Riders of the Purple Sage is a fun and predictable romp which has some beautifully described scenery and the emergence of our favourite murderer of few words with a heart of gold stereotype. So interesting to see how Lassiter was portrayed, and the iterations of this character trope. It's hard to call a genre-defining novel cliché, especially one that's over 100 years old. But you have to accept that you'll see some of the main plot points coming a mile away.

I found the lack of swearing, and avoidance of sexuality very charming in this book, but the romance elements were over too the top for me. It was interesting that in most stories of this era, there is an "us and them"  between white main characters and black side characters. This book does a similar thing with Mormons and gentiles - with a strong distaste for Mormonism. However, apart from Lassiter, Venters and Bess, gentiles are portrayed as barely intelligible hicks - Mormons are the wealthy, hateable elite.