Michael
This is a novel that is a counterfactual/alternate history. Since I was 12 or 13, this has been one of my favorite genres. Binet is the son of an historian and it shows!
The novel is in four parts. Part 1 tells the story of Freydis, the female leader of a group of Vikings who don’t return to Europe, but heads south along the coast until they reach Panama. Part 2 consists of the fragmentary chronicles of Christopher Columbus who is convinced of his own superiority in spite of the setbacks he receives. He eventually dies a forgotten and beaten man who never returns to Europe. It turns out the earlier expedition led by Freydis has endowed the natives of the “New World” with horses, knowledge of iron working, and most of all, immunity to European diseases. Part 3 tells of the adventures of Atahualpa, the last Inca emperor (in our world) who arrives in Europe because of the war between Atahualpa and his brother and conquers much of it. Part 4 tells of the adventures of Miquel Cervantes and El Greco as soldiers and slaves and ends with their voyage to the “Old World” that is, the hemisphere we know as the western hemisphere. Whew.
I liked this book very much although I did not like it nearly as much as HHhH. Because this was written as a history, or better a wikipedia style survey, I couldn’t get emotionally involved with the characters. It was all a little dry. The fourth part was certainly entertaining, but it seemed to me only slightly connected to the earlier narrative.
As far as I can tell, all of the European characters were real personages put into this alternate history, but I needed a better grasp of history to keep track of them. And Atahualpa, the Son of the Sun, bringer of religious tolerance, destroyer of the inquisition, reformer of agriculture and commerce and taxation, and student of Machiavelli, is just a little to good to be true. But I liked him anyway.
I enjoyed the book by Jared Diamond titled Guns, Germs, and Steel and obviously Binet did as well. And no matter if you agree with the thesis presented in G, G,and S, this is an interesting and for the most part fun novel.
(really 3.75, not 4)
This is a novel that is a counterfactual/alternate history. Since I was 12 or 13, this has been one of my favorite genres. Binet is the son of an historian and it shows!
The novel is in four parts. Part 1 tells the story of Freydis, the female leader of a group of Vikings who don’t return to Europe, but heads south along the coast until they reach Panama. Part 2 consists of the fragmentary chronicles of Christopher Columbus who is convinced of his own superiority in spite of the setbacks he receives. He eventually dies a forgotten and beaten man who never returns to Europe. It turns out the earlier expedition led by Freydis has endowed the natives of the “New World” with horses, knowledge of iron working, and most of all, immunity to European diseases. Part 3 tells of the adventures of Atahualpa, the last Inca emperor (in our world) who arrives in Europe because of the war between Atahualpa and his brother and conquers much of it. Part 4 tells of the adventures of Miquel Cervantes and El Greco as soldiers and slaves and ends with their voyage to the “Old World” that is, the hemisphere we know as the western hemisphere. Whew.
I liked this book very much although I did not like it nearly as much as HHhH. Because this was written as a history, or better a wikipedia style survey, I couldn’t get emotionally involved with the characters. It was all a little dry. The fourth part was certainly entertaining, but it seemed to me only slightly connected to the earlier narrative.
As far as I can tell, all of the European characters were real personages put into this alternate history, but I needed a better grasp of history to keep track of them. And Atahualpa, the Son of the Sun, bringer of religious tolerance, destroyer of the inquisition, reformer of agriculture and commerce and taxation, and student of Machiavelli, is just a little to good to be true. But I liked him anyway.
I enjoyed the book by Jared Diamond titled Guns, Germs, and Steel and obviously Binet did as well. And no matter if you agree with the thesis presented in G, G,and S, this is an interesting and for the most part fun novel.
(really 3.75, not 4)