OLD NATHAN by David Drake
Wayne Throop
notch, first rate, highly recommended. In reading the cover blurb of
_Old_Nathan_ and leafing through the front material, I noticed that the
dedication of this book was "To my late friend Manly Wade Hampton
Wellman". I snatched it up.
Well. Old Nathan is no Silver John. No way, no how.
The book consists of five stories about "Old Nathan", a cross between
Doctor Dolittle and John Christian Falkenberg, but with a bit less
self-control than either of them.
Nathan, you see, can talk to the animals, and work various sorts of
magic, and lays claim to being "the Devil's master". He's a harsh,
bitter man who holds most who come to him for help of various sorts
in caustic contempt. But like a bitter-tasting medicine, Nathan is
an effective, sometimes necessary, and always sufficient cure for
whatever ails a person.
The five stories are interesting, the "gimick" of each one is well
thought out, and the plots pull your attention right along. "Hammer's
Slammers in faeryland" is a bit too strong, but it conveys a
perhaps-useful summarizing image. Hmmmm. Perhaps you'd do better
thinking of "Lacey and his Friends in faeryland".
So, if you like the hard edged characterizations that David Drake
is known for, and the macho bluster, and the (it seems to me) vaguely
Heinlein-esque philosophical background, then these may be just your
cup of tea. For me, expecting something much more Silver-John-like,
it really didn't hit the spot.
%A David Drake
%C Riverdale, NY
%D October 1991
%G 0-671-72084-8
%I Baen Books
%T Old Nathan
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Wayne Throop ...!mcnc!dg-rtp!sheol!throopw