Comstock Lode

by Louis L'Amour

It was just a godforsaken mountainside, but no place on earth was richer in silver. For a bustling, enterprising America, this was the great bonanza. The dreamers, the restless, the builders, the vultures—they were lured by the glittering promise of instant riches and survived the brutal hardships of a mining camp to raise a legendary boom town. But some sought more than wealth.

Val Trevallion, a loner haunted by a violent past. Grita Redaway, a radiantly beautiful actress driven by an unfulfilled need. Two fiercely independent spirits, together they rose above the challenges of the Comstock to stake a bold claim on the future.

Genres: Westerns, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Adventure, Action, Romance, Historical

496 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Louis Dearborn L'Amour was an American novelist and short story writer. His books consisted primarily of Western novels, though he called his work "frontier stories". His most widely known Western fiction works include Last of the Breed, Hondo, Shalako, and the Sackett series. L'Amour also wrote historical fiction (The Walking Drum), science fiction (The Haunted Mesa), non-fiction (Frontier), and poetry and short-story collections. Many of his stories were made into films. His books remain popular and most have gone through multiple printings. At the time of his death, almost all of his 105 existing works (89 novels, 14 short-story collections, and two full-length works of nonfiction) were still in print, and he was "one of the world's most popular writers".

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remembered this as one of my favorite L'Amour stories. It follows a number of settlers on their way west & the growth of a mining town over the course of a decade. That's really interesting, although fairly scanty. A lot of tidbits & half stories such as the mention of the Pony Express. It briefly served the town, but L'Amour makes it sound as if telegraph lines coming in put an end to the service. There's no mention that it only existed for less than 2 years or the trains that replaced it. Still, it makes some important points & shows something of the life they experienced.

The characters weren't very good. Overblown or caricatures, never much nuance, & predictable, gooey romance with a lot of repetition. While the narrator was good, I've always read L'Amour in paperbacks that allowed me to skim. No such ability in this format & it grew tiresome. I think I'll stick to memories & paperbacks from now on.

This edition had a 1982 interview with L'Amour tacked on to the end & it was interesting, although I recommend reading Education of a Wandering Man for a lot more detail. If you're a L'Amour fan, I highly recommend it.

[Set Sytes · Rating 3 out of 5]

The rise of a boomtown is more interesting than the basic main plot, which gets a little repetitive and kinda outstays its welcome somewhat. There is also too little characterisation spread out over too many characters. Characters (especially antagonists) that should've been a presence from early on don't make themselves known until way too late in the novel and immediately become just another name, without impact.
At nearly 600 pages (albeit small mass market ones), the book definitely could have been trimmed leaner.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story. Trevallion is a wonderful evocative character. His story of revenge and honesty and steadfastness is entertaining and informative. Supporting his friends and reunited with Grita now an actress. The evolution of a small mining town into a boomtown is well written. My favorite character was Josef Teale and the psychopathic villain Hesketh is a nasty piece of work.

[Scott Lyson · Rating 5 out of 5]

"A successful man can share his success. His troubles are his own."

Louis L'Amour knocked out some of his finest work in his later years, and this is one of his finest. An epic tale of a couple of characters who have a troubled childhood, and end up in a mining town in Nevada. This is a bit lengthier than your typical L'Amour, and it's refreshing to spend ample time with some tertiary characters. We also get a horrifying glimpse at an unforgettable villain. All of the typical trademarks are here and are refreshingly handled. You'll also encounter some supremely crafted suspense scenes that aren't as ubiquitous in L'Amour. The story is set during the period of the Civil War, and the characters' journeys paint a picture of life in the West during the time, but from a distance. A fast paced Western epic of souls gone cold, souls of incendiary desire, and the evolution of the soul of America.

[Megan Norred · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did enjoy this book but not my favorite of this author. It took a couple of hundred pages before I felt like it was going anywhere after the initial few scenes. I enjoyed reading about the building of the town and the usual history he sprinkles into his novels. I thought the main character was flat and like so many cookie cutter western characters. There were interesting characters but most of them were side characters. It wrapped up nicely though. It is an excellent novel for men like my grandfather who enjoy a good western.

[Jill · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't like books with killing and this had lots. Also, the author repeated himself over and over.For example,the main character kept saying he didn't want to kill anymore that he was tired of it, once was enough but the author keot telling us things we already knew.

[Alice Kanaka · Rating 5 out of 5]

My uncle is a big Louis L'Amour fan and recommended this book. I ordinarily read mysteries but enjoy learning something when I read. I had a little trouble getting into Comstock Lode, because I had a deep sense of forboding in the beginning. I will tell you, however, that continuing past my initial reservations was well worth it. Comstock Lode is a fascinating glimpse into the lives and mind sets of the hardy men and women who were connected to the gold rush, but it's so much more. The plot and pacing are excellent. For such a long book, it doesn't lag or get boring for a moment. You'll not even be tempted to skip ahead. The characters are fully developed, well-rounded, and so real that you feel like you know them. When I finished the book, I was at once satisfied and also sad it was over. I would definitely recommend this book to almost anyone, whether you are a fan of westerns, historical fiction, adventure, or even a little romance; this book has it all.

[Jay Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of L'Amour's longest. This is character given. It begins when the main characters parents are killed by a very 8 very bad men. The worst is Hasketh who is one of L'Amour's truly bad men. The two children are reunited in Virginia City, Nevada and the Comstock Lode. At first, Trevellian is kdriven by revenge, but as he ages that no longer drives him. L'Amour researched mining and I now know too much. When Grita, the young girl in the beginning arrives his thoughts turn to her. When the increased pages, L'Amour develops more characters.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is something cathartic about reading about a boomtown in Nevada. Maybe it's because the good guys are all good and live by honor, the bad guys are all bad and live by their appetitive desires and the women are few and intelligent. L'Amour knows his stuff and the mining details were interesting. The story was kindof predictable, but hey, who cares!. I wasn't expecting there to be so many gun fights, but they were here and all great. I can see why these are almost all my dad ever reads.

[Matt Pitts · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve read almost 40 of Louis’s books in the last couple years or so, including all the Sackett books, and this is easily one of the best I’ve read. Some of the content is a little darker and tougher than is typical of Louis, but the story is pitched perfectly. It’s also longer than his average, but oh so hard to put down.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little more length than I have been reading lately but it was worth taking several days to get through. I loved all of the historical details included in the story. It made me want to know more about the whole time period and the mining industry.

There was quite a bit of shooting going on, as would be expected coming from a western, but there weren't a lot of details or gore involved. I will say that while it didn't glorify the shootings it made it feel a little like a run-of-the-mill thing to kill another man. That may be historically accurate though.

Oh, and his reference to "Mormons" was laughable. Not accurate, but got my attention.

[Blake B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comstock Lode by Louis L'Amour is a very good an exciting and suspenseful book .

I'd rate this book 4 stars if u like western books then id suggest it for you. The book has plenty of suspenseful and thrilling events in it.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

A super fun, old-fashioned Western is a Rom Com, but in a different font. Do I know the ending before it begins? Yes. Are all the characters lacking in dimension and personality? Absolutely. Will I devour it up and enjoy every page? Most definitely.

[Bailey Irwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was one of my grandpas favorite authors and it really reminded me of him while reading this. i wouldn’t say things picked up til part three, but once things got rolling i couldn’t put the book down. was a little tough starting out but is good if you power through

[Bob Hernandez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book, this book has a lot of Bad Hombres, Mining, Mule skinners, wagon trains and Boom town adventures. And Gun slingers and bush wackers,

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good dialogue and writing but such a rushed ending

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. My first Louis L'Amour novel. I thought it took a little too long to develop, or maybe I was just impatient. I really enjoyed the second half of the book once it got going.

[Nate Beam · Rating 5 out of 5]

An old favorite. Classic L’Amour.

[Rebekah Maciborsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It is the first book I read of the Western genre, but it was very similar to historical fiction books and was wonderful. Full of adventure, danger and gun-slinging, the book was entertaining and enjoyable from start to finish. My only criticism is that it was a bit repetitive. At one point, Val starts questioning his future, and it was pondered many times in short order. This was a common occurrence but only detracted from the story a little bit.

[Jenny Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it! I've liked all of his westerns and this one focuses on mining. The main character Trevillion is wonderful. It starts with his family coming to America for the gold Rush and then after disaster it focuses on Trevillion himself. I really liked the story line far more than the others of Lamour I've read recently. It has a bit more depth than the others. The Lonesome God's is still my favorite but this one might be in the top 3 of all his I've read.

[William C. Montgomery · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked up “Comstock Lode” at an airport bookstore for a flight home from, appropriately, Nevada. Coming in at about 600 pages, the book is two to three times the size of a typical L’Amour western, which is how I knew I had never read it before. Back in my college years, I plowed through a stack of dozens of L’Amour westerns that I borrowed from a friend who had purchased them from a second-hand bookstore. That was nearly thirty years ago and I don’t remember which of his westerns I already read. None of those books were more than 250 pages, so I selected it for the flight to Texas. I sorry to say that I was a bit disappointed.

I am a Louis L’Amour fan. Although it has been some time since I have read one of his westerns, in recent years I have read Off the Mangrove Coast: Stories, a collection of short stories, Education of a Wandering Man, his excellent memoir, and, for the umpteenth time, The Walking Drum, his trans-European twelfth century epic. I unapologetically love each of these books. Unfortunately, “Comstock Lode” does not measure up.

From a plot standpoint, L’Amour expected us to believe that about a dozen characters who were involved in a series of events 10+ years ago on the trail from Missouri to California, all converge in Washoe Valley, Nevada, after having dispersed as far away as Paris, France, due to the Comstock Lode silver boom. Why? Because that’s what ruffians do, and they comprised most of this cast. Our hero is there because he is the world’s greatest miner, in addition to being the fastest gunslinger in them thar parts, and the hero’s love interest is there because… well, that’s kinda hard to figure. I know, I know, it’s just a melodramatic western, but I hate cheap coincidences. Louis L’Amour is capable of being a much better writer than this.

This book is also mind-numbingly repetitive. How many times does L’Amour need to tell us that the hero is tall, broad-shouldered, ruggedly handsome, and legendary mining prodigy (at 22 years old, no less)? I get that L’Amour’s protagonists are all essentially the same guy with different names in every book, and that’s not my complaint, but the descriptions of young Val Trevallion are relentless. It reads as though L’Amour, who was in his seventies when he wrote this book, couldn’t remember from one day to the next what he had already written. Where was his editor? Louis L’Amour is capable of being a much better writer than this.

In conclusion, Louis L’Amour is capable of being a much better writer than this.

[Tee Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

When it comes to reading a good yarn, one of those stories that just strings the reader along and keep you turning the pages well into the night, you can’t get much better than a Louis L’Amour novel–the man definitely had a knack for writing stories, the type that can equally be told verbally, as well as in written form. And Comstock Lode is no different: it is a great story, chock-full of historical tidbits, intrigue and suspense, and it is a lot of fun to read.

Comstock Lode is about a man named Travallion who originally came over to America from England as a young boy; his parents were murdered by a gang of thugs and so he has to survive the wilderness of America on his own. Of course there is more to it as well, but giving any more detail would be to spoil it for those of whom who have yet to read it. Another thing you can tell when you read Comstock Lode, a novel written and published near the end of his career, is that L’Amour started to really branch out and write differently, seriously. This is not just a pot-boiler of a novel with a lot of action. There is also a lot of historical detail, and a lot of introspection on the characters’ part; for example, although the main character, Travallion, is good with his guns and originally set out to get everyone responsible for the murder of his parents, he ends up changing the way he thinks and really struggles with a lot of his thoughts and decisions–stuff along the lines of “killing is bad,” etc. A sure indication that this is also a different L’Amour novel is illustrated by its length: it is almost 600 pages long, much longer than most of L’Amour’s other novels. I think this too is indicative of a more thoughtful and introspective novel, one where there is a lot of depth and breadth thrown in with the fun and excitement.

Now that I have read Comstock Lode, I want to go out and find the other novels that L’Amour wrote late in his career, to see what they are like and to see if he further developed and changed as a writer late in his career.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

My parents had dozens of Louis L'Amour books and I know an old neighbor who literally had a wall of them. I've read a handful, at most. It's interesting to read all the filler material at the front and the back that consists of humorously shameless adulation of the author...also a bit cheering, since for him to have had all those other careers, he cannot have started writing much before the age I'm at now.

Anyway, this is a good yarn. At 400 pages, it could swallow two or three typical LL novels. The characters, like standard LL characters, live off coffee and bacon varied by the occasional bit of bread, beef, or eggs. In a twist, they do sleep a fair amount. I enjoyed the description of the protagonist's origin in Cornwall and how, in addition to being one of the three best gunmen in Nevada / Northern California, he was also being nagged throughout the story to go to work as a mine boss. As someone who's taught (however poorly!) economic geology, I thought the setting details in that regard were reasonably accurate or at least had verisimilitude. In fact, the main problem is that the characters seemed to know too much geology for anyone in 1860, certainly for people continually professing in their thoughts or aloud that they aren't geologists.

The nice thing about a Western setting is that the characters have a tremendous amount of leeway to act. The problem is that their setting is so empty, there's often not much to interact with. This book has enough moving parts to catch my interest. You know the broad outline of the plot just from the blurb on the inside cover, but LL gives himself plenty of space to work with and the individual elements of the plot can still surprise you when they come up. In his 150 page pieces, that's not so true. This is a good book for a fantasy reader who'd like to try a Western, I think. (The book at least won't feel abnormally small in his/her hands.)

[LobsterQuadrille · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have read a few Louis L'Amour books before, and although they were decent enough reads, nothing about them really stayed with me. But Comstock Lode doesn't even fall into this same category; it's too long and too slow to just be a pleasant distraction like the others. Part 1, which covers Trevallion's boyhood, wasn't bad, and I even felt a bit invested in the plot there. But after that point things just drag on without any kind of focus. 130 pages in, I simply lost interest in spending my time following a story with no apparent plot.

I did add on an extra star for a couple of good quotes and for the female characters. I liked that L'Amour wrote Trevallion to have such a progressive attitude towards women on the frontier, as he emphasizes that they could thrive there just as well as the men. In this, Trevallion was a decent enough hero for the story, but otherwise just feels too much like the stereotypical Western hero we've all seen before. Also, the setting could have been very interesting but there is no real sense of place, and I kept forgetting what area the characters were in at various times.

Comstock Lode wasn't abysmally bad. It was just dull and meandering, and didn't live up to its potential at all. Now that I've tried Louis L'Amour several times and haven't found much to remember, I think I can safely conclude that his books just aren't my thing.

[Nik Morton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Louis L’Amour’s 1981 tome, subtitled ‘A Novel’ is a saga of over 500 pages, depicting the beginnings of the famous Comstock mining period. In 1849, young Val Trevallion travels from Cornwall with his family to seek their fortune. Yet tragedy strikes and Val is soon orphaned.

Val sets out on a quest for vengeance but in time tires of the killing and wants to settle down – ‘a man doesn’t sleep well on the bodies of the dead’. He’s a good man, a typical L’Amour hero: ‘A man’s success he can share with others, his troubles are his own.’

The Comstock Lode was one of the richest finds in silver and L’Amour’s story is rich in characters and events, filled with drifters, schemers, dreamers, builders and thieves. Into the mix comes Grita Redaway, a beautiful actress; her past is linked with Val’s and, unknowingly, she’s in great danger from an unscrupulous mine owner, Val’s nemesis. A well-researched novel set in the Old West. Recommended.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first Louis L'Amour book that I ever read. It was high time to reread it. I've read all the others at least twice. His books fall into two categories for me: the One Nighter (like popcorn) and the Three Nighter. This was a Three Nighter. Actually, I took it backpacking with me because I knew that it would hold my attention, and it didn't weigh much. This is a very typical LL book with good action and lots of his philosophy. This one focused on being a solid man who takes care of your own business and doesn't rely on others. When you've 'got it to do', you need to do it. It does get just a tad preachy, but it's not obnoxious. I thoroughly enjoyed my reread. One thing we always enjoyed about LL novels was that we could share them with our teen-aged son, and we could discuss them together. We have well-worn copies of about 95 of them.

[Emily M · Rating 2 out of 5]

I figured I should read a western, as I'm diving into hitherto untouched genres this year. My husband and 12 year old and I all read it so that we could talk about the mining stuff to fit in with our homeschool history, and the historical details were interesting. But the plot itself? Ulf. The good men were too stoic, and the bad men were each more devious than the next, double crossing each other at the slightest provocation. The two women were cardboard cut-out characters. I do most of my reading in bed, after the kids were asleep, and the plot moved so slowly (without beautiful prose to savor along the way) that this book did help put me to sleep several nights this week, so that's something. Underwhelming.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite L'Amour novel so far. There is much more depth and character development in this story. Fates intertwine and conclude in a very pleasing way. L'Amour does a good job to focus on the characters and their stories instead of playing up the violence and gunfighting. For example, when a character is shot or killed it is typically described in one or two sentences. When a character is having an inner monologue to make sense of events happening around them, it often lasts for pages. Very well done and fun to read.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Val Trevallion heads to Comstock to get rich and to obtain revenge. The actress Grita hopes to find love. Both of their lives will be changed in this realistic and gripping novel of the old West by a master writer of Western lore.

[Nichole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Westerns are not my preferred Genre, at all. I would have never picked this book up, if not for a challenge and I have to say-- this wasn't bad! It's still not a genre that I will read often but this book was well written and narrated. Maybe I won't shy away from trying Westerns again.