Forlorn River vs Way of the Lawless: Which Should You Read?

Both live on shelves: Outlaws, Frontier and pioneer life, Fiction

Forlorn River Zane Grey · 1927 ★★★★☆ 4.2 356 pages · ≈ 6 h 36 m · Challenging

Ben Ide is a failure in the horse trade because he loves horses more than money. A few bad deals have turned the world against him. His greatest adversary is his father, who thinks Ben good for nothing. Determined to…

1 film adaptation

Horses California Westerns

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Way of the Lawless Frederick Faust · 1978 ★★★★☆ 3.9 182 pages · ≈ 3 h 22 m · Challenging

Beside the rear window of the blacksmith shop Jasper Lanning held his withered arms folded against his chest. With the dispassionate eye and the aching heart of an artist he said to himself that his life work was a…

Classic Literature Thriller

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Side by side

The verdict

Readers rate Forlorn River highest: Forlorn River 4.2 · Way of the Lawless 3.9.
Way of the Lawless is the quickest read — about 3 hours vs 6 for Forlorn River.
Forlorn River has the widest readership — 543 ratings behind its score.

Forlorn River: Check price →Way of the Lawless: Check price →

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How to choose

Want a one-evening read? Way of the Lawless ≈ 3h vs 6h for Forlorn River Just want the better-reviewed one? Forlorn River 4.2 vs 3.9 from readers

Scores by source

	Forlorn River	Way of the Lawless
Goodreads	4.2 (543)	3.9 (487)
Hardcover	3.0 (1)	—
Apple Books	4.5 (17)	—
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Reception

	Forlorn River	Way of the Lawless
Ratings	543	487
Editions	83	105
Film adaptations	1	—
Want to read	220	279
Reading it now	99	97
Written reviews	33	38
Wikipedia attention	124	—
Pages	356	182
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Questions readers ask

Which is rated higher: Forlorn River or Way of the Lawless?

Forlorn River has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Forlorn River 4.2/5, Way of the Lawless 3.9/5).

Which is shorter to read: Forlorn River or Way of the Lawless?

Way of the Lawless is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Way of the Lawless (182 pages, ≈ 3 h 22 m); Forlorn River (356 pages, ≈ 6 h 36 m).

Which is harder to read: Forlorn River or Way of the Lawless?

Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Forlorn River: Challenging; Way of the Lawless: Challenging.

Have both books been made into films?

Forlorn River: 1 film adaptation; Way of the Lawless: no film adaptation on record.