Union Pacific: A Western Story (Five Star Western Series)

Union Pacific: A Western Story (Five Star Western Series) by Grey, Zane. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9781594147432.

Here’s something fans of prolific western author Grey, who died nearly 70 years ago, probably weren’t expecting: a new novel. In 1916, Grey decided to write an epic-scale historical novel about the building of the Union Pacific Railroad. It proved a difficult task, and his editor rewrote large chunks of it, eventually publishing the substantially altered book under a different title. Now Grey’s original version is published, in all its sprawling glory. Viewed simply as a novel, it feels clunky and unpolished, although the story—the construction of a railroad and how it affects the lives of the novel’s characters—has a Michener-style grandeur to it, both in its mixture of history and fiction and in its use of individual characters to represent sections of society. Viewed, on the other hand, as a glimpse into the mind of Zane Grey, as a look at the big novel he dreamed of publishing but never really did, it’s downright fascinating. We see an author who, if he possessed a little more self-discipline and a bit more technique, could have extended his range well beyond black hats and white hats.