LIBERTY BELL AND THE LAST AMERICAN

by

James Stoddard

Alternative History / Science Fiction

Pages: 347 pages

Publication Date: April 4, 2021

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Americans love their Constitution. In seventeen-year-old Liberty Bell’s era it has become a myth.

Centuries after the Great Blackout obliterates the world’s digitized information, America’s history is forgotten. Only confused legends remain, written in The Americana, a book depicting a golden age where famous Americans from different eras lived and interacted with one another during the same time.

Raised on the stories and ideals from The Americana, Liberty Bell joins secret agent Antonio Ice on a quest for her country. But in the Old Forest, forgotten technologies are reawakening. Historic figures such as Albert Einstein, Harriet Tubman, and Thomas Jefferson are coming to life.

The source of their return, a mystery hidden since before the apocalypse, lies waiting for Liberty. Her knowledge of The Americana holds the key to unraveling the riddles of the past.

Will the American continent return to the freedom of Liberty’s forefathers? Or will it descend into a dark age of tyranny? The choices she makes will determine its fate. For, as The Americana says, “Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it—and forfeit all coupons, discounts, and travel miles.”

Filled with quotations from exceptional Americans, here is a humorous and poignant celebration of America and its Constitution.

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How well do you know American history? I can tell you that after reading this book, I discovered I didn’t know very much!

James Stoddard takes history and twists it, interjects humor, and reminds us of our past, both good and bad. He does this through a seventeen-year-old young lady named Liberty Bell. Liberty is off to visit her family and ends up smack dab in a robbery on the train. When I first started reading this book, I was a little confused. We know it is 800 years after The Great Blackout, so around the year 2800 or so, but it seems like an old west setting. Apparently, when something takes out all of the computers and electronics, it takes away knowledge since it was all stored in the cloud and couldn’t be accessed. It was a downhill slide from there because there were no books to rely on, and civilization started passing down stories orally like they did centuries ago. It was like playing a game of telephone, and the stories were mixed with commercial jingles, music, and other sayings of the time. Civilization’s intelligence also started to wane, and they relied on one book, The Americana, as their source of historical knowledge. Liberty is one of the few that can read the book, and she can quote it as situations arise. In a small way, this book also reminded me of the movie Idiocracy.

Once into the story, I had difficulty putting the book down. I giggled often at their sayings, held my breath during some tense moments, and cheered when the good guys won battles and skirmishes. It does take a little effort to translate some of their words into what they should be since many words are spelled phonetically, but only the first time.

Liberty is quite skilled for her age but naive at the same time. She takes everything in the book at face value. However, this experience for her is quite an eye-opener. She still sees the good in everyone and believes in democracy, even when those around her think otherwise. Further into the book, she starts learning some truths and is saddened by what she discovers. I can’t blame her for feeling discouraged, but at the same time, being armed with the truth causes her to rethink her position on many things.

I enjoyed all of the characters and the parts of history that they represented. I appreciated the nod to slavery and civil rights and Native Americans and how the white man and our government impacted them. There are many nuggets of truth within these pages amidst the puns and idioms. It also reflects the patriotism the various characters felt and their regard for the constitution.

This was one of those books that surprised me, and it was more than I expected. We give this book 5 paws up and highly recommend you pick up a copy and enjoy it for yourself.

James Stoddard’s short fiction has appeared in science fiction publications such as “Amazing Stories” and “The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.” “The Battle of York” was included in Eos Books’ Years Best SF 10, and “The First Editions” appeared in The Year’s Best Fantasy 9 from Tor Books. His novel, “The High House” won the Compton Crook Award for best fantasy by a new novelist and was nominated for several other awards. He lives with his wife in a winding canyon in West Texas.

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GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY!

THREE WINNERS:

2 winners each receive a Signed Paperback copy of

LIBERTY BELL AND THE LAST AMERICAN

1 winner receives a $25 B&N eGift card

(U.S. only; ends at midnight, 11/4/22.)

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