Betty Zane vs Hondo: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Wars, Women pioneers, Western, Westerns, Fiction
Betty Zane
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I found this book one of Mr. Grey's finer writings, perhaps due to his emotional and familial attachment to the subject. The feel of the time is very real and still written with contemporary digestability. Not to be…
Hondo
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Two men. One woman. A land that demanded courage - or death ... He was a man etched by the desert's howling winds, a big, broad-shouldered man who knew the ways of the Apache and ways of staying alive. She was a woman…
Side by side
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- Hondo has the widest readership — 15350 ratings behind its score.
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Scores by source
| Betty Zane | Hondo | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.2 (948) | 4.1 (15350) |
| Hardcover | 3.0 (1) | 3.4 (16) |
| Google Books | 5.0 (1) | 5.0 (2) |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (242) | 4.5 (182) |
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Reception
| Betty Zane | Hondo | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 948 | 15350 |
| Editions | 189 | 30 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 394 | — |
| Written reviews | 116 | — |
| Wikipedia attention | 833 | 5105 |
| Pages | 273 | 169 |
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Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Betty Zane or Hondo?
Betty Zane has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Betty Zane 4.2/5, Hondo 4.1/5).
Which is shorter to read: Betty Zane or Hondo?
Hondo is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Hondo (169 pages, ≈ 3 h 08 m); Betty Zane (273 pages, ≈ 5 h 03 m).
Which is harder to read: Betty Zane or Hondo?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Betty Zane: Challenging; Hondo: Moderate.