Frontier Magic series by Patricia Wrede

Thirteenth Child by Patricia Wrede - 344 pages
Across the Great Barrier by Patricia Wrede - 339 pages
The Far West by Patricia Wrede - 378 pages

This is a fantasy series that takes place in an alternate history world of 1860s America.  It centers on Eff, a young girl who is bullied for being an unlucky 13th child.  The first book deals with the trauma this causes her.  The second book deals with the issues this has caused her magic.  The third book explores how these difficulties have made her learn different types of magic and how there is no one way to deal with things.  I enjoyed this series as the main character develops quite a bit throughout the stories.

Rebel Mechanics by Shanna Swendson

Rebel Mechanics by Shanna Swendson - 310 pages

Verity Newton is new to New York City in 1888 looking for work as a governess.  She's lucky in finding a job her first day of interviews.  She thinks her luck is continuing when she meets a group of friends.  Turns out these friends are all involved in a rebellion against the British government trying to win their freedom.  She agrees to act a spy for these mechanics against the magisters (including her employer).  But is everything as it seems?

This is the first in a trilogy about an alternate America where British magicians kept the colonies from rebelling.  I really enjoyed this first book and can't wait to read the next two books in the series.

The Man in the High Castle - Philip K. Dick

The Man in the High Castle - Philip K. Dick - 288 pages

Provocative and full of alarming racism from all sides, this book depicts an America that's not the America we know today.  In the wake of a German/Japanese win of WWII, the former U.S. has been split as spoils.  Americans are second class citizens (although frankly, each racial faction regards every other as second class), and everyone is caught up in the power struggle between East and West.

The Man in the High Castle is the author of a book (within the book) which tells the story of a WWII in which the Allies won the day, and that for me was where Dick's creative spirit really shone.  Essentially, his in-book version of what could have been had we won left out FDR and Truman, and extrapolated from there how the world would have shaped up without them.  It's alternative history within alternative history, all skewed by the point of view of whichever character (including, I think, us as readers) happens to be mulling it over in the moment.  His take speaks to inevitability, the crush of power and defeat, and the limits of what humanity can inflict and endure.

Superman: Red Son, by Mark Millar

Superman: Red Son, by Mark Millar  160 pages

Everybody and their grandmother knows Superman...well maybe not personally, but at least most are aware of the character and his origins, crash landing in the heartland of American, truth and justice etc...Superman...yeah.  Normally I don't care too much about Superman simply because he has an answer for everything and he is WAY overpowered, even for a super hero.  But when I heard about Red Son, I had to give it a shot.

Red Son takes the Superman story everyone knows, and delays it by 12 hours.  Now, I know I can hear everyone saying big deal, so he's late to Earth and waits all night for the Kents to find him, but no, the 12 hour delay lands Superman deep in a place more rural and backwater than heartland America, the Ukraine, circa 1940's.  That's right, Red Son is about Communist Superman, and it was awesome.  That should be enough, but other DC heroes show up, including Batmankoff, the Soviet Batman who leads a resistance movement against (*SPOILERS*), Soviet Premier Superman who takes over after Stalin's death.

So yeah, the story was good, even if you're not a fan of comics or Superman.  Oh, and if nothing else, Batmankoff wears a fuzzy Russian hat, which makes it worth reading anyway.