I am a fan of well-written alternative history; I suppose "What if?" has always been one of my favorite questions to ask. I have read books in which the South won the American Civil War and found those good food for thought, but this is the first time I've read one in which that war never occurred at all. Underground Airlines is thought-provoking, sometimes powerful, and often very uncomfortable reading. Uncomfortable because we are not as far removed from slavery as we'd like to think. The world Ben H. Winters has created is altogether too plausible.
But the entire story does hinge on one thing: the main character of Victor, and Victor was not a success for me. When I first met him, I thought he was a fabulous character, and I felt sympathy for the plight of his wife. Then I learned what he really did for a living. A black man who was born a slave, won his freedom, and is now hunting people down to bring them back to slavery? It took a while for the disappointment to subside, which it did do. Winters takes us into Victor's mind, and as I learned more about him, I felt that this man was a volcano almost ready to explode.
I was primed, and I was ready for this book to take me to great places... but after the first hundred pages, it lost momentum for me. Victor lost that volcanic feeling. There were inconsistencies in the world Winters created that didn't quite make sense. There wasn't enough shown to me about life in the Hard Four. What could've been a great novel became a good one. An intriguing one. But not quite on par with Octavia Butler's Kindred.
But the entire story does hinge on one thing: the main character of Victor, and Victor was not a success for me. When I first met him, I thought he was a fabulous character, and I felt sympathy for the plight of his wife. Then I learned what he really did for a living. A black man who was born a slave, won his freedom, and is now hunting people down to bring them back to slavery? It took a while for the disappointment to subside, which it did do. Winters takes us into Victor's mind, and as I learned more about him, I felt that this man was a volcano almost ready to explode.
I was primed, and I was ready for this book to take me to great places... but after the first hundred pages, it lost momentum for me. Victor lost that volcanic feeling. There were inconsistencies in the world Winters created that didn't quite make sense. There wasn't enough shown to me about life in the Hard Four. What could've been a great novel became a good one. An intriguing one. But not quite on par with Octavia Butler's Kindred.
Ben H. Winters has a history of addressing social issues by causing the reader to think while reading novels based on a single adjusted âhistoricalâ (past, present, or future) premise. In âThe Last Policemanâ trilogy, society breaks down due to a meteor heading towards Earth. And in Underground Airlines, President-elect Abraham Lincoln was assassinated while traveling to Washington for his inauguration; a political compromise in the aftermath produced 3 constitutional amendments irrecoverably allowing the southern states to maintain slavery in perpetuity. THEY could choose to opt out, and most did, BUT with 4 states â the âHard Fourâ â retaining the practice, the United States becomes a trading pariah to the rest of the world (with exception of states like South Africa); materials from states such as Carolina (the merger of the former North and South states) and Alabama are anathema to the rest of the nation.
The Federal Marshal service has become the enforcement arm of the law; fugitive slaves are tracked throughout the country to be returned to their now mostly-corporate masters. In fact, a few runaway slaves are waylaid by the service and trained to become hunters; hunters of runaway slaves AND of the Underground Airlines that helps to transport them to the safety of Canada. THIS is the tale Winters tells ⦠The tale of a former slave named (maybe) Victor, chasing a runaway through the Underground Airlines for the U.S. Marshal's service â except, something feels off-kilter about this case â¦
I quickly found myself engrossed in this novel; the attitude of âthat's just the way it isâ collides with ânot now, never againâ in the population. Further, the concept of equality is an obvious myth, even in the Northern states. Attitudes among many of the population and police echo back to the US before the 1960s, in which African Americans in the free states are obviously second-class citizens, expected to produce ID and explain their presence in a given location at the drop of a hat. (Given the emergence of the alt-right over the past few years, one has to wonder if Mr. Winters is trying to tell us something â¦)
I cannot put this into words without risking spoilers â one has to set the scene to truly appreciate the action and characterization. However, it is definitely a page turner and well worth the investment of time and money.
RATING: 5 stars.
The Federal Marshal service has become the enforcement arm of the law; fugitive slaves are tracked throughout the country to be returned to their now mostly-corporate masters. In fact, a few runaway slaves are waylaid by the service and trained to become hunters; hunters of runaway slaves AND of the Underground Airlines that helps to transport them to the safety of Canada. THIS is the tale Winters tells ⦠The tale of a former slave named (maybe) Victor, chasing a runaway through the Underground Airlines for the U.S. Marshal's service â except, something feels off-kilter about this case â¦
I quickly found myself engrossed in this novel; the attitude of âthat's just the way it isâ collides with ânot now, never againâ in the population. Further, the concept of equality is an obvious myth, even in the Northern states. Attitudes among many of the population and police echo back to the US before the 1960s, in which African Americans in the free states are obviously second-class citizens, expected to produce ID and explain their presence in a given location at the drop of a hat. (Given the emergence of the alt-right over the past few years, one has to wonder if Mr. Winters is trying to tell us something â¦)
I cannot put this into words without risking spoilers â one has to set the scene to truly appreciate the action and characterization. However, it is definitely a page turner and well worth the investment of time and money.
RATING: 5 stars.
Book Description
It is the present-day, and the world is as we know it: smartphones, social networking and Happy Meals. Save for one thing: the Civil War never occurred.
A gifted young black man calling himself Victor has struck a bargain with federal law enforcement, working as a bounty hunter for the US Marshall Service. He's got plenty of work. In this version of America, slavery continues in four states called "the Hard Four." On the trail of a runaway known as Jackdaw, Victor arrives in Indianapolis knowing that something isn't right--with the case file, with his work, and with the country itself.
A mystery to himself, Victor suppresses his memories of his childhood on a plantation, and works to infiltrate the local cell of a abolitionist movement called the Underground Airlines. Tracking Jackdaw through the back rooms of churches, empty parking garages, hotels, and medical offices, Victor believes he's hot on the trail. But his strange, increasingly uncanny pursuit is complicated by a boss who won't reveal the extraordinary stakes of Jackdaw's case, as well as by a heartbreaking young woman and her child who may be Victor's salvation. Victor himself may be the biggest obstacle of all--though his true self remains buried, it threatens to surface.
Victor believes himself to be a good man doing bad work, unwilling to give up the freedom he has worked so hard to earn. But in pursuing Jackdaw, Victor discovers secrets at the core of the country's arrangement with the Hard Four, secrets the government will preserve at any cost.
Underground Airlines is a ground-breaking novel, a wickedly imaginative thriller, and a story of an America that is more like our own than we'd like to believe.
My Review
I've read Ben Winters' Last Policeman series and enjoyed it very much. This book was very different and very thought provoking. The premise is that The Civil War never happened and slavery is still in existence. It is very dystopian but very believable as racism and bigotry has not changed much and is not really different than today. I found the characters mostly complex and the unique plot had many unexpected twists. I would recommend this book to those who like alternate historical thrillers.
It is the present-day, and the world is as we know it: smartphones, social networking and Happy Meals. Save for one thing: the Civil War never occurred.
A gifted young black man calling himself Victor has struck a bargain with federal law enforcement, working as a bounty hunter for the US Marshall Service. He's got plenty of work. In this version of America, slavery continues in four states called "the Hard Four." On the trail of a runaway known as Jackdaw, Victor arrives in Indianapolis knowing that something isn't right--with the case file, with his work, and with the country itself.
A mystery to himself, Victor suppresses his memories of his childhood on a plantation, and works to infiltrate the local cell of a abolitionist movement called the Underground Airlines. Tracking Jackdaw through the back rooms of churches, empty parking garages, hotels, and medical offices, Victor believes he's hot on the trail. But his strange, increasingly uncanny pursuit is complicated by a boss who won't reveal the extraordinary stakes of Jackdaw's case, as well as by a heartbreaking young woman and her child who may be Victor's salvation. Victor himself may be the biggest obstacle of all--though his true self remains buried, it threatens to surface.
Victor believes himself to be a good man doing bad work, unwilling to give up the freedom he has worked so hard to earn. But in pursuing Jackdaw, Victor discovers secrets at the core of the country's arrangement with the Hard Four, secrets the government will preserve at any cost.
Underground Airlines is a ground-breaking novel, a wickedly imaginative thriller, and a story of an America that is more like our own than we'd like to believe.
My Review
I've read Ben Winters' Last Policeman series and enjoyed it very much. This book was very different and very thought provoking. The premise is that The Civil War never happened and slavery is still in existence. It is very dystopian but very believable as racism and bigotry has not changed much and is not really different than today. I found the characters mostly complex and the unique plot had many unexpected twists. I would recommend this book to those who like alternate historical thrillers.
