Today I am taking a look at a genre that I don’t read much,
Alternate History. This genre is usually
full of worlds where the Allies lost WWII, or the South won the Civil War, or
where Jesus was never born. There are
usually a lot of battles, individuals fighting, loving descriptions of guns and
knives and maybe some sex thrown in here and there.
Actually, I have just described the series I am reviewing
today. I came to S. M. Stirling’s
Nantucket/Change series backwards – I learned about it as I read Mr. Stirling’s
Dies the Fire. There were small
references to characters and places throughout the book so after reading
through the Change series titles that were out at the time, I went looking for
Island in a Sea of Time. And while it
does contain all the standard Alternate History plot points, it was done in
such a way that I became interested in this world and its inhabitants. I had never seen anyone right about the same
subject from two different angles, and Mr. Stirling does it beautifully.
Writing a series can be a tricky thing – you have to know
when to break up the story, when to let a minor character become a major player
and take over the storytelling, and keep a story arch for each book that fits
within the main story arch of the whole series.
Take Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, for example. It was written as one book but it was so long
that the publisher needed to break it up into smaller pieces. With
careful searching, the editor found the natural stopping points in the story,
and was able to break the story up into three parts. Each part has its own story arch built around
the main arch – the destruction of the One Ring. Each part can be read independently of the
other, but reading them all in sequence creates a larger world in which to tell
the story. And this was done
subconsciously, as Mr. Tolkien did not intend the book to be split up. Now that’s storytelling.
S. M. Stirling has managed to create two series that
cohesively work together to tell the stories of how the peoples of the world
survive the greatest tragedy ever known to modern man. I’ll review the Change series at another time
– first let’s take a look at the books that started it all.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Review
Title:
Island in a Sea of Time
Author: S.
M. Stirling
Copyright: 1989
eISBN #978-1-101-12791-9
With Island in a Sea of Time, S. M. Stirling began
a franchise that covers two series and twelve books. And he isn't through yet.
On a clear March night, the island of Nantucket is
covered by what appears to be an electrical storm – pulsing colored lights
reminiscent of the Northern Lights flicker across the sky, driving the inhabitants
of the island to the verge of panic. But
before a full blown meltdown takes over, the lights disappear and it seems that
everything has returned to normal.
As an island off the coast of New England,
Nantucket is dependent on the mainland of the U. S. for everything, with the
exception of fresh fish. On the morning
after the light display, the island finds itself with no phone, radio or
television service and the morning plane that ferries passengers to and from
the island has not shown up for its regular run. It takes an intern at the small local observatory
to figure out what has happened – somehow the island has been transported back
in time to approximately 1250 BC.
With no hope of returning to the twentieth
century, the inhabitants have to learn how to survive on their own. Most have never done any physical labor, and
learning how to provide for themselves is too much for some of them to
bear. But those that do bear it devise a
way to not only grow what crops they can, but make a plan to sail the Coast
Guard training ship Eagle, a three-masted, steel-hulled windjammer, to
England. There they hope to trade with
the natives for whatever food stores they can, with wheat and livestock at the
top of their list.
Everything seems to be progressing well – at least
until one junior Coast Guard office realizes that he can carve out a kingdom of
his own. With several other malcontents,
including a sadistic doctor and registered nurse, along with a blacksmith they
kidnap, the junior officer steals another sailing ship and heads for
England. There, he befriends the head of
an invading tribe and starts his push for domination.
The book tells the story of how the people of
Nantucket survive and develop a civilization to meet their new circumstances of
life. Of how they deal with life, love,
law and democracy, and what they decide to do about the rebels who have allied
themselves with the violent invading tribes in England and are enslaving those
who do not cooperate with them.
What I liked about the book was the world Mr.
Stirling created – a detailed, gritty look at what it takes to survive in a
pre-industrialized society. I loved the
scenes aboard the Eagle; the descriptions of life aboard a sailing vessel made
me want to go sailing – something I have never been interested before due to a
tremendous fear of water.
What I didn’t like about the book were several
things. First, I was uncomfortable with
the homosexual storyline between the Eagle’s captain, Marion Alston, and the
native girl she rescues, Swindapa. I
just didn’t think the explicit descriptions were necessary. I also did not like the descriptions of the
torture Dr. Alice Hong inflicts on her victims – some things are best left to
the imagination.
This book was written for the adult fiction market
but should not be read by anyone under the age of seventeen due to the items
noted above.
While there were parts of the book that I felt
uncomfortable with, all in all the good outweighed the bad. I have read Island in a Sea of Time several
times and have enjoyed it, with reservations, each time. This book is a keeper that I will probably
keep reading over and over. If you can
get past the homosexual and sadistic storylines, then I recommend you read this
book.
___________________
Review
Title:
Against the Tide of Years
Author: S.
M. Stirling
Copyright:
May, 1999
eISBN #978-1-101-11904-4
The second book in the Nantucket series picks up eight years
after the Event that moved the island of Nantucket back in time to
approximately 1250 BC.
The islanders have successfully established
themselves and a new civilization in the time period. After the successful battle that ends Island
in a Sea of Time, the Nantucketers set up outposts on the island once known as
England, now called Alba. Trading with
the natives on Alba, in South America and other locations is now routine. An immigration policy is in force to control
the ingress of the peoples of Alba wanting to move to Nantucket. Settlements have been set up on the mainland
for farming and logging. And one brave
young man and his friends want to walk across what was once America just to see
what is there. Life is good.
Except that Walker and his crew have set up shop
in ancient Greece and are wreaking havoc among the peoples there. He has wormed his way into a position of
power among King Agamemnon court. Alice
Hong has continued building her cult of pain, dedicated to the goddess
Hekate. The Republic of Nantucket has to
figure out a way to destroy Walker before he comes calling at their door with
his army and enslaves them all.
Again, Stirling does an excellent job of weaving
the two story lines together, making you believe the world really could go this
way in this alternative history. The
battle scenes are detailed and descriptive, the sailing scenes are again so
real you can feel the salt spray on your face.
And the descriptions of torture are just that – torture.
What I liked about the book was the weaving of
ancient history with modern thinking. It
is amazing what you can do technology wise with minimum material. As they say, a little knowledge goes a long
way. I liked the sailing scenes, the
descriptions of the ship’s lines and sails and other working parts. Stirling makes it fascinating. I liked the way the islanders have adjusted
to their predicament and the way of life they have built.
What I didn’t like were the scenes of torture -
they were almost too descriptive. The
battles got a little monotonous, but that may be because I am a woman. Again, I could have done without the
descriptive love scenes between Marion Alston and her wife, Swindapa.
This book was written for the adult fiction market
and should not be read by anyone under seventeen due to the items mentioned
above.
Review
Title: On
the Oceans of Eternity
Author: S.
M. Stirling
Copyright:
April, 2000
eISBN #978-1-101-12736-0
On the Oceans of Eternity is a continuation of the
story started in Against the Tide of Years.
The Nantucketers are fighting for a way of life that will be destroyed
if William Walker wins his bid for emperor of the world.
While the first book in the trilogy is concerned
with the way the inhabitants of Nantucket deal with the Event that moved the
island back to 1250 BC, the last two books show a wider canvas – the ancient
worlds of the Mediterranean, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. And it is a fascinating look at life in
Babylon, Troy and Egypt. You can see how
the flow of history is being changed and the anguish of the Nantucketers as
they deal with the possibility that what they are doing could have dire
consequences “up in the twentieth”, as they call it.
The battles between the armies of the Nantucketers
and their allies and the armies of their foe, William Walker, are suitably
detailed and gory. The reasoning behind
the decisions made by the tribes as they choose which side they will fight for
are well thought out and presented logically.
And Stirling gave Walker an additional layer to his character by showing
his relationships with his children.
His cohort in crime, Dr. Alice Hong, has
progressed in her madness. She is
teaching others her tricks of torture and sadism. She takes her title as The Lady of Pain seriously;
her cult of Hekate is growing among the ladies of the court.
And then there is the score to be settled with
Isketerol, the Tartessian who helped Walker steal the sailing ship Yar in
Island in a Sea of Time. He has taken
the knowledge he gained from the Nantucketers and used it to take his people
from a society archaeologists in the twentieth century were not even sure
existed to a thriving empire. Using the
example of Nantucket, he implements improvements in sanitation, agriculture,
ship building and his military. And he
decrees that all children must attend schools that are set up on the model he
saw on Nantucket. With the help of
Registered Nurse Rosita Menendez, he sets up an immunization program for small
pox and any other disease that only requires a simple serum to be
effective. While the Republic of Nantucket
Marines deals with Walker and his allies, Marion Alston takes on King
Isketerol.
The ending is somewhat anti-climactic, but
satisfying none-the-less.
What I liked about this book were the same reasons
I liked the previous two books in the series.
The background details that Stirling weaves throughout the story are so
believable that you can smell the dust from the city streets as it rises in the
hot breeze. Of course, the sailing
scenes again are spectacular. And the
battle scenes are the best I have read in any book. I could see, feel and smell this civilization
and time period. It would be interesting
to know what that Earth looks like in their version of the twentieth century.
What I didn’t like about the book again were the
same issues I had with the first two books – the homosexual subplot and the
graphic scenes of torture.
This book was written for the adult fiction market
and should not be read by anyone under seventeen due to the reasons noted
above.
On the whole, I liked this book. It was a fitting end to the story of the
people now known as the Nantucketers. I
have read this series several times over the last two years and will probably
read it again. Even with the faults, these
books are keepers.
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