Fire on the Mountain (Spectacular Fiction)

Maybe I'm biased because i grew up in DC/ Virginia and love to visit Harpers Ferry every chance I can get... but this is an incredible read. It has 3 historical junctures -- the story of the events of 1859, the perspective of the great-grandfather writing his account in 1909, and the "present" day of 1959. History nerds will rejoice at the rich and convincing details that extend beyond 1859 and basically rewrite all of the 20th century. There is also meaningful commentary on gender, individual versus collective lifestyle, and many other themes. It's a fun book to teach to advanced high school or college students.

What if John Brown had been joined by Harriet Tubman (as planned), succeeded in the raid on Harper's Ferry, and won the ensuing war, establishing the state of Nova Africa?Terry Bisson wrote this 155-page novel in 1988, before the collapse of the U.S.S.R.. He focuses on the experiences of two characters and drops only tantalizing hints as to the full history and context.The first is a young African-American boy of 12 in 1859 who eventually joins the Army of the North Star and becomes an assistant to John Brown's physician. We get only the story leading up to his recruitment, but nothing of his experience afterward. He grows up to be an M.D. -- Dr. Abraham. The other is his great grand-daughter, Yasmin Odinga, an anthropologist in Nova Africa in 1959.By 1959 socialism has triumphed throughout the world, not capitalism. A united socialist Africa has led two International Mars Expeditions. After losing territory to socialist Nova Africa and the socialist revolution in Mexico, the backward U.S.A. finally has its Second Revolutionary War in 1948 and becomes the U.S.S.A. I would have liked to see this expanded on, but it's not the novel Bisson wrote.There are several great little details, like the fact that Yasmin's husband is a cosmonaut, not an astronaut, the Pan African Space Administration replaces NASA, and the periodical Scientific African replaces Scientific American.Worth reading, but be aware of the limitations. Nova Africa and the united socialist Africa of the novel make for an interesting comparison to Wakanda, the African utopia of the Black Panther comic books and film!

I bought the book because it was recommended to me at a science-fiction convention. They just didn't say how good. I ended up reading the first third of the book in ne sitting and it consumed every spare moment for the next two days. It's an alternative history novel and the McGuffin is that John Brown's historic raid on Harper's Ferry in 1859 not only succeeded but led to a successful slave rebellion in the South instead of the Civil War. So, in an alternate 1959, a rump USA shares the continent with the black nation of Nova Africa. Yasmin, a widowed Nova African archeologist is visiting her late husband Leon's home town in the USA both to deliver her Great-grandfather's memoir and to be with her mother-in-law when the first men land on Mars, the mission that Leon died trying to accomplish. The story of how this world came to be is told through grandfather Abraham's memoir, written in 1909 as an d man but recounting his actions as a twelve year old slave boy during the early days of the rebellion. A contrasting voice is provided by a series of letters written in 1859 to his sister and his girlfriend by Dr. Thomas Hunter, the son of a white planter who has become converted to abolitionism. To be honest, I am not sure I would believe that Brown's rebellion could have actually succeeded, let alone that the resulting USA would have gone but the voices of Dr. Abraham and Dr. Hunter are so well realized and believable that they compel suspension of disbelief. A fascinating book.

A unique experience in alternate history. The story focuses less on the action that many associate with Civil War alternate histores, and instead explores how its various characters relate to history, and how it forms our identity. It also functions to challenge how we understand the characters and the nature of the conflict that America loves to celebrate. Whether it is Lincoln as the Emancipator, Lee as the gentleman soldier, or supposed north-south divide on the issue of slavery, everything is re-examined when the struggle by Africans for Africans is placed in the forefront of the narrative. I would recommend this to anyone as a way of becoming interested in alternate narratives of the Civil War and Reconstruction, as well as a pleasant experience in optimistic speculation on a brighter world that could have been.

I am very interested in the novel that look at historical events and show what might have happened if the event that ended differently. in this case the book creates an alternate world where John Brown’s raid at Harpers Ferry succeed i I am very interested in the novel that look at the Storico event and show what might have happened if the event that ended differently. In this case in this case the book create a world where John Brown’s raid at Harpers Ferry succeded

Great book. Not a dystopian view of the future, but a picture of what might have been had John Brown and Harriet Tubman been successful in their raid on Harpers Ferry.

I'm not really a reader, though I love books and I love to read. I have trouble focusing and I can't always pay attention. This book, however, kept me interested. It switches between third person (sorta omniscient), first person, and, a little later, epistolary; it kept my attention. I read this book for a class, and I will say that this was the first novel I ever "accidentally" read past my assigned page readings. I love it, and will recommend this book to anyone, and especially to those who like historical fictions and science fiction. It was a neat read! Sorry for my run-on sentences!

One of the best historical fictions I have read lately. Another reviewer on amazon.com complains that Bisson does not go into detail about the history between 1859 and his present ... but the novel really is about the relationship between the protagonists, with the alt-historical background being mostly background, except for the letters and diaries from the Harpers' Ferry raid and the subsequent slave revolt that establishes Nova Africa.Highly recommended for fans of the genre, and for radicals and utopians too.

A hope giving, and very well told alternative history which results in a free Nova Africa nation in (now) southern half of the US. The current inequality between black and white in the US is referenced in the book as a (horror) alternate history... So uncommon to read a different swing of history like this. And so telling that I find it uncommon. Liberating.

As the headline says. The print quality is good too. The story itself will, well, depend on people to people. I had to buy it for a class I had, but I wouldn't buy it for my personal library.

Terry Bisson hat schon besseres geschrieben - die Story ist in teilen wenig überzeugend, das Ende wirkt wie halbfertig, vieles wird angerissen , aber nicht weiter genutzt.Gut ist die mehrfach verschränkte Erzählform .