Although clearly anti-statist and anti-socialist, Kratman is not necessarily writing as a Republican partisan here. He gives plenty of blame to his surrogate President Bush for creating the mess that puts a potential dictator in office and gives her unprecedented executive power. His heroine, Texas Governor Juanita Seguin, is also a Democrat - just one who can't stomach what the far left of her party does to the country. He also saves plenty of blame for the spineless, opportunistic congressmen of both parties.
The book seems driven by Kratman's intellect rather than his literary skills. It has some of the roughness of a first novel and it's structurally disjointed. Despite this, the basic story and the cleverly developed plot keep the whole thing going up to the very end. The book probably goes on just a bit too long. When the story is really pretty much over, Kratman drags it out a bit with a subplot which is a very believable warning to would-be reformers, but reads more like an editorial than fiction. This is not to say that Kratman is a bad writer. He has the basic skills of narrative and dialog down. It just seems like he had this idea burning in his brain and pumped this novel out fast with most of the effort going into the ideas and not as much into finely crafting the vehicle which presents them.
Nonetheless it remains a pretty good read, much less preachy than most dystopian novels, and oh so relevant in the context of the upcoming election. Plus it might make you think twice about electing Hillary.
Article comments
1 - T.C.
I was greatly impressed with this review, as it gives great insight into the book and its viewpoint. I am much more of a fantasy/fictional reader, but I am heading over to Amazon right now to pick this one up.
2 - Dave Nalle
So long as it doesn't offend your political sensibilities too much I think you'll find it a good read. I should have said this in the review, but this book really ought to appeal to those who like 'alternative history' genre novels.
Dave
3 - T.C.
My political standpoint is mainly independent, so I have little trouble seeing both viewpoints. If I find this to be a book that meets my satisfaction, I may look further into similarly presented 'alternative history' reads. Thank you for the eloquently-written, detailed and insightful review!
4 - Clavos
Just ordered it from the library.
Sounds like a fun read!
5 - Natalie Bennett
This article has been selected for syndication to Advance.net , which is affiliated with newspapers around the United States, and to Boston.com. Nice work!