I read Treasure of the Sierra Madre a few years ago and absolutely loved Traven's story and writing, so I went for the epic saga of Mexican Revolution he wrote throughout the 30s (well post-revolution). Its 6 books in total and is probably my favorite series ever. Since no on asked, here are my thoughts in order of reading them:
"March to the Monteria" (book 3): First book read. Brutally defeatist but amazing adventure of one destitute native. Epic western
"Carreta" (book 2): Not much plot, all vibes. And the vibes of that time are not good. The parts detached from the narrative describing how the carretas went around and the dangers of the road/jungle are amazing but again, not much plot.
"Trozas" (book 4): Frustrating throughout with great villains in the three "brothers" and all of the characters in the same place to move towards the conclusion. Simple narrative but incredibly engrossing. Theres probably like 70 pages of a team dragging logs through a swamp that is so enthralling.
"Rebellion of the Hanged" (book 5): Its better having read the previous book to get the full catharsis of the start of the revolution, but this one could stand alone as an all time Western epic.
"General from the Jungle" (book 6): Sweeping and brutal conclusion to the tale. The General stands out but the whole cast of characters from the previous stories close out this incredible series in a very satisfying way.
"Government" (book 1): Did not read since I was too deep when I realized this was an actual series, not just thematically related book.
Anyways my rankings in order are 3,5,6,4,2.
by theliver