Walk on Earth a Stranger (The Gold Seer Trilogy #1)

Before I dig into my thoughts on the first book in Rae Carson’s new Gold Seer Trilogy, let’s discuss genre for a minute. While WALK ON EARTH A STRANGER is being marketed as a fantasy, and while the opening chapter firmly establishes Leah Westfall’s ability to magically sense the presence of gold, once you move past the events that set Leah off on her cross-country journey, I was surprised to find that the majority of the book reads like a straight historical. Who knows, maybe future installments in the series will play up the magic more, but going off of just this first book, it feels a bit more accurate to call WOEAS historical fiction with some magical realism elements, rather than a fantasy

That said, even though I’d been prepared for a fantasy, I was not disappointed in the slightest to find magic missing from the majority of WOEAS. Leah — who starts going by “Lee” early in the book, when she disguises herself as a boy — is an utterly compelling narrator, and Carson’s prose is simultaneously lush and gritty, masterfully evoking the visuals and sounds and smells of a late-1800s America. The staggering amount of research that must have gone into this novel is evident on every page, immersing the reader in the endlessly beautiful — yet unforgivingly harsh — American frontier.

Though the ensemble cast seems kind of sprawling at first, Carson skillfully manages to develop her characters into fully three-dimensional people after surprisingly little page time. It didn’t take long before I was rooting not just for Leah, but for the families and individuals traveling alongside her. I won’t name names, because some characters have pretty impressive arcs (and some, um, die), but suffice it to say, Leah isn’t the only one who ends the book loving these people like family.

For those of us who grew up playing the video game Oregon Trail, Leah’s journey will come with a distinct sense of nostalgia. While (spoiler alert) Leah never hunkers down for days on end to shoot squirrels, she, along with her fellow travelers, must ford rivers, maneuver covered wagons, manage sick oxen, and battle disease (although not quite as much dysentery as I remember from my Oregon Trail days). Though the wagon train’s trek to California moves agonizingly slowly, the plot never does. Carson is a master of infusing her story with moment-to-moment tension, and even when the characters were sitting still, I found myself flying through the pages.

As with Carson’s first series, [what I suspect will be] the main romantic subplot doesn’t get much exploration in this first book. While there are hints, this is a story of survival and endurance, not romance. However, as a fan of the slow burn, I thoroughly enjoyed the foundations that were so thoughtfully laid in this book, and I think that even readers who prefer a lot of swoon in their fiction will find that, while sparse, there are enough tidbits in this book to carry them through to the next one.

Overall, I found WALK ON EARTH A STRANGER to be a beautiful, vivid, and compulsively readable portrayal of life in Gold Rush-era America, with just a dash of magic. I unequivocally loved it. Whether you are a lover of fantasy or historicals or simply a good story well told, I think you’ll love it, too.

What I Loved:
This is the second western novel I've read recently (VENGEANCE ROAD was the other) and I was definitely worried that they would end up being very similar. I need not have worried, though. WALK ON EARTH A STRANGER is a unique novel with a tough and caring protagonist and a richly-drawn world.

The author does an amazing job at building the atmosphere of the novel. Lee's journey West is one of constant hardship. Anything could go wrong that could jeopardize the lives of everyone involved. As you read, you can really feel the toil and the stress of always having to watch your back, and even if you do everything right, something like cholera could end your life anyway. Disease, heat stroke, hunger, robbers...you name it, it's coming for you on the trail west.

It's a good thing that Lee is so tough and practical. She's used to hard work and doesn't balk at the daily grind of maintaining a wagon group. She also genuinely cares about the people she meets, even when first impressions aren't that great. Despite the fact that she's been betrayed and dealing with a terrible grief, it doesn't stop her from forming connections with her fellow wagoners. Her ability to sense gold is almost an afterthought to the realistic journey of a girl trying to escape. I thought magic would play a larger role in the story, and though it is the catalyst to some of the main action, it's also just a small part of her story.

What Left Me Wanting More:
While Lee feels fully fleshed out, I found myself feeling that the secondary characters weren't as developed. There's a full cast of characters, but only Lee felt truly real to me. I loved how even when she was in disguise, she stuck to who she was as a person.

The Final Verdict:
WALK ON EARTH A STRANGER is a story full of danger and adventure set against the hectic and overpowering thrill of the 1849 Gold Rush.