Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey
23 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 4 years ago - ★★★★★ - 17 ratingsDubbed the “most popular Western of all times” Zane Grey's Riders of the Purple Sage was the benchmark by which every other novel in the “Western” genre came to be judged. It portrays the archetypal lone gun slinger, out to wreak revenge for past wrongs who falls foul of the rich and powerful and finally rides away into the sunset, having rid the town of poisonous villains!
Riders of the Purple Sage is set in 1871, in a remote part of Utah. It opens with the young and lovely Jane Withersteen being victimized and harassed by her Mormon Church elders for associating with Gentiles or Non-Mormons. They are compelling her to marry one of their own sect, though Jane thinks otherwise. She has many good friends among non-Mormons and one of them, Bern Venters, is captured by a group of Mormons who set up a kangaroo court and condemn him to death. At this moment, a mysterious stranger, known only as Lassiter, appears and rescues Bern. He strikes fear into the hearts of the Mormons who are strangely subdued in his presence. His own hatred of their group is also slowly revealed. Jane herself is a wealthy rancher, whose herd is being surreptitiously rustled by unknown cattle thieves. Venters volunteers to help her and encounters a mysterious Masked Rider whose identity comes as a shock to everyone.
Most cowboy stories tend to follow a simple revenge plot with a little romance thrown in. However, Riders of the Purple Sage bucks this trend. It has memorable and well fleshed out characters, a many layered plot and interesting bits of social commentary. He wrote his first novel when he was just fifteen. It was an adventure story which enraged his father, a dentist, who felt that he was wasting his time with frivolous nonsense. While studying to become a dentist himself, Zane did odd jobs to supplement the family income after his father suffered financial losses. After marriage and a successful career, Zane wrote his first novel Betty Zane in 1903 and another in 1909. Both were unsuccessful till he published Riders of the Purple Sage in 1912.
After this there was no looking back. He began churning out a phenomenal three books a year and on his death in 1939 notched up an impressive body of work and led an extremely colorful personal life which could itself be the subject of a great novel!
As a classic Western, Riders of the Purple Sage is indeed the book that laid down the rules for this genre.
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Episodes
04 – Deception Pass
December 30, 2023 00:00 - 26 minutes - 11.4 MBMore great books at LoyalBooks.com
05 – The Masked Rider
December 29, 2023 00:00 - 25 minutes - 11.4 MBMore great books at LoyalBooks.com
06 – The Mill-wheel of Steers
December 28, 2023 00:00 - 33 minutes - 15.3 MBMore great books at LoyalBooks.com
07 – The Daughter of Withersteen
December 27, 2023 00:00 - 20 minutes - 8.58 MBMore great books at LoyalBooks.com
08 – Surprise Valley
December 26, 2023 00:00 - 29 minutes - 13.4 MBMore great books at LoyalBooks.com
09 – Silver Spruce and Aspens
December 25, 2023 00:00 - 30 minutes - 13.4 MBMore great books at LoyalBooks.com
11 – Faith and Unfaith
December 23, 2023 00:00 - 35 minutes - 15.3 MBMore great books at LoyalBooks.com
12 – The Invisible Hand
December 22, 2023 00:00 - 32 minutes - 14.3 MBMore great books at LoyalBooks.com
13 – Solitude and Storm
December 21, 2023 00:00 - 28 minutes - 12.4 MBMore great books at LoyalBooks.com
15 – Shadows on the Sage-slope
December 19, 2023 00:00 - 40 minutes - 18.1 MBMore great books at LoyalBooks.com
17 – Wrangle’s Race Run
December 17, 2023 00:00 - 35 minutes - 15.3 MBMore great books at LoyalBooks.com
18 – Oldring’s Knell
December 16, 2023 00:00 - 33 minutes - 14.3 MBMore great books at LoyalBooks.com
20 – Lassiter’s Way
December 14, 2023 00:00 - 25 minutes - 11.4 MBMore great books at LoyalBooks.com
21 – Black Star and Night
December 13, 2023 00:00 - 36 minutes - 16.2 MBMore great books at LoyalBooks.com
22 – Riders of the Purple Sage
December 12, 2023 00:00 - 15 minutes - 6.68 MBMore great books at LoyalBooks.com
23 – The Fall of Balancing Rock
December 11, 2023 00:00 - 27 minutes - 12.4 MBMore great books at LoyalBooks.com