Eric Flint's 1824: The Arkansas War is my foray into the alternate-history genre. For some time the idea of messing around with history, the imagination required for what would have happened if, say, the Confederacy had won the Civil War, has fascinated me. Then someone, probably here, mentioned 1824 and, my friend Barry had just finished reading 1824, and he had a copy of it in his car. The stage was set.
My reactions are mixed. First of all, I'm not sure I'm smart enough or well read enough (at least in history) to understand the genre. Oh, I can handle the biggies—I know the North won the Civil War and the Allies won World War II—but 1824 got into US politicians prior to the Civil War, and there were spots in the book where I got downright confused as to what was alternate and what was real. I'd be real interested in how someone else with a standard American history education would respond. I could ask my friend Barry to explain, but he's one of those people who win at Trivia and holds in contempt those who don’t. (He's a real fan of Jay Leno heading out on the street and making people look stupid. I think the routine is sad and cruel.)
Anyway, I'm left with looking at the book itself and ignoring its category. So, when the story dealt with political machinations or the issues of slavery and prejudice, I loved it. When it involved war—strategy or battles—I was bored to tears.
Will I try Flint's 1632? It's iffy. Will I try another alternate-history novel? A blurb on the back cover of 1824 says it's "hard to think of a more powerful alternate-history novel since Harry Turtledove's The Guns of the South." Maybe I'll give that one a try.
Oh, I did have a few quotes to discuss from 1824, but since I'd already spilled water on Barry's book and crinkled up the last two hundred pages,* I didn't want to dog-ear others. I told myself I'd remember page numbers, but …. Let's just say that was a bad idea.
*Although I like crinkly pages, I did show Barry what I'd done and offer to buy him a new copy. He said no.
