I found this book because of Dungeons & Dragons Appendix N, which I know about thanks to Jeffro Johnson. He deserves a great deal of credit for drawing attention to these stories, so be sure to check him out as well.
The Old Gods Waken is the first novel following Silver John, whom Wellman had already written several short stories about. The story is about an Appalachian hillbilly and an American Indian facing down two English druids who were trying to raise the old god Baal in America. Appropriately for the setting, it starts off with a dispute over a property line.
In terms of plot, this is a classic adventure story in which the two heroes must overcome a variety of obstacles to rescue their friends from being sacrificed to a devil. They face several kinds of dangers, some relatively mundane and some outright supernatural. It’s a fun tale.
At least as much as the plot, though, I love the Silver John stories for the language. They are written in a backwoods Appalachian dialect that gives them a distinct flavor without ever becoming obtrusive or veering into mockery. If this were any other group of people (e.g. blacks, Hispanics, Arabs), Wellman would be celebrated for authentically capturing the voice of a people. But since they’re white, our “intelligentsia” are completely uninterested.
It's also fun watching two men face down Baal armed with, among other things, a medieval Christian prayer from Albertus Magnus.
It's a fun adventure story. It's nothing philosophically deep, but it's a good time, and, unlike most things published today, it's not spiritually toxic.
The book is somewhat difficult to get ahold of, although you might check here, if you’re really interested, you might take a look over here. (But I didn't tell you that, okay?)
Just to give you a sample, I'm going to include a couple of quotes from a scene where the two heroes are facing down a crowd of American Indian vampires called Raven Mockers.
John: "I don't rightly know if you're the meanest one in this crowd, but I reckon you're sure God the ugliest. Nobody can deny you that." And a little later: "Come ahead, and don't stop and tarry by the way. You're a-looking for trouble, and I've got a good lavish plenty of it for you, right here and now."
A lot of fun, I highly recommend. Go read
