Black Chamber

This novel, the first of a series, is set in an alternative history in which William Howard Taft died prematurely in 1912 and Theodore Roosevelt therefore won the US presidential election of that year; which has an immediate major effect on US history and a knock-on effect on world history.

However, in terms of story, it's primarily a spy thriller; and most of it is set in 1916. Don't expect to see much of Roosevelt: he's mostly offstage, appearing only at the beginning and near the end.

Good things about this book:

1. It's an entertaining if somewhat bloodthirsty adventure story, the sort of thing that does well at the cinema. In fact, it's quite a cinematic story.

2. Stirling researches his books obsessively: every little detail seems to have been carefully researched. On the whole, I like and appreciate research, although you may find some of the details superfluous.

Bad things about this book:

1. I find the scenario seriously unconvincing, because it diverges from our history at multiple points. Alternative history is normally written by changing one fact of history and dramatizing the consequences. In this story, various different facts of history are changed: Roosevelt's re-election is merely one of them. It is of course quite possible that an alternative world might have multiple points of difference from our own; but each point of difference requires a suspension of disbelief, and in the end the alternative world doesn't feel sufficiently plausible. To put it another way, I don't believe what I'm reading.

2. There are plenty of minor characters, but only three major ones, and they're all over-talented. The heroine is ridiculously over-talented; I doubt that a 25-year-old has had enough time in her life to acquire and maintain so many high-level skills. Additionally, she's beautiful and athletic and bisexual, the only heir of a wealthy family, and a personal friend of President Roosevelt, who knew her late parents.

Overall, this is an over-the-top implausible spy thriller; I quite enjoy rereading it now and then, but it's not one of my favourite books. I don't enjoy it much as alternative history, because I don't believe the alternative history in it.

It's amusing to see Omar Bradley mentioned briefly near the end of the book, as a “very young major” in a prominent position. He was 23 in 1916, and in our history he didn't reach the rank of major until 1924, but in this one he was evidently spotted and promoted early. I don't mind that: it's a plausible indirect side-effect of Roosevelt's re-election.