I've said before that it is often true that good things come to those who wait. This is especially true in the case of audiobooks. So, today we're going to take a look at an alternate history audiobook that was more than worth the wait. We're taking a look at The League of Seven by Alan Gratz.
As you might know, before I started this blog, I got my start writing for the Alternate History Weekly Update. It was a truly great blog, and one of the places I looked to for inspiration when I started The Audiophile. It's a shame it had go, but that was a big motivation for me to really kick my own blog into gear. Anyway, one day Alan Gratz stopped by to talk about a new novel he would be publishing soon called The League of Seven. I loved the setting that combined steampunk tech and adventures as well as Native American cultures. Oh, and the maps, I loved the maps too. Personally, I'm a bit sad that an updated version of Alan's full color map, complete with little mini flags, wasn't used. I mean, I get that black and white is more economical, and the map in the book doesn't look bad. Still, that full color map is awesome. Here, I'll include it and the revised official map blow it.
They're mostly the same baring a few minor differences. The most noticeable is that, in the revised map, there is a former Japanese colony called Beikoku in the Pacific Northwest. Interestingly, the book makes mention of something called the Seattle Alliance, whose location is now occupied by Beikoku. Perhaps a holdover from an earlier draft of the book? Anyway, Alternate History Weekly Update founder Matt Mitrovich did a review of the book, which only made me want it more. Alas, there was no audiobook. I patiently waited for this to change, until one day, when my patience was rewarded. So, now here we are
This book was exactly what I expected. I expected it to be an absolute blast, and it was. I loved the way it blended steampunk tech and alternate American History. In particular, I loved the focus on Native American peoples. You don't really see Native Americans too much in alternate history, or historical fiction for that matter. Actually, come to think of it, Native Americans also tend to get left out of the historical record in general; though recent scholarship is working to fix that. There's a lot of untapped potential in alternate history featuring Native Americans; particularly, in stories where Native Americans successfully resisted European colonialism, or else didn't get totally screwed over. As such, I'm glad to see that The League of Seven is working to fix that.
At times I got the impression that Native Americans comprised the major of the United Nations of America; or at least, where in equal name to the white population. In fact, since 1775, some parts of America have gone from majority white to almost entirely Native American. For example, Atlanta, now known as Standing Peach Tree, is primarily populated by the Cherokee and Muskogee. I suppose it does makes sense, given that there haven't been any immigrants from Europe since 1775. The Southeast had a fairly large Native American population prior to the Trail of Tears, which never happened in the world of The League of Seven.
New Jersey retained most of its colonial names, but is pretty entirely Iroquois as of 1875. They build their houses out of brick and stone, but in a way that evokes the longhouses of old. Wait a minute, what happened to the Lenape? They were the original inhabitants of New Jersey before white, and in this case Iroquois, settlers moved in. So, where did they go? It could be an oversight on Alan Gratz's part. On the other hand, at one point, Archie is going through his family's belongings and finds an aether pistol used in the Pawnee War. So, perhaps the expansion of the United Nations wasn't as peaceful as we're led to believe. We do see that there is growing tension between the Cherokee and Muskogee, though this is hinted to be caused, at least in part, by the Mangleborn. I thought that was actually good. Native Americans weren't a united block, they had tensions and rivalries just like everyone else.
So, just what is this League of Seven? Well, like I said, they're a team of seven heroes that forms every time the Mangleborn awake. They're roster is a veritable who's-who of famous members from World Mythology and Folklore. The most famous iteration of the league is the Ancient League. They consisted of Daedalus, Heracles, Atalanta, Ma'at, Anansi, Wayland Smith, and with Theseus as the leader. Wayland Smith is the only one I didn’t recognize from mythology. Apparently, he was a smith in Norse and Germanic Mythology, and is the one who developed the aether pistol. Ma'at is the name for the Ancient Egyptian concept of balance and order, but there was also a goddess by that name, who acted as the personification of the concept.
It would seem that, in the world of The League of Seven, all myths and legends are true, but not all myths are and accurate account of what actually happened. The stories from mythology we know are just the cover stories, because the truth was too terrifying for the general public to know. For example, Theseus didn't fight a Minotaur in a labyrinth. He actually fought a shape-shifting Mangleborn capable for producing powerful illusions.
The Septemberist have identified a group who they believe to have the potential to be the new League of Seven. Well, maybe they did before the Mangleborn infiltrated headquarters. You know you're reading an alternate history novel when you've got Fredrick Douglas and Robert E. Lee on the same team. The novel makes a point of mentioning that Lee is wearing the blue uniform of the United Nations military. It appears that the United Nations had no equivalent of American Civil War. That raises a good question. Did slavery still happen, or did robots make it redundant? Mr. Rivets has been serving the Dent family since at least the 1770s, so the world has had steampunk tech since at least the 18th Century. We spend plenty of time in the South later in the book, but none of the people we see are black. Hopefully the sequels will address this.
I love the little incidental bits of worldbuilding we get along the way. For example, lacrosse, rather than baseball or football, is the sport of choice in the United Nations. It makes sense, given that lacrosse was invented by the Iroquois.
The alternate history of The League of Seven goes beyond the 18th Century. For example, the Roman Empire expanded into the New World and established colonies in North America. Atlanta, Georgia was the site of a Roman fort. However, these colonies were a major finical drain, and contributed to the downfall of the empire, along with barbarian invasions. Well, that's the cover story anyway. In reality, the real reason Rome fell was because they started building electrical power stations, and this attracted the Mangleborn.
Also, New York City is instead named New Rome. Is it a former Roman colony perhaps? Instead of the Statue of Liberty, a statue of Hiawatha, the founder of the Iroquois Confederacy, stands in New Rome's harbor. Going back even further, Atlantis, Mu, and Lemuria were all real places that actually existed. Atlantis was located in North America, and the Atlanteans were the ancestors of the Native Americans. This is also why there's so many technologically advanced Native American tribes; the technology they use is derived from leftover Atlantean tech. Like the Romans, Atlantis met its end due to building electrical power station and awakening the Mangleborn.
Okay, enough gushing about worldbuilding, let's talk about the characters. Archie wasn't a bad character, and overall, I did find him a good protagonist. That having been said, compared to cast of colorful characters featured through the book, he just came across as a bit bland by comparison. Of course, his primary job in this book was to introduce us to the world of The League of Seven. Perhaps he will get a bit more fleshed out in the sequels. There's more to discuss, but we'll save that for the spoilers section.
Fergus was born in the Carolinas, but apprenticed with an Iroquois man in New Jersey. They both worked at Thomas Edison's lab in Menlo Park; where they sought to unlock the secrets of electricity. However, as previously established, messing around with electricity is dangerous in the world of The League of Seven, and not just because you might shock yourself. Of course, Edison knows this perfectly well, given that he's working for the Mangleborn. Yeah, I didn't like that particular plot point, but more on it in a bit. As part of a ritual to summon Malacar Ahasherat, also known as the Swarm Queen, Edison has Fergus infused with blood from an electric squid. His body is covered in weird tattoos, but he gets the power to shoot electricity out of his hands. I guess it isn't impossible for Fergus to be Scottish, but I found it slightly odd, given that there haven't been any immigrants from Europe since 1775.
Hachi is a Seminole girl from Florida. She lost pretty much her entire tribe to one of Edison's previous attempts to summon Malacar Ahasherat. Did she mean her specific branch of the Seminole? She must have, because we see other Seminole at various points. Anyway, because of this she tends to be fairly reserved and stoic, but she does open up as the book goes on. She has a menagerie of miniature clockwork animals that help defend her. We later learn that she attended an all-girls boarding school in Georgia. They covered all the subjects that young ladies ought to be proficient in. This includes, but is not limited to, reading, writing, arithmetic, sword fighting, archery, and hand-to-hand combat. I loved the scenes set at Hachi's old school.
Okay, now let's switch gears and talk about some of the stuff I didn't like. As previously stated, Thomas Edison is a villain. Can't say I was too pleased about that, but then the book made it worse. At one point, Archie and the gang meet Nikola Tesla at an Atlantean power station beneath Niagara Falls. Tesla is presented as a noble hero working for the Septemberists. First of all, if there haven't be any immigrants since 1775, how his Tesla even there? Second, it really annoys me when people lionize Tesla. While it is true that he did some admirable work in electricity and radio, he also has quite a bit of black marks against him. Chief among them is his support of eugenics. Tesla supported the forced sterilization of the mentally ill, criminals, and racial minorities. Quite ironic, given that Tesla suffered from obsessive compulsive disorder and hypochondria, meaning he'd be subject to the very policies he championed.
And here's another bit of irony: Tesla briefly worked for Edison before striking out in his own. Thomas Edison gets an undeserved bad reputation. True, he was very strict with his patents, but that largely stemmed from how he got screwed over early in his career. True, he could be a jerk, especially later in life, but the energy market was a pretty cutthroat place. People like to blame Edison for Tesla never getting credit, but that fact remains that many of Tesla proposals, such as his plan to use massive Tesla coils to give free electricity to all of America, simply would not have worked. To be fair, not as much was known about the laws of physics as we know now. If anything, Tesla would have made a far more fitting villain. Say what you will about Edison, at least he didn't support eugenics or forced sterilization.
Then there was a scene where Fergus meets a Cherokee police officer. The officer tells him an "old Cherokee legend" about how there are two wolves inside each of us. Slight problem, that's not a Cherokee legend. In reality, the whole "two wolves inside you" story was actually invented the American televangelist Billy Graham. In fact, in the first few tellings, he claimed it was an Eskimo legend from Canada. He only changed it to Cherokee after the Canadian Inuit successfully sued him for libel. Whenever someone tells you about a "Native American" legend or myth, ask them what tribe it came from. If they can't name the specific tribe, then it probably isn't authentic. Of course, as we've seen here, being able to name a tribe is no guarantee of authenticity.
This is particularly frustrating as, up until that point, The League of Seven had done an excellent job depicting Native Americans. It didn't fall into lazy stereotypes or caricatures. This was also disappointing due to how infrequently Native Americans appear in alternate history, as I've previously mentioned. Granted, this was the only major error I could stop, and I certainly hope that future installments of the series won't make similar mistakes.
I realize that electricity summoning the Mangleborn was necessary for the story to happen. I realize this, but it still gave the story an oddly anti-science, anti-technology, and anti-progress feel to it. Quite ironic, given the frequent emphasis on how cool the steampunk tech is. Moreover, steampunk tech is shown to have a few drawbacks. For example, Mr. Rivets has a variety of skills and functions, but can only activate them when the relevant punch card is inserted into him. Oh, and he can't insert the cards on his own, he needs a human to do that. If you want him to pilot an airship you need the airship pilot card, treating injuries requires the surgeon card, cooking requires the chef card, and so on. Technically, he can do functions other than whatever card is currently in him, but he does so slowly and inefficiently. And if you happen to lose the punch cards, well, tough luck.
Okay, now we're getting into the spoilers. So, skip down a few paragraphs if you don't want any of that.
Last chance, you sure you want to continue?
Well, okay, if everyone who wants out is gone, let's get into it.
At one point, Archie and the gang go to the nation of Acadia, which is located in Quebec rather than the Maritime Provinces. I would think that Canada would be a more fitting name, but I digress. Anyway, they retrieve the fur coat of a Mi'kmaq cultural hero who was a member of a pervious iteration of the League of Seven. Think of the coat like the Nemean Lion skin Heracles wore. The Mi'kmaq hero was, according to legend, the son of a bear. In reality, however, he was a Manglespawn. Manglespawn are half-human and half-Mangleborn. Yeah, have fun with that mental image. Heracles was also a Manglespawn, rather than a demigod.
I mention this because, at one point, Archie survives falling from12,000 feet in the air. He was wearing the special coat, true, but that was still pretty impressive. It reminded me of that time Percy Jackson survived jumping off of the Gateway Arch and landing in the Mississippi River. Of course, that was because Percy is a demigod. It was then that the gears started turning. Archie thought of himself as the Theseus of the group, because he's the leader, but what if he's the Heracles? What if he was not entirely humans?
Well, come the end of the book, my suspicions were confirmed. Archie isn't completely human, because he is indeed a Manglespawn. The Septemeberists found him on a mission to the Amazon rainforest. The Dents wanted children, but had trouble conceiving, so they agreed to adopt Archie. He isn't biologically their son, but they still love Archie very much.
I mean, I saw that twist coming, but I was still a bit surprised. That's definitely going to play a big role in the future books in the series. Coming to terms with his nature is probably going to be a big part of Archie's character arc.
And you know I have to take a moment to talk about the audiobook. I initially wasn't sure if James Fouhey would be the right fit, but I soon found that I had nothing to worry about. He gave a solid performance, and from the looks for things, will continue to do so in the next audiobooks of the series.
And I can't wait to explore those next books. Sure, The League of Seven had a few issues, but overall, I was extremely pleased with it. It was an absolute joy from start to finish, and I can't wait to explore more this steampunk alternate America. Do yourself a favor a get a copy of The League of Seven today. Believe me, you will be glad that you did.
Well, I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time.
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