Eric Scott Fischl “Dr Potter’s Medicine Show” (Angry Robot,
2017)
Some years back, David Milch rocked us with Deadwood. Suddenly people thought that Westerns could
and should be dark. And now they are.
Did I say dark? Wow, this book is dark. I have to admit that perhaps it’s my own
reading protocols. I thought of this book as a fantasy with some horror
elements. I can see now that it’s really a horror novel, with some historical
fantasy mixed in.
The book follows the titular Medicine Show around as they
travel and use the sales of their cure-all as a means to conduct dark
alchemical experiments. It’s gruesome stuff, and the cast of characters do not
help. You are either evil or a victim. I kept waiting for a cowboy with a white
hat to ride in & clean things up but it was obvious early that was not
going to happen.
Now most of my reaction is on me, I’m just not the reader
for that. I will say, however, that I thought there were tonal problems with
the early scenes with the brothers Ag & Sol. Their early scenes were
straight black comedy. Yet contextually it felt jarring rather than comedic
relief.
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