Western 51 authors
Western fiction authors and their complete series in reading order. Cowboys, frontiers, and the Old West from the best western writers.
The Western is America's founding myth in fiction: frontier justice, hard land, harder choices and the code of those who survive both. Reports of its death are always premature — the genre keeps riding.
Louis L'Amour remains its great storyteller, and the prolific Johnstone brand — Smoke Jensen, Preacher, the Last Gunfighter — keeps the tradition booming. Expect fast guns, long trails and right against wrong with everything at stake.
Tracking 51 authors and 842 series in Western.
Popular Western Authors — Series in Reading Order
All Western Authors — Complete Series in Order
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is rural noir?
- Rural noir is a contemporary term for crime fiction set in rural or frontier environments — away from urban institutions, in communities with long memories and their own codes of justice. C.J. Box's Joe Pickett series (Wyoming game warden) and James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux series (Louisiana bayou) are prominent examples.
- Where should I start with Western fiction?
- For classic frontier fiction, William W. Johnstone's The First Mountain Man begins the Preacher/Jensen universe. For contemporary Western in the tradition of Cormac McCarthy, C.J. Box's Open Season starts the Joe Pickett series. For the literary end of the tradition, Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove is the standard recommendation.