All the main characters are members of a murderous band of racist scalp hunters. They kill people and animals on whims. It’s set in the US/Mexico border area in the late 1840s to early 1850s. The use of the N word is accurate to the characters and the time period unfortunately.

I prefer at Tsun Tazoo, the Chinese Prince Machiavelli.

I read Dune Messiah in one night. I also read the longer, Name of the Wind in about a week

Blood Meridian is not a southern gothic. It’s an ultra violent, ultra beautiful historical novel classified as western or sometimes anti-western

Blood Meridian is not a southern gothic