The Devil's Revolver (The Devil's Revolver, #1) by V.S. McGrath

Family history has caught up with Hattie: her father’s past and connection to a terrifying demonic revolver has lead to a lot of bad attention. Attention that robs Hattie of everything and leaves her desperate to find her sister; in a trek across the magical Wild West with a range of forces arrayed against her. She’s backed by a group of allies - but how many of them can she trust and what is their real agendas?

Well, this is different. Well developed magical steampunk western. Ok, bizarre quirk? I hate westerns but I love paranormal westerns and steampunk westerns. Especially if you throw in some really excellent world building

And this world building is excellent. The way magic is incorporated into the actual world and businesses. Like the Pinkertons are a magical detective agency, the use of Zoom tunnels not just as magical transport, but the way they’ve been controlled and used basically in the same manner as railroad companies. We have magical rich and poor areas but we also have a world where magic is very much integrated into daily life with common ranchers using magic to protect their livestock, competitions regularly checking if people are carrying magic and a general assumption of magic as a common factor in everyone’s world without turning it into an odd fantasy elves-and-wizards-story. There is a suggestion of greater than normal technology as well - a definite steampunk edge but we don’t explore that much because magic and technology don’t mix much and these characters are all magical but it does promise a lot for future books.

But it’s also interesting how the magical setting actually works with the prejudices of the era (which continue to this day) and how it’s considered how magic would change history - or not. Like there’s an exploration of massacred Native Americans and they talk about how magic doesn’t generally work on metal (except very limited special circumstances): and no matter how magically powerful Native tribes were, because magic cannot stop bullets and modern weaponry is just deadly. This is something we see reinforced a lot which does a great job of emphasising why the Diablo is so special: magic is impressive but if men are pointing guns at you? Or gatling guns are being brought out?

Westworld, Season One, Episode One: The Original

I have to admit that this is a stretch for us because it's sci-fi but we're going to give it a shot for now. I went into Westworld not knowing much about it except a basic premise and I have to say at this point, despite the fact that HBO clearly spent a mint on this, I'm not certain that I'm sold.

The show essentially takes place in what seems to me to be a western style theme park.  The residents of the town are all robots and are made through the process of 3d printing.  Each day a train brings in new guests and hosts who explore the town for a real old west experience.  For the guests, this involves visiting a saloon, sleeping with prostitutes and even being part of a posse to track down a criminal.  There are 100 stories actively happening in Westworld each day with the hosts interacting with each other and guests, altering their behaviour and speech patterns depending on the actions of the guest. Each day the robots live some version of the same day.  It's like they are caught in a perpetual Groundhog day.  This fact takes itself some time to be established, making the 1st episode difficult to understand at first. We don't necessarily know who is a human and who is a cyborg.

The first cyborg we meet is Dolores Abernathy the oldest robot in Westworld.  Dolores appears as a  a spirited young woman, with a hopeful view of her life.  She tells her creators that she goes into everyday confident that what will happen is what is supposed to happen.  It's too bad for Dolores that this means finding her father Peter dead, watching as her lover is murdered and then being savagely raped by the man in black over thirty times. I for one believe that it's lazy script writing to use rape for the purposes of conning the viewer into feeling empathetic, or even like a character.  Furthermore, given the violence the man in black engages in, did we really need rape for the viewer to understand that he is a bad person? His attire alone indicate before the first word he speaks that he is evil to anyone who has ever watched a damn western.

On a side note, doesn't Ed Harris play creepy, evil bastard well? The man in black claims to be playing the game in a way that no other guest is which is clearly going to be a problem as the androids are becoming sentient.

Doctor Robert Ford is the creator of Westworld. When we first meet him, he is on the 83 level of the Westworld facility. Ford is in antechamber area of where they keep the no longer functioning androids. They are lined up naked and this scene is clearly about showing their vulnerability and powerlessness.   At this point, Ford, along with Bernard, the lead programmer at Westworld, seem to really care for the machines that he has built and Bernard maintains. They both see at least a form of humanity in them.  This is obvious when Ford sits down Old Bill, an older model robot  and comments that he was always a good listener.  This however doesn't stop Ford from telling Old Bill to put himself away and watching while the robot zips itself up in a body bag. Ford wants to make the machines as life like as possible and is always adding small movements and gestures that he picks up in his observation of humanity.  Ford however seems to be almost wistful about a time when the machines were less lifelike.  Ford however has his hands full right now with the malfunctioning machines and seems to have no idea that Teddy wants them both gone.

Bernard is quick to believe that the malfunctioning androids is due to Ford's latest updates.  Ford eventually agrees but says that the problem is deeper.  Peter, who goes on the fritz after finding a modern picture on the ground begins to understand that there's something going on.  He repeatedly expresses desire to warn Delores and to protect her.  Yes, each day the characters start over but over time there's a build up of past experiences.  It's this build up that allows Peter to threaten Ford in a most terrifying manner.  It also gives voice to the injustice the androids live through while heavily suggesting that there will be a reckoning.