Book Review and Giveaway: Liberty Bell and the Last American by James Stoddard | Lone Star Book Blog Tours

LIBERTY BELL AND
THE LAST AMERICAN
by
James Stoddard
Alternative History / Science Fiction
Pages: 347 pages
Publication Date: April 4, 2021
SCROLL DOWN FOR A GIVEAWAY!
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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Imagine that, due to a great catastrophe, all the digital information in the world was lost, and most of the hard copies, too. Imagine that electricity no longer flowed. Imagine that many people were killed. Cities and continents divided. Imagine, then, that the survivors regrouped as best as they could, played a huge game of telephone with the information they recalled, and then somewhere down the line, someone found snippets of information about history and tried to compile it into a book as best as they could. This is what you have in Liberty Bell and the Last American.

Liberty Bell is a plucky young lady setting out from home for the first time. Her trip goes awry when she’s forced to jump from the train she’s on to avoid men up to no good. She finds herself in the middle of nowhere with Secret Service agent Antonio Ice (who occasionally refers to himself as A.I.), and they fall in together to use the half of a map that they possess to find the gold in “Fort Knocks.”

Liberty is quite the student of The Americana, the trove of “knowledge” compiled about all the heroic Old Americans of the past, filled with what is thought to be their wisdom. When she and Antonio encounter various historical figures along their way, and finally discover a secret thought to be lost forever, it is Liberty’s extensive knowledge of The Americana that may be able to unravel the riddles they’re confronted with. Will Liberty be able to choose wisely? Or will a tyrannical madman take over all that remains sacred and plunge the world deeper into darkness?

This is a rip-snortin’ good book! It’s mixed-up history and reimagined future, with action, adventure, and a little romance all rolled up into one. James Stoddard must be a remarkable student of history to mix it up like he does. Liberty refers to The Americana often, and it is truly a mishmash of great Americans from throughout history, described as if they lived at the same time.

It’s also a topsy-turvy treasure trove of pop culture references. We learn from The Americana that Yoosemitee is the Old Forest, “home of Bigfoot and King Kong.” We read about “the White Sands of the Nuklars” and “the ruins of the Golden Arches.” It’s genius.

Yet underneath the humor, there is thought-provoking truth. Liberty Bell and Antonio don’t find the gold of Fort Knocks. Instead, they find a far greater treasure. What they find wrecks everything Liberty thought about the Old Americans and the history of the “Yooessay,” as it’s now known. She is crushed. But she is reminded by a figure from that past that the Old Americans were just flawed, imperfect people, but they fought for what was right, for an ideal that cannot die. She is reminded of what the true spirit of the Republic is.

Can tyranny be defeated again? Will the Old American ideals prevail and help to recreate a new, more perfect union? Grab a copy of Liberty Bell and the Last American and find out.

I give it five of the stars made famous by “Betsee Ross, the Star Weaver.”


Scroll on down and enter to win a $25 B&N gift card!

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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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.)
FOR DIRECT LINKS TO EACH POST ON THIS TOUR, UPDATED DAILY,
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4 Responses to Book Review and Giveaway: Liberty Bell and the Last American by James Stoddard | Lone Star Book Blog Tours

  1. What a fabulous review! “Rip snortin’ good book.” LOVE that. Thanks for sharing your thoughts about the book. Sounds excellent.

  2. Thanks for a lovely review! I must confess, however, that I’m generally no more a student of history than most Americans. I learned so much writing this book, researching my way through the various historic figures, reading their famous quotations, often moved by the sacrifices they made on behalf of freedom. Despite our faults, we live in a truly remarkable country.

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