Black Chamber

by S. M. Stirling

Overview

The first novel in a brand-new alternate history series where Teddy Roosevelt is president for a second time right before WWI breaks out, and on his side is the Black Chamber, a secret spy network watching America's back.

1916. The Great War rages overseas, and the whole of Europe, Africa, and western Asia is falling to the Central Powers. To win a war that must be won, Teddy Roosevelt, once again the American president, turns to his top secret Black Chamber organization—and its cunning and deadly spy, Luz O'Malley Aróstegui.

On a transatlantic airship voyage, Luz poses as an anti-American Mexican revolutionary to get close—very close—to a German agent code-named Imperial Sword. She'll need every skill at her disposal to get him to trust her and lead her deep into enemy territory. In the mountains of Saxony, concealed from allied eyes, the German Reich's plans for keeping the U.S. from entering the conflict are revealed: the deployment of a new diabolical weapon upon the shores of America...

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780399586231
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	07/03/2018
Series:	A Novel of an Alternate World War , #1
Pages:	400
Sales rank:	419,620
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

S. M. Stirling is the author of many science fiction and fantasy novels. A former lawyer and an amateur historian, he lives with his wife, Jan.

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Excerpted from "Black Chamber"
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Copyright © 2018 S. M. Stirling.
Excerpted by permission of Penguin Publishing Group.
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Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Reading Group Guide

1.

A Reader’s Guide for Black Chamber:

1. While Theodore Roosevelt isn’t a major character in the book, the differences in his career from those in our history are very important to all the major characters. How does his returning to the presidency in 1912 affect their lives? Where would they be without him?

2. In alternate 1916, Luz O’Malley Aróstegui considers herself modern and progressive. How does her conception of this differ from the assumptions we would make about these words today? How is it similar?

3. Luz regards the German intelligence agent Horst von Dückler as both an enemy and a colleague in the same line of work. She doesn’t feel any personal animosity toward him, because he’s working for his country. How does this attitude reflect on her and her world? Does it make her humane, or ruthless?

4. In the Black Chamber world, blacks in America would probably get the vote restored to them much earlier, in the 1910s rather than the 1950s and 1960s. Not because of a civil rights movement, but because the quasi-authoritarian Progressive Republican Party imposes it on the South for its own reasons. Likewise, there is an Equal Rights Amendment for women in 1913 that is closely identified with the Party’s takeover of the US. What are the positive and negative implications of these events?

5. Luz meets Ciara Whelan in Germany. Both women became secret agents because of the violent deaths of family members: for Luz her parents, and for Ciara her brother and, indirectly, her father. What does this give them in common? Unlike Luz, Ciara draws back from her pursuit of revenge. How does this make them different?

6. Ciara is a woman with strong technical interests and talents in an era when this was very much frowned on. How does the fact that Luz admires and praises her abilities affect their relationship?

7. Both Ciara and Luz are of Irish-American background. Does it give them common ground? Why or why not?

8. Luz and Professor von Bülow discuss Nietzsche’s philosophy in relation to women and exchange personal recollections, developing a degree of mutual respect. Luz reflects that if von Bülow weren’t a mad fanatic plotting a horrible crime, he’d be a nice enough old duffer. What does this attitude say about the distinction between the personal and political aspects of a human being, and Luz’s attitude toward those distinctions?

9. When Luz returns to the US and the Black Chamber station in Boston, she’s treated by the officer in charge as a “hysterical female.” What do you think of the way she deals with that?

10. As a spy and secret agent from a wealthy, cosmopolitan background, Luz is much more experienced at analyzing and manipulating human emotions than Ciara. What does this mean for their relationship? Additionally, what does it mean that Luz waits until Ciara has an independent position before inviting her to come and live with her?

Editorial Reviews

★ 04/30/2018
Prolific fantasist Stirling (the Emberverse series) packs a mighty wallop in this high-spirited alternate WWI history, starring redoubtable Cuban-Irish-American heroine Luz O’Malley Aróstegui. It’s 1916, and Luz’s honorary uncle, Teddy Roosevelt, is president. Adrenaline-charged Luz, a secret agent of the CIA-like Black Chamber, sails the Atlantic on a sumptuous dirigible, inveigling herself into the arms of handsome German spy Baron Horst von Dückler so she can pry out information about Germany’s horrifying plot to prevent America from entering the war. Throughout, Luz utilizes the prevailing underestimation of women to efficiently dispose of Parisian street fighters, demolish a German professor’s interpretation of Nietzsche, pilfer the German plans, and endure two weeks on a U-boat with Horst and lissome Ciara, Luz’s other romantic interest. Sterling’s lavish historical, linguistic, and cultural detail—including sly digs at real-life figures, such as a youthful J. Edgar Hoover—enhance well-rounded characters to make this a highly enjoyable espionage romp. (July)

Publishers Weekly

A rollicking spy thriller set in a familiar WW1, but with a 'what might have been' America racing to cope with a far deadlier, more desperate Germany.”—Taylor Anderson, New York Times bestselling author of River of Bones
 
“A slam-bang spy thriller with an engaging female protagonist.”—David Drake, author of Death's Bright Day
 
“Nobody carries a bigger stick in the alternate-history game than S. M. Stirling. As always, he comes up with inventive twists that keep your mind racing and the pages turning. Bravo!”—Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of Quantum Night
 
“Once again one of the best story-tellers in the world takes you on a wonderful ride. Great tale, great characters...love it.”—David Crosby, of the Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash
 
“The nice thing about getting a Steve Stirling book in the mail is that you know for a few hours you can fly on dreams of wonder, travelling to a world so much more than this angry reality.”—John Ringo, author of Under a Graveyard Sky
 
“It's a great feeling being in the hands of an alternate history master. Black Chamber is a wonderfully fun transcontinental spy romp, and a great beginning to a new series.”—Django Wexler, author of The Infernal Battalion

“Stirling packs a mighty wallop in this high-spirited alternate WWI history…Stirling’s lavish historical, linguistic, and cultural detail...enhance well-rounded figures to make this a highly enjoyable espionage romp.”—Publishers Weekly

“Too many Alternate History stories have become sadly routine. Riding to the rescue is S. M. Stirling's Black Chamber. This novel provides a desperately needed infusion of courage and originality. How appropriate that Penguin, publisher of the James Bond novels, launches a hard edged new spy series with Stirling. How appropriate that Ace, famous for classic science fiction, is onboard for the adventure. Beware the Breath of Loki.”—Brad Linaweaver, Prometheus Award winning author of Moon of Ice

“Black Chamber is one mighty fine read—sexy, action-filled adventure in a thoughtful alternate history.  Enjoy!”—Lawrence-Watt Evans

“Black Chamber is one of the most intriguing and entertaining adventures to come along in years. If you like alternate history, you will appreciate Stirling’s take on what Teddy Roosevelt could have accomplished if he had been allowed. If you like steam punk, you will enjoy elegant inventions that are firmly based on science. If you like derring-do, you will thrill to car chases and combats of all kinds ( there is one scene that anyone with acrophobia might want to avoid). And whatever your gender,  if you like a feisty, sexy, intelligent heroine, meet Field Operative Luz O’Malley Arostegui!”—Diana L. Paxson, author of Sword of Avalon

“There’s something very exhilarating about watching somebody at the peak of his powers attempt something extremely difficult and pull it off with apparently ridiculous ease. This is a sheer joy of an alternative history, featuring probably the most interesting and talented President ever in a term he never served and a new and darker view of the First World War.”—Patricia Finney, author of Gloriana’s Torch

From the Publisher