Rebel Nation

Christopher Stires
Zumaya Publications (2005)
ISBN 1554102197
Reviewed by Lynn O’Connell for Reader Views (6/06)

It’s May 1864; General Grant is dead and Sherman has been captured by the Southern army.  The Union has failed to win the Civil War.  And, so begins the prologue of “Rebel Nation.”  Next, the reader is taken to 1964 to a church in Natchez, Mississippi where a hired killer sets off a bomber in an effort to kill civil rights activists.  The remainder of the novel and the main plot of “Rebel Nation” takes place in contemporary times in the ‘Confederate States of America.’  McKenna Alexander, a Northern-born news reporter, and Cullen Davis, her Southern-born ex-husband, are trying to uncover the truth behind the assassination of a famous Negro civil rights leader, Frannie Shepherd (who was also the lover of Cullen’s father).  A third key character, Victoria Talbridge, Cullen’s grandmother and head of Talbridge Firearms, struggles to uphold her Southern family’s power despite a mentally unstable daughter and Cullen’s lack of interest in the family’s business.

Author Christopher Stires does a wonderful job of accurately describing details of American history including names, dates and events from the Civil War and on into the twentieth century.  In a couple chapters, for example, Stires touches upon World War II and the involvement of both the Confederacy and the Northern States in the battle against Hitler.  Also, the modern-day Confederacy with its own government and laws all steeped in the South’s old-fashioned traditions is portrayed very realistically.  It is interesting the way that Stires draws in controversial modern issues such as drug usage and abortion in this alternate history.  Stires’ ability to combine historical accuracy with realistic alternatives made this a book that held my interest until the very last page.  It was amazing to see how each detail and character tied together by the book’s last chapter.

Alternate history novels bring the name of Harry Turtledove to mind for many of us.  I find Stires’ style and attentiveness to detail to be every bit as good as Turtledove.  Also, one thing that Stires has done in “Rebel Nation” which I haven’t seen in any of Turtledove’s books – Stires made me care deeply about a character, McKenna Davis, so much so that I would love to read a sequel if that were possible.

This book is a must-read for anyone who enjoys alternate histories, particularly about U.S. history.  The book is going to be most interesting to someone relatively familiar with American history.  It also would be enjoyable for the reader just looking for a good mystery.  I also tend to think this book would be preferred by female readers because of the role of McKenna Davis in the book and the partial focus of the book on her romantic relationship with her ex-husband.

In summary, “Rebel Nation” is a very good alternate-history novel detailing a divided America in contemporary times with a Confederacy.  This book is Stires’ second novel and first alternate history.  His ability to develop multi-faceted characters that the reader can envision and care about is amazing as is his ability to weave all the details together for a well-constructed conclusion.      

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