Buck Johnson: Dragon Wrangler

By: Wyatt McLaren

Narrated by: Joe Roark

Length: 25 mins

Publisher's summary

Buck Johnson, along with his slow-moving and slow-thinking sidekick Skeeter Evans, currently plies his trade as a dragon wrangler on Terul and is busting out a bunch of dracs for the repulsive Terullian Karposh. But when an unruly Red Kraken throws Buck, events take an unexpected turn. And Buck and Skeeter, with a little help from Snort Jones, right some wrongs and give Karposh his comeuppance...while still meeting their contractual obligations.

A wild mix of Fantasy, Action/Adventure, Western, and Science Fiction, Buck Johnson: Dragon Wrangler is a new twist on the Space Western and a rollicking ride across the vagaries of a dragon wrangler's and his sidekicks' lives on the planet Terul. Think of The Good Old Boys, The Rounders and a little bit of Lonesome Dove all rolled up together and cast into space.

©2012 Wyatt McLaren (P)2013 Wyatt McLaren

nice western sci fi

What did you love best about Buck Johnson: Dragon Wrangler?

I loved how Buck tricked the Karposh into agreeing to stop human trafficking the women. I absolutely loved the voices. The narrator was spot on with the western voices. I found this book to be very entertaining.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Fave character would be Skeeter. He is witty & always daydreaming and/or remembering something as it once was.

Which scene was your favorite?

Best scene was when Buck was sawing off a leg & then 1 of the boys mentioned he was 1/2 lizard & he would grow another one next week! That was funny!!!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I did listen to this in 1 sitting. It is a short book, enjoyable though. it's country & western meets sci fi, meets comedy. An all around good book!

Any additional comments?

The voices used in this book were perfect as in country sounding voices.

Mr Mclaren takes us on a wild and hilarious ride.

Would you consider the audio edition of Buck Johnson: Dragon Wrangler to be better than the print version?

I am on the go and loved this audio book. I have not read the print version.

What did you like best about this story?

Wyatt Mclaren takes us on a wild and hilarious ride with characters who feel like people from the old west. I smiled through the whole thing and laughed a few times as well! this book left me feeling like I had just spent time with some old cowboys on a ranch out west. I can only hope the next installment is as good.

Which character – as performed by Joe Roark – was your favorite?

I loved the Buck Johnson character. He sort of reminds me of Tommy Lee Jones character in the Good Ol Boys.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

A short story long on laughs.

Any additional comments?

If you love westerns of any kind and are also a fan of star trek, firefly or star wars this will be an enjoyable listen.

Entertaining Western with some funny characters!

Would you listen to Buck Johnson: Dragon Wrangler again? Why?

I was a little hesitant at first to buy this as I could not quite grasp a western that featured cowboys riding dragons. After listening though it really was quite entertaining and well written. The author has a good grasp of the life of a cowboy and how things work "out west"even if out west is way out west!

Who was your favorite character and why?

I have to say it was a toss up between the main character "Buck Johnson" and the terulian lizard guy carposh.

Which character – as performed by Joe Roark – was your favorite?

I thought the carposh lizard character was quite entertaining. Since this is a series i would like to see how this plays out in the next story.

Any additional comments?

Looking forward to the rest of the series.

Horse trainers can relate - great sci-fi twists

If you've ever worked with horses, or cowboy types, then this would be a lot of fun. If you haven't, but enjoy westerns and sci-fi, you'd still have fun reading (listening to) this short story.

It does seem like it would be Chapter 1 of a longer book, but it can stand on its own too.

Very imaginative descriptions of dragons and what it would be like to work with them. There's a lot of thought that came up with interesting details, like being smacked by the wings, or the nose and lip piercings for the reins . . . very creative writing.

Buck Johnson is my new hero on the planet Terul!

Space Westerns have been a favorite of mine for a long long time. Search google and there are not many results. I loved the show Firefly which only ran one season because again why the fans of this genre are dedicated, there just are not a lot of us.

McLaren does a superb job of taking the rodeo/ranch hand cowboy and placing him in a setting identical to so many ranches. The "ranch" just happens to be the planet Terul. Terul has 2 suns and a native class of people that are reptilian and speak with lots of sss at the end of their words. I'll finish my review by borrowing from another review written about this short story in the form of a poem which I thought pretty unique idea.

This Buck Johnson feller who I read about
Is a heck of a cowboy and pretty darn stout.
Got hired by Karposh - this reptilian feller
On the planet Terul...boy this is gettin' interstellar!
On the planet Terul there's not a horse nor a cow
And a deplorable lack of tobacco, coffee, and good cowboy chow.
The main cowboy work on said chunk of rock
Is bustin' out dragons - the Terrullians' preferred stock.
Now Kaposh had built himself a mighty big spread
But when Buck found out...Wow - he was ready to pump some lead!
Well, a spoiler this reviewer does not want to be
But when Buck rights an injustice, it's something to see.
And Buck isn't alone on this adventure in space
His earthly sidekicks Snort Jones and Skeet Evans
Were there to help him keep pace.
Now I'm anxious to see what lies up the road
For these cowboys in space and the dragons they've lassoed.



And that pretty much sums up this first of five that Mclaren has written.

Delightful little space western.

The book has a good story line and lots of action to keep one interested, Joe Roark does a great job narrating. He has a great voice for a westerns/space westerns. Buck Johnson and his sidekicks Skeet and Snort are just what you would expect in a good old fashion western. Just put them on a different planet and replace horses with dragons and you get the idea. Like Cowboys on earth they suffer from not enough money, too much work, and a shortage of good chow and girls! Looking forward to listening to the rest of this 5 part series.

Great little adventure story.

Buck and Skeet are two cowboys who have found employment breaking dragons on the planet terul. They have hired out for an outfit run by a Terullian local by the name of Karposh. Karposh has a large spread on Terul and Buck has discovered that he definitely does not agree with his business tactics and has devised a plan to show Karposh a little old west justice.

The narration was well done and a I rated this space western 5 stars. Looking forward to the next installment.

dragon on a planet

i was disappointed in this story. it is very short and so the characters are not well developed or likeable. that said, many people will love this story just for the quick and quirky story.