John The Balladeer
by Manly Wade Wellman
A traveling musician roams the Appalachians, encountering forest folk and mythical creatures along the way.
I’ve fallen a bit out of love with Manly Wade Wellman, because I find myself no longer able to tolerate his nostalgia for his (Confederate) Civil War ancestors. I’m sure Wellman himself was a perfectly good man; I just don’t want to hear about the lost South any longer. Nonetheless, the John the Balladeer stories are good ones, and stay away from his family’s historical legacy.
When I wrote the original post, Baen Books offered John the Balladeer as an ebook for free; that is no longer true. The best I can offer now is the version online to borrow at the Open Library.
Newsflash! As I write this, I see early news from Valancourt Books of a new reissue of these stories. Stay tuned!