Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey (Audiobook Review)

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Title: Riders of the Purple Sage
Author: Zane Grey
Narrator: Mark Bramhall
Copyright: 2010, Blackstone Audio
Duration: 12 hours, 33 minutes
Genres: western
Filed in: Audiobook Reviews
Review copy provided by Blackstone Audio.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY: Now, for the first time in a century, Zane Grey’s best-known novel is presented in its original form exactly as he wrote it.
When in the early 1900s Zane Grey took his manuscript to two publishing companies, they rejected it because of the theme of Mormon polygamy, fearing it would offend their readers and subscribers. Then Grey made a special plea to Frederick Duneka, who was vice-president of Harper & Bros. and who had been Mark Twain’s editor at that company. Duneka and his wife read the novel and liked it but feared it would offend some readers. Harper & Bros. agreed to publish a changed version of the novel and purchased both the book and magazine-serial rights. Given the task of executing the necessary editorial changes, a senior editor of the company made changes in tone, diction, and style as well as content. The novel first appeared in nineteen installments in the monthly magazine Field & Stream from January 1912 to July 1913.
Blackstone Audio here presents the original, uncensored, unabridged novel Riders of the Purple Sage, obtained through the Golden West Literary Agency with the cooperation of Zane Grey’s son, Loren Grey, and the Ohio State Historical Society.
In Cottonwoods, Utah, in 1871, a woman stands accused and a man is sentenced to whipping. Into this travesty of small-town justice rides the one man whom the town elders fear. His name is Lassiter, and he is a notorious gunman who's come to avenge his sister's death. It doesn't take Lassiter long to see that this once peaceful Mormon community is controlled by the corrupt Deacon Tull, a powerful elder who's trying to take the woman's land by forcing her to marry him, branding her foreman as a dangerous 'outsider'. Lassiter vows to help them. But when the ranch is attacked by horse thieves, cattle rustlers, and a mysterious masked rider, he realizes that they're up against something bigger, and more brutal, than the land itself.
©2005 Zane Grey, Inc. (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: If you like stereotypical westerns, then Riders of the Purple Sage is for you. A damsel in distress, a mysterious gunman, religious zealots, cattle rustlers, a gold mine; this one has it all. Zane Grey did throw in a couple of twists, however, that I thought were unique. This is the first western I’ve read where the religious zealots were Mormons. Also, I think this is the first western I’ve read where some of the women ride horses. And one of those women was a cattle rustler.
Throughout this audiobook, the thing that really struck me was how well Zane Grey describes the landscape. He doesn’t use a lot of unnecessary words, but the pictures come in very clearly. Valleys, canyons, cliffs, rocky ledges, and of course the sage, always the purple sage. A picture is worth a thousand words, but sometimes a few well chosen words can paint a perfect picture.
I liked Mark Bramhall’s narration. He does pretty good voice characterizations, and he seems especially apt doing the rough and gritty voices of gun fighters and cowhands.
Altogether, Riders of the Purple Sage is a good story, but I can’t say that it’s one of my favorite westerns. I like stories about gun fighters and men taming the west, but this one was really more about the women.

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If you like this audiobook review, you can purchase the audiobook here:
Get “Riders of the Purple Sage (Unabridged Audiobook) from Blackstone Audio.

This audiobook review is based on the unabridged audiobook.
Audiobook review by Steven Brandt
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TAGS audiobook review, riders of the purple sage, zane grey, mark bramhall, blackstone audio, western