5 stars for the trilogy. I won't discuss the contents of the books, but I will mention an observation that I've made now that it's done. I've realized that the primary means by which I define good literature (and music for that matter.)is that in addition to beautiful prose and a compelling narrative, it produces in me ideas or questions that I actually wish I had written down. (Mind you, I seldom think my thoughts are worth documenting.) This series possessed these qualities in spades.

The title of the second book "The Crossing" is more than a little apropos. It also seems that the spare, harsh landscape of the American Southwest bordering Mexico is very fertile ground for metaphor. At the turn of the century we find young men crossing this border between the ideologies of two very different cultures. Crossing a significant turning point in history as one way of life was being completely transformed, or perhaps more accurately replaced, by another. Crossing from the naivete of children to perhaps equally naive but less innocent adults. Crossing the divide between this life and what, if anything, comes afterwords. All the while there are hints of meta-fictional questions and commentary about the nature of story telling and life as narrative.

I hesitate to mention it, because it's quite a different beast, but I might put these books on shelf with Moby Dick. Books that I could turn around read again immediately. Books that on the surface read as beautifully told tales of adventure, but can be taken to whatever depths you care to pursue. I guess that's another condition of good literature.