Subject: Review of THE FREEDOM FACTOR by Gerald N. Lund

From: "Evelyn C Leeper" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 8 Jun 1995 21:02:33 GMT

THE FREEDOM FACTOR by Gerald N. Lund
         Deseret Book, ISBN 0-87579-961-2, 1987, 295p, US$6.95
                   A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper
		    Copyright 1995 Evelyn C. Leeper

     It has been said that there are a lot of science fiction novels never
noticed by the science fiction fan.  For example, there are many
"futuristic" romance novels that get little notice in such magazines as
LOCUS and less representation in the science fiction section of your local
bookstore, or even in your local SF bookstore.  Another area not often
reckoned with is that of the "Christian SF novel" (a term usually applied to
works aimed at evangelical Protestants rather than, say, the works of C. S.
Lewis or James Blish).  I have even seen alternate history romances (and
reviewed two here recently), and I have now discovered an alternate history
LDS (Mormon) novel.  (Mark also found some LDS science fiction novels, one
of which may yet be reviewed here.)

     The premise of THE FREEDOM FACTOR is that Nathaniel Gorham, one of the
signers of the Constitution, transports Bryce Sherwood, a Senate aide
working to get ratification for an amendment that would eliminate the checks
and balances of the Constitution, to a world in which the Constitution was
never ratified.  As with most such books written with a political agenda in
mind, considerations of art or even logic are left by the wayside.

     For example, Sherwood's family moved from California to Boston in our
world when Bryce was ten years old.  Since according to Gorham's train track
analogy, this is "the same train with the same people ... just on a
different track," all of Sherwood's family exists here as well, but because
New England is a totalitarian state, his family never moved.  Well, and just
how did they get to California in the first place?  Where did they live
before that?  Why would events be different and yet all the people be the
same, two hundred years after the change?  (Just to confuse the issue, the
people are NOT the same: the heroine has no siblings in the alternate world
while she did in ours.)

     Attention to other details and extrapolation is also sloppy.  At first
I thought that, based on internal evidence (page 16 and 173) the earliest
this could take place is 2016.  (Well, theoretically, it could have been
1988, but then none of the people mentioned as Senators were Senators, so
this would have been a third alternate world.)  But actually the data on
pages 173, 195, and 288 are conflicting: you can't have any two of September
22, August 30, and August 28 be Thursdays, let alone all three, unless
there's been some massive calendar reform, so who knows when this takes
place.  And without a Civil War where did the West Virginia mentioned on
page 215 come from?

     Naturally Sherwood realizes what a valuable thing the Constitution is,
gets involved with the resistance movement, and so on.  (I hope you don't
think this is a spoiler.)  The LDS content seems limited to having the
principals express a belief a God and a strong respect for the American
Constitution, and possibly to the mechanism by which Gorham is able to visit
Sherwood and effect changes (though I can't be positive on this aspect).

     I cannot recommend this book except to hard-core alternate history
fans.  The extrapolation is weak, and the characterization thin.  I think I
would have preferred a heavier LDS connection--at least that would have made
the book interesting.

     [Though this is a trade paperback, it is the size--more or less-- of a
mass-market book.  A trade paperback is a softcover book that is must be
returned intact by the bookseller if s/he wants credit for unsold copies.  A
mass-market paperback need have only the cover returned.  I mention this,
because if you are looking for this book in spite of this review, you should
be looking at the smaller-sized books.  On the other hand, unless you live
in Utah, you will almost definitely have to special-order it from Desert
Book, P.O.Box 30178, Salt Lake City UT 84130, or call their bookstore at
801-328-3884.  If your local SF bookstore carries this, it must be the
world's most complete such store!]

%T      The Freedom Factor
%A      Gerald N. Lund
%C      Salt Lake City, Utah
%D      1987
%I      Deseret Book
%O      trade paperback, US$6.95
%G      ISBN 0-87579-961-2
%P      295pp

-- 
Evelyn C. Leeper | +1 908 957 2070 | [email-masked]
"I don't care what may be his politics. I don't care what may be his
religion. I don't care what may be his color. I don't care who he is.
So long as he is honest, he shall be served by me." --Theodore Roosevelt
--
--Alan Wexelblat, Reality Hacker, Author, and Cyberspace Bard
MIT Media Lab - Intelligent Agents Group		finger(1) for PGP key
Voice: 617-253-9833	Pager: 617-945-1842		[email-masked]
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"When did similarity become a prerequisite for compassion?"