Calamity

Being an Account of Calamity Jane and Her Gunslinging Green Man

By: J. D. Jordan

Narrated by: Naomi Rose-Mock

"Jordan's weird western snatches the best adventure and suspense elements from both genres and distills them to their essences, creating a violence-laced but enjoyable romp." (Publishers Weekly)

"This first novel adds a fresh sf twist to a...Wild West legend. This gritty story blends the right amount of hard trials and humor, giving readers a revitalized perspective on a familiar folklore heroine." (Library Journal)

"Calamity is a lesson on how to do it right. Highly recommended." (Peter David, New York Times best-selling author)

"J. D. Jordan's Calamity is a satisfyingly gritty, intense and entertaining novel that deserves the attention of speculative fiction readers.... It's something different, because it offers a fascinating glimpse into the early life of Calamity Jane. It's quite an extraordinary sci-fi Western romp." (Risingshadow.net)

I'm sure you've heard of Calamity Jane, but this is not a novel about Calamity Jane. At least not the Jane you may have heard about. Calamity Jane is part of the legends of the Wild West, but long before she scouted with Custer or "Wild Bill" Hickok, she was a 15-year-old girl with a fiery temper.

Violence and tragedy turn young Jane's world upside down and soon she finds herself riding with an alien gunslinger — the Green Man — through a landscape of revenge and betrayal.

Along the way, she learns how to shoot a six-gun and how to stand on her own, even when surrounded by Lakota warriors, and be respected. From space ships to guns that can shoot the wings off a butterfly a mile away, young Jane realizes that the universe is far bigger than the Wild West and that she can trust no one in it to save her but herself.

When the villainous Grays meddling in the wars between the Indians and the government stand in the way of the Green Man making his way home, Jane finds her desire for revenge may be less than her loyalty for the longrider. And in that realization, she becomes the hero the Wild West has long remembered.

So, forget what you know of how the West was won. Forget the Indian Wars and Custer's Last Stand. Instead, learn the truth of what happened when a young girl met a longrider she called the Green Man....

©2016 J. D. Jordan (P)2020 David N. Wilson

Listen to this book!

Great performance! You can tell there was a lot of thought and care put into the narration. The performance a long with a great plot keep you held tight to the story. Would definitely recommend to fans of stories of the Wild West.

Like True Grit- if Rooster Cogburn was an alien

As befits any western, this starts dry and dusty, with hard life among ruthless gunslingers and cowboys. But, there’s quite a bit of action by the halfway point. And aliens- can’t forget that. If you like scifi westerns, or movies like True Grit or Cowboys v Indians, then this should work great.

The narrator has an odd cadence and tends to stop for breadth and awkward points, but once I got accustomed, it actually added to the feel of a hotheaded 15 year old Calamity as the MC.

There are F bombs and indirect mention of sexual abuse on top of the expected gunslinging, however, it wasn’t graphic.

Fantastic

Had such a great time listening to Calamity. Love the crazy western feel, and the narrator was great!!!!

A good Western/Scifi for fantasy lovers

I don't normally gravitate to werstern or sci-fi stories, but this but could change that. I loved the narration and the characters. The writing is so visual it translated so well to the audiobook. I felt as though I was listening to a tv show. The narrator does a great job translating the characters and keep them engaging. 10/10 will listen again!