According to USA Today, if I only read one western in my life, it should be Lonesome Dove. I’ve enjoyed western films, and now thanks to the spreading Taylor Sheridan universe, I thought I may dip into it.

Clocking in at 858 pages, the 40th anniversary edition is introduced by Sheridan, and I saddled up for the ride. The Pulitzer Prize-winning novel wraps you up in its simple and engaging narrative. Its expansive cast of characters all have a feeling of realism to them, living in shades of grey as they attempt to eke out a living.

Central to the story are Gus and Call, two former Texas Rangers, living on the outskirts of the town of Lonesome Dove. When a former friend rides into town, a gambler, rake, and now murderer named Jake Spoon, the idea is planted to move a herd of cattle up to the unclaimed lands of Montana.

What starts as a simple idea turns into a months-long journey with a cost none of them expected.

Around Call and Gus, an unlikely pairing at best, is their outfit, Hat Creek. Some men have been with them for years, as well as an unclaimed son. Around the Hat Creek outfit are a number of characters: a whore named Lorena who wants to get to San Francisco, a sheriff, July Johnson, hunting for Spoon, and his own wife who has run off, a former love of Gus’ Clara,

The path from Texas to Montana isn’t an easy journey: snakes, bears, horse thieves, and the Indigenous population.

Beautiful, poetic, and completely engaging, I swept through the pages, but found myself slowing down as I breached the last one hundred pages; I wasn’t ready to leave these characters and the journey behind, despite the cost of it.

Characters pass through the story, and all of them have an impact on it. Call and Gus are great recognizable characters. Neither is perfect, and both, in fact, all the characters are flawed. No one is perfect; there is a realness to them, which lets the reader relate to everything they go through.

It also underlines how tough the times were. You could rely, hopefully, on those around you, but it was up to you to survive the elements and the dangers that abounded. And, no spoilers, but not all of the characters do, and each one hurt in the revelation.

I grew attached to all of these characters. July has his moments despite being unsure of himself. Gus is someone I could relate to the most, and the issue of Newt, so well done.

This book was an adventure. I loved my time riding with the men of the Hat Creek Outfit and I was so sorry to leave them behind when I turned the last page.

Yes, it’s a big book. But don’t be put off by its size. This one is definitely worth saddling up for. And now, I’m going to see what the television mini-series adapation was like.

Fantastic.