Product Description

An exciting modern fantasy based on Cherokee traditions; a moving love story; a cry of protest against crimes against native peoples - and more. A young Cherokee, his dead (but still sarcastic) shaman grandfather, and the Asian woman they both love. "One crackling hell of a book - suspenseful, funny, sad, angry, with people in it who come alive and whom we really get to care about, and with a close, unblinkered look at lifeways that are strange to most of us but touch our hearts." -- Poul Anderson

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1343844 in Books
• Published on: 2001-10
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 286 pages

Charles de Lint, THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION, August, 1999
"It has everything I love about a book."

Al Sirois, OUTSIDE, May, 1999
"Sanders' prose misses no beats and he keeps pulling off new plot twists with the ease of a seasoned expert."

From the Author
I still think this was one of my best books. I'm pleased that this new edition from Wildside Press has turned out so well. Melisa Michaels did an outstanding job on the cover, didn't she?

Customer Reviews

Really fine action fantasy with authentic colors
This guy has a very solid feel for motorcycling, sex, love, trouble, fights, dirty politics, and (as far as I can tell) Native American spirituality - and his writing is superbly wry and witty. The fantasy monster itself is a little hokey, but just read around it - this author is one of the best discoveries I've run across.

Boy Howa!
This gem of a genre-bending book defies catagorization. It's grand! There really is a Ballad of Billy in this book, and it goes like this:
"Billy Badass was a warrior
From Oklahoma way
A hero of his nation
Who had wore the Green Beret.
He met the purtiest lady
She was from a fur-off land
And Billy Badass fell in love
With the Rose of Turkestan"
Jerry Dwayne, of Jerry Dwayne Austin and the Piss-Cutters
House Band of "The Last Church of Naked City, Losers Welcome" Las Vegas, Nevada.

Billy Badass is our hero's nickname. His enrollment card in the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma states his name as William E. Badwater. And the Rose of Turkestan is Janna Turanova , of Kazakhstan, part of the former Soviet Union. A bunch of yonegs have been messin' with stuff they don't understand, causing all manner of real radioactive nightmares out in the Nevada desert. And Billy and the Rose become embroiled in the imbroglio.

Notwithstanding the impending destruction of the planet, Sanders and his characters maintain a sense of humour. There are dealings with a minor bureaucrat in the INS, threatening mean and nasty things regarding Janna's VISA (the immigration status - not the Credit Card.) Bureaucrat says: "We don't just hand out the Green Card to everyone who asks. There are criteria to be met, guidelines to be followed - do you have any idea how many people want to come to America to live?" To which Billy responds "Some of us already ran into that problem." And regarding the flawed, lone law enforcement officer on the Bucktail Springs Reservation: "Leonard isn't exactly your Tony Hillerman breed of Indian cop."

And this isn't exactly a typical Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror/ Mystery/Action/Romance. It's a uniquely delightful brew!

Wonderful!
BALLAD is brilliant, as is its author, William Sanders. This book is a must-read for any fan of contemporary literature. A fascinating blend of SF/Fantasy, Horror and social commentary, BILLY takes you to places you'll love -- heights of which you've only dreamed, and depths of darkness in which you might fear to tread. But Sanders safely guides you through it all with the talent and imagination of a master storyteller. The book contains everything that makes life worthwhile: true love, heroism, motorcycles and monsters. Who could ask for anything more?