their contingent of Mountain Men, Indian joiners and others from the Annual Green River Mountain Man join-up to Bent's Fort, a real trading post on the Arkansas River.
In this breezy tale, McMurtry joins the stories (if not always the destinies) of the Barrybenders, Indian warrior chiefs like The Partezon (Partisan - get it!) the real life Kit Carson, Pomp Charbonneau and the Sin Killer, aka Jim Snow who improbably marries Tasmin Berrybender, the protagonist of much of the story and its driving force.
Part adventure, part historical fiction, large part soap opera, the characters weave romance, trysts, witty dialogue, improbable meetings (two European journalists in an early hot air balloon) and blood, death and mayhem in this engaging escape novel.
I still can't decide if McMurtry is sketching some kind of cartoonish caricature of western tales, or just decided to dash off a fun tale packed with as many odd ball (and mostly two dimensional) characters as he could invent. Either way, the series engages and remains good mind candy if one knows not to expect another Lonesome Dove.
Rating:
Summary: Third time's charm?
Review: Well, I must concur that this the third of the Berrybender Narratives may not be the best of the three, but I still find the farcical characters and the historical characters who are woven throughout all three books memorable and generally fun. I guess you can't top Lonesome Dove in some folks eyes, but I will remember Tasmin and her scout husband for a long time as they are larger than life, just like the whole crew that travels those primitive 1830's Indian "infested" trails of the Berrybender entourage's pilgrimmage.If western fiction that contains larger than life situations and dilemmas fascinates you, this McMurtry is a suitable final installation for you. If you like to read books in a series, you must read this one to finish off this set. Again, there are gorey parts and reprehensible actions by fantastical inhumane seeming humans. But there is also solid entertainment. Dispel the winter doldrums and polish off a great writer's latest effort.
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