"Wagon train to the stars?" Yes.
"Actual Wagon Train?" No.
But that isn't my problem with this story.
No, my tastes in genres has (like my waistline) broadened with age, and now some good ol' fashioned "High Noon" fun--such as is presented in "Some Desperado"--is a welcome change of pace. The characters are both quirky and memorable. The plot is slight, but in the vein of a Coen brothers flick, or the board-game Fiasco, where characters with big plans watch them unravel before their eyes and we delight as they get put through the wringer. In summation, a thoroughly enjoyable read, "Some Desperado" is told mainly through crisp action, with Tarrentino-esque fight scenes containing unexpected twists and turns.
So where's the problem? It's a Western. A good and entertaining Western. What's wrong with that?
The problem, my friends is that this is the very first story in the Anthology "The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume Eight" edited by Jonathan Strahan. Nothing in the story qualifies it as either Science Fiction OR Fantasy. It's not set in an alternate universe and there's not a single supernatural element present in the story. Nada, zip, bupkiss.
And to say that it's fantasy because of the cinematic nature of the action would be a far stretch. None of the stunts in "Some Desperado" reach the level of, say, either the "Indiana Jones" or the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchises (both clearly fantasy.)
If it was hidden in the middle of the lineup, it might have slipped by unnoticed, but it's the first batter up to the plate. Strahan picks this for his lead-off hitter? Worse still, the first page of the story faces the last page of the introduction which bemoans, "Were there stories that I'd like to have included that aren't here? Certainly..."
Uh, Jon, what if you left out this one?
Sorry Joe, though I did like your story an awful lot. (See, I knew there was going to be an apology.)
