Zeppelins West harkens back to a time when science fiction was just a whole hell of a lot of fun. Reminiscent of the best of [author:Philip Jose Farmer], [author:Edgar Rice Burroughs], and [author:Howard Waldrop], Zeppelins West is from one of my favorite sub-genres, the alternate literary history. (For the uneducated, an alternate literary history is an alternate history story using literary characters and references. Prime examples include [author:Kim Newman]’s [book:Anno Dracula], [author:Alan Moore]’s [book:League of Extraordinary Gentleman], and [author:Brian Stableford]’s [book:Werewolves of London].)

Bear with me for a second as I relate the unbelievable to you. Imagine a world where Buffalo Bill Cody (or rather just his head) and his Wild Zeppelin Show venture to Japan on a diplomatic mission after the disastrous slaughter of Americans and Japanese at Little Bighorn. While in Japan, Cody and his allies Wild Bill Hickok, Annie Oakley, and Sitting Bull rescue the kidnapped Frankenstein’s Monster! During the daring escape, their zeppelin is shot down by Japanese Zeros over the Pacific Ocean. Luckily our heroes are rescued by Captain Bemo (a thinly disguised Captain Nemo) and his nuclear sub. Somehow this motley crew ends up on the island of Dr. Momo (a thinly disguised Dr. Moreau). And then things get weird! Other guest stars include The Tin Man (from the Wizard of Oz), a talking seal, man-beasts galore, and a quick appearance by the most famous monster of them all (I won’t mention any names. That would be telling.).

It’s a testament to the power of Lansdale’s skills that he makes the whole thing work. Through several unsettling scenes (include one really, really bizarre sex scene. It might be one of the strangest couplings in all of fiction.) and unexpected deaths galore, he keeps the reader riveted. The death scenes shouldn’t shock longtime Lansdale readers. We all know that he will kill anyone at anytime. This book is a fast read not because it’s short but rather it’s unputdownable. There are no chapters and no real breaks. This is one wild ride.

Zeppelins West is far from a perfect novel. Lansdale’s refusal to actually use Moreau and Nemo comes across as lazy. I’m not sure if it was done for legal or other reasons, but it felt like he didn’t want to the research to make the characters work. Lansdale, also, belabors the obvious especially with the Ned Buntline and Ned the seal connection. He needs to have more faith in his readers.

Lansdale originally intended this to be a much shorter piece for inclusion in [author:Al Sarrantonio]’s [book:Red Shift] anthology, but the story took on a life of it’s own and became this short novel. The fact that he can accidentally produce such a splendid romp is proof that Joe R. Lansdale is firing on all cylinders. This is a writer at the peak of his skills.

This is by no means the best Joe R. Lansdale has to offer, but it is exactly as advertised. Zeppelins West is a fun alternate history and no more. Read it for what it is and receive a fantastic thrill. ( )

I came to expect a lot of "Zeppelins West" due to Lansdale's oeuvre so perhaps it isn't too surprising that I came to be greatly disappointed by it; indeed, "Zeppelins West" is by far the least interesting book by Lansdale I have ever read.

Apparently, the genre of which "Zeppelins West" sits in is Steampunk. This is the first Steampunk novel I have read and I doubt I'll be back for more. The plot follows Annie Oakley, Sitting Bull and the disembodied head of Buffalo Bill as they take a trip to Japan on a Zeppelin where they bump heads with a Japanese warlord and high strangeness ensues. It sounds much better than the end result. ( )

Not my kind of book, a mish mash of all types of real and fictional characters. The only way I was able to finish reading it was that Lansdale is such a great writer, he makes the story flow....a story I must admit I hated from start to finish. I am only rating it a 3, but someone who likes fantasy novels would probably rate it a 5. ( )

In the world of escapist literature, sometimes too much is...too much. That is certainly the case with Joe R. Lansdale's Zeppelins West, set in an alternate universe where Japanese samurai fought (and lost) with Custer at the Battle of Little Bighorn, where Dr. Frankenstein and his monster are real, and where Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show travels by Zeppelin to Japan, the event that sets the whole story in motion. By too much, I don't mean too long. I read this in two sittings, and probably would have stayed up to finish it if I didn't have to go to work. But as the book goes on, there is just a little too much offhandedness about it all. Lansdale is such a good writer that he can do just about anything, so he does. Everything he can think of seems to go into this book, leaving it rather a mess, though still an enjoyable one. It has the extreme vulgarity of some of his other books (the Hap and Leonard series, for example), but in this case it just seems to be there for its own sake, not to add to the story. The characters, most of them real historical persons such as Wild Bill Cody, Annie Oakley, and Sitting Bull, are shallowly drawn and rather stereotyped. Oddly, Frankenstein's Monster seems to be the most introspective of the bunch.

Oh well, if you are a Lansdale fan (as I am), you'll still enjoy it, but it is a bit of a throwaway effort for a writer who is quite capable of combining his vivid imagination with a much better story to produce something like "Lost Echoes" or "The Big Blow".

But the real mystery here is why my public library has in circulation one of the 1500 signed first editions! Actually, I just checked on abebooks.com, and you can get one for less than $25. ( )

Very enjoyable, extremely recommendable, light hearted, filthily absurd and just down right fun. This was a quick read even for me (my indian name is He Who Reads Slowly) but oh so worth it.

Glad I read some of the reviews because it looks like this book has a sequel? Seems very strange because it didn't seem like he left much room for a sequel. Either way I'll be reading more Lansdale in the future to hopefully recreate the experience I just had with this book. ( )