The Ballad of Billy Badass and the Rose of Turkestan

by William Sanders

Book Overview

THIS BOOK IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE FROM XLIBRIS. IT WILL SOON BE REISSUED BY A COMMERCIAL PUBLISHER. PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT TO ORDER IT HERE.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 073880309X
• ISBN13: 9780738803098
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

A Cult Success That Deserves To Be Much More!

At this moment there is no rhyme or reason to American publishing, no way of telling where the good and vital books are going to be appear. In a way that's frustrating. In another it's exciting. It makes it possible to have the sense of discovery that you get picking up and reading something like THE BALLAD OF BILLY BADASS AND THE ROSE OF TURKESTAN. It's a thriller and a love story. It utilizes Indian lore and science fiction. Set on Southwestern Reservations and in the seedier side of Las Vegas, BALLAD gives a chilling glimpse into the third world country that exists inside this nation. It's cult success is just about guaranteed. It deserves much more than that.

Buy more than one copy--it's so good, you'll want to share!

Billy Badwater is one of the most appealing fictional characters I've ever met. In fact, all of the characters in THE BALLAD OF BILLY BADASS AND THE ROSE OF TURKESTAN are so fully realized that the book is replete with major characters and rich lives that continue well beyond the page. There are almost no minor characters because any character that comes under Sanders' skillful pen for a couple of sentences springs to life by such adept description and wise choice of detail as to defy understanding of quite how the hell Sanders manages to invest so much in each character time after time.The book wove the seriousness of its subject matter brilliantly with generous, laugh-out-loud humor. Grandfather has to be the sweetest dead curmudgeon in all of literature. I'll never look at a crow again without wishing that Grandfather would suddenly say something insulting from the crow's beak and ride on my shoulder for a few sarcastic miles.A wonderful romance takes place in the midst of intense action that keeps gathering momentum and doesn't let go of its grip on the reader as the story avalanches down an unearthly mountain of terror and something eerily vulnerable and wholly of this world while being altogether unworldly rises to battle the threat of chaos with the frailest and most potent of powers.Best of all, even better than the fabulous characters, the heartwarming romance, a dead grandfather anyone would love to posthumously adopt, and a kickass plot, best of all is the overall sustained level of incredibly terrific writing. It would be a disservice to merely call William Sanders a great writer because he surely deserves the appellation of one of the world's greatest living writers. Grandfather, if looking over my shoulder, would dryly remark "One of the greatest, dead or alive, for that matter." And Grandfather knows his stuff.

It will be a cult success. It deserves to be much more.

At this moment there is no rhyme or reason to American publishing, no way of telling where the good and vital books are going to be appear. In a way that's frustrating. In another it's exciting. It makes it possible to have the sense of discovery that you get picking up and reading something like THE BALLAD OF BILLY BADASS AND THE ROSE OF TURKESTAN. It's a thriller and a love story. It utilizes Indian lore and science fiction. Set on Southwestern Reservations and in the seedier side of Las Vegas, BALLAD gives a chilling glimpse into the third world country that exists inside this nation. It's cult success is just about guaranteed. It deserves much more than that.

That's How It Is

No one writes about American Indians better than William Sanders--and that's because he is one, yes, yet it's also a credit to the power of his talent. Sanders proves that again with THE BALLAD OF BILLY BADASS AND THE ROSE OF TURKESTAN, a remarkable novel that effortlessly blends mystery, romance, humor, suspense and bone-chilling, supernatural horror.Billy Badwater and Janna Turanova are the most unique and intriguing pair of lovers I've ever had the pleasure to spend time with. Life has been hard for both Billy and Janna; but no matter what life has been for any of the people in this story, all paths lead to the Nevada drylands, and the terror that has awakened there--and none who walk away will be untouched or unchanged, including those who read this novel.Who are these people who must save the world, and therefore, save you and me? A Cherokee man of no ambition, recently discharged from the more shadowy regions of the U.S. Army, with a passion for big motorcycles and small, beautiful women; and a highly-educated, independent-minded, sweetly desperate woman already at war with the faceless governments who have poisoned the earth and victimized us all, regardless of where you live and who you believe you are.Seamless prose, detailing so intricate it takes your breath away, and original, memorable characters are only some of the hallmarks of this wonderful book. I will especially never forget the craziest, zaniest, loveliest wedding; and THE best grandfather, either living or dead, whether a blue jay or a crow.Let William Sanders take you on this extraordinary journey. He is a writer so gifted, wise, honest and brilliant it's a road you will always remember traveling.Nasgi nusdi, as the Cherokee say: That's how it is.

The LEAST ordinary book you will read this year.

Billy Badwater is a man unformed. Not the "Badass" of his youth, but without a clue as to where to go from there. Janna Turanova has no doubts: Billy is the man she's going to fall in love with. An out-of-work, out-of-the-service Cherokee and a visitor from Kazakhstan with time running out. Couldn't be anything other than a crisis looking for an unstable area to happen.Unfortunately for them, they are at ground zero for a disaster no one on Earth has even imagined, much less thought of a way to battle. This could be the last battle for everyone.You've read plenty of scifi, fantasy, and horror, but you've never read anything that blends them as skillfully as BILLY BADASSS. I know you've never met up with an author who can do it better than Wiliam Sanders.Sanders is a master at the practice of language. Try finding a single word that isn't essential. Don't bother; it's not there. This is one time when there is just no substitute for experience. Sander's life has been a wealth of experience and every fibre goes into his prose. Trust him with your time and he'll take excellent care of you. Trust him. And trust me.