Throwback Thursday ~ The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl

Throwback Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by The Housework Can Wait and Never Too Fond of Books!

Noting that book blogging often focuses on new releases, here’s how Throwback Thursday works:

Pick any bookish or literary-related media (or non-media item) released more than 5 years ago.
Write up a short summary of the book (include the title, author, and cover art) and an explanation of why you love it.
Link up your post at The Housework Can Wait or Never Too Fond of Books.
Visit as many blogs as you can, reminisce about books you loved, and discover some “new” books for your TBR list!

The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl by Tim Pratt

As night manager of Santa Cruz’s quirkiest coffeehouse, Marzi McCarty makes a mean espresso, but her first love is making comics. Her claim to fame: The Strange Adventures of Rangergirl, a cowpunk neo-western yarn. Striding through an urban frontier peopled by Marzi’s wild imagination, Rangergirl doles out her own brand of justice. But lately Marzi’s imagination seems to be altering her reality. She’s seeing the world through Rangergirl’s eyes–literally–complete with her deadly nemesis, the Outlaw.

It all started when Marzi opened a hidden door in the coffeehouse storage room. There, imprisoned among
the supplies, she saw the face of something unknown…and dangerous. And she unwittingly became its guard. But some primal darkness must’ve escaped, because Marzi hasn’t been the same since. And neither have her customers, who are acting downright apocalyptic. (via Goodreads)

As I wrote back in 2008:

Rangergirl is probably the most fun I’ve had reading in a long while. Pratt uses the tropes of Westerns and how stories are “supposed to go” and subtly turns them on their heads. The characters, while not overly complex, are interesting enough. His writing is natural and deft. He keeps his plot and mythos internally consistent and brings it all to a satisfying conclusion.

A fun book that I need to reread one of these days.