Review: The Black Blade: A Huckster Novel

The Black Blade: A Huckster Novel by Jeff Chapman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review of THE BLACK BLADE: A HUCKSTER NOVEL by Jeff Chapman

I'm familiar with the subgenre of “Weird Western,” which I guess is a subgenre of both “Weird Fiction” and of “Western Fiction,” in this case “Western” referring to the mid- to late-19th century frontier, in the U.S. And possibly Canada and Mexico. This would be the era of Manifest Destiny, that horrid protocol invented by Western Europeans to countenance their complete takeover of the North American continent. I haven't read a lot of “Weird Western” fiction but let me tell you, Jeff Chapman may just have convinced me to drop everything and start reading this category widely.

THE BLACK BLADE is an adorable, DEE-LIGHT-FUL novel, as perhaps one of its characters might say [or maybe not]. Anyway, this reviewer says so: Jimmy and Orville are a precious duo, and now they've added Isobel on full-time, and that feisty girl is a real kickin' heroine too. Jimmy and Orville are sort of business partners; Orville, a chubby but charismatic fellow, hucksters...he cons folks out of their hard-earned money, and he is always looking for opportunity to knock. Jimmy, younger, rescued by Orville when he was lower than a frog's belly and really poorly off, is always watching out for danger, which usually finds them, then figuring out how to get them safe. In this novel, the two men, and a farm couple, are tricked by a dark magician, a “man” with true power, and Jimmy and Wilbur, the farmer, are sent out on a quest worthy of dark fantasy. They have to deal with shapeshifting animals, a mask that possesses, the dark magician and his various monstrous creations, as well as battle against their own fear, and learn to cooperate instead of compete.

Jeff Chapman's characterizations are precious. His settings are beautifully delineated, and his homespun prattle, particularly Jimmy's, is humorous yet poignant. Jimmy is fond of remembering particular proverbs and platitudes of his late grandma, herself a wise one, and his homage to her and his loyalty to his friends knows no bounds. More Jimmy and Orville, please!

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