Strivers Row by Kevin Baker

Genre: Historical Fiction

Setting: Harlem, 1943

First Sentence: Harlem waits.

In this novel, Kevin Baker completes his City of Fire trilogy.  In this series Bakers tells the history of New York City from the Civil War Era, through the turn of the twentieth century, to the 1940's.  In each novel, Baker portrays what day to day life was like for the poor, the immigrants, the petty criminals, the drug users, and the corrupt politicians.

During the roaring twenties, the Harlem Renaissance made Harlem the center of black culture.  During the Depression, underneath the facade of gentility and upward mobility, the reality of segregation and discrimination exposed the reality of life in Harlem.  During the Second World War the residents of Harlem learned of the plight of the Jews in Europe and wondered if they might suffer a similar fate.

 In Strivers Row, we follow the experiences of two young black men, living in Harlem during the War, whose lives become intertwined due to a series of chance encounters.  Their parallel experiences serve to compare and contrast the lives of these two men.

Malcolm Little is a young hustler.  He arrives as a wide eyed dreamer, and soon becomes enamored with the excitement of the City.  Soon he is involved in hustling, petty crime, running numbers, and dealing drugs.  Along the way, Malcolm learns about Elijah Mohammed and the Nation of Islam.  These experiences serve as an education which will form the basis of the transformation of Malcolm Little to Malcolm X.

Contrasted with Malcolm is Jonah Dove.  Jonah is a young minister who is unsure of himself and his abilities.  Due to his biracial heritage, Jonah is able to "pass".  In fact, he has taken to leaving Harlem and experiencing what life is like for white men.  It is these journeys which lead Jonah to question his calling as a minister and a leader of the black community.

In the end, I think each character learns that life is not just what happens to you, but what you make it to be.

I liked this novel.  Taken as a whole, the three novels of the trilogy paint an interesting picture of life in New York City in the last 150 years.

                                                                            

Lock In by John Scalzi

Genre: Science Fiction, Mystery

Setting: Sometime in the late twenty-first century.

First Sentence: My first day on the job coincided with the first day of the Hayden Walkout, and I'm not going to lie, that was some awkward timing.

John Scalzi is one of my favorite authors.  In his novel he creates interesting, well developed characters and places them in unique universes.  This novel is a fine example of Scalzi's craft.

The action of this novel is in the late twenty-first century.  There has been a pandemic.  Many died, but there was a unique group of survivors.  Some became lock-ins.  Fully awake and aware but disconnected to their bodies.  Others became integrators.  These people can connect with a locked in person and allow the lock in to "borrow" the integrator's body.

Because of advances in technology, lock ins and integrators have neural nets embedded into their brains.  Lock ins can use these nets to communicate with the outside world.  They can also use these nets to connect with and control humanoid automatons.  

This advanced technology means that lock ins can participate fully in day to day activities.  They can have jobs and go to work anywhere.  They live in their automatons while their actual body lies dormant miles away.  Some lock ins never visit their bodies at all.

A multi-billion dollar infrastructure has grown to provide lock ins with computer networking services, and automatons.

In this novel, our main character, Agent Shane, is a lock in and uses an automaton.  He has just  begun his job as an FBI agent.  He and his partner, a grizzled veteran who once was an integrator, have been called to a homicide scene.  At  the scene is a victim, and an integrator covered with blood who doesn't recall killing the victim.  Of course, the evidence at the scene doesn't add up.

As they investigate, the clues lead to a nefarious individuals who want to gain control over the entire lock in infrastructure.

Will Shane and his partner discover who is behind the plot?

A novel like this, with so much original detail,would need a lot of exposition to explain the universe to the reader.  In fact Scalzi has included an informative introduction which is very helpful.

Scalzi has also included plenty of action to keep the reader interested.

I enjoyed reading this novel.  I like Scalzi's easy to read writing style.

The premise of this novel is very original. I'd love to read more stories about Agent Shane and his partner set in this universe.

                               

The Big Switch by Harry Turtledove

Genre: Alternate History

Setting: An alternate version of World War II, in 1940 and 1941.

First Sentence: Vaclav Jezek slogged up a dirt track in Eastern France.

This novel is the third in Turtledove's War That Came Early series.  This series currently runs to six novels.

The point of departure from our timeline is 1938.  What if English Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain stood up to Hitler rather than attempting to appease him?  In the author's view, the war would have begun early, and the European nations would have been unprepared for the ensuing war.

Midway through this novel the author gives us another important shift from our timeline.  In 1941, German official Rudolph Hess flew solo to Scotland in an attempt negotiate a peace between England and Germany.

What if the English government accepted his proposal?

This is the big switch referred to in the title of this novel.  In the middle of the war England and France broker a peace with Germany.  Then they ally themselves with Germany to fight the Russians on the eastern front.

In this novel Turtledove uses his usual style of story telling.  We follow a group of soldiers, sailors, airmen, and non-combatants.  The author relates different episodes in each character's life.  Through their eyes we see how the was has impacted them.  Rather than getting the big picture view of the war from the point of the generals and other leaders, we experience the "boots on the ground" view of the war from those on the front lines.

For me, this was an OK read.  Keeping track of the characters was a challenge.  I wish the author had included a dramatis personae to aid the reader in keeping track of the characters.

If you are interested in this novel, I suggest that you read them in order.