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Roswell, Texas
In an alternative universe, Davy Crocket survived the 1836 siege at the Alamo, and Santa Ana did not. As a result, Texas remained an independent republic and never joined the United States. In 1947, Texican President Charles A. Lindbergh learns that a flying saucer has crashed near the far west Texas town of Roswell. He dispatches his best friend, "Wild Bill" Bear, and three of his best Texas Rangers, to investigate. Our four heroes find themselves in a race against agents from the United States, the Franco-Mexican Empire, the California Republic, and the Third-and-a-half Reich, to find that crashed saucer and learn its secrets. And when they do, they will change the course of history, again.
265 pages, Comic
First published June 4, 2008
8 people are currently reading
28 people want to read
About the author
L. Neil Smith
39 books69 followersL. Neil Smith was a Libertarian science fiction author and gun rights activist.Smith was born in Denver, Colorado.
Smith began publishing science fiction with “Grimm’s Law” for Stellar 5 (1980). He wrote 31 books, including 29 novels, and a number of essays and short stories. In 2016, Smith received the Special Prometheus Award for Lifetime Achievement for his contributions to libertarian science fiction.
He was editor of LEVER ACTION BBS [now defunct], founder and International Coordinator of the Libertarian Second Amendment Caucus, Secretary and Legislative Director of the Weld County Fish & Wildlife Association and an NRA Life Member.
Smith passed away on August 27, 2021 in Fort Collins, Colorado at age 75 after a lengthy battle with heart and kidney disease. Smith is survived by daughter Rylla Smith and wife Cathy Smith.
Smith began publishing science fiction with “Grimm’s Law” for Stellar 5 (1980). He wrote 31 books, including 29 novels, and a number of essays and short stories. In 2016, Smith received the Special Prometheus Award for Lifetime Achievement for his contributions to libertarian science fiction.
He was editor of LEVER ACTION BBS [now defunct], founder and International Coordinator of the Libertarian Second Amendment Caucus, Secretary and Legislative Director of the Weld County Fish & Wildlife Association and an NRA Life Member.
Smith passed away on August 27, 2021 in Fort Collins, Colorado at age 75 after a lengthy battle with heart and kidney disease. Smith is survived by daughter Rylla Smith and wife Cathy Smith.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 27, 2009
The tricky part of alt history is that it quizzes you to find out how much you know. When you get it, it's a smug star on your forehead. When you don't ...
Anyhow, I think I got about half the references.
That being said, this is a fun romp about a UFO landing in the Republic of Texas. Recommended.
Anyhow, I think I got about half the references.
That being said, this is a fun romp about a UFO landing in the Republic of Texas. Recommended.
June 21, 2021
Good job I’d read more y’all just write em
An excellent read , L Neil Smith you need to write more son I’ve read em all !! Very good book !
An excellent read , L Neil Smith you need to write more son I’ve read em all !! Very good book !
August 19, 2017
In this timeline, where Texas never joined the US, the Roswell ET crash draws attention not only from the Texas government (New Mexico is part of the Texan nation) but the US, the south, the Nazis, California (another independent). We have Elliott Ness, "Lawrence of Albania" and others competing with Texas President Lindbergh's handpicked team to find the site. I enjoy alternate histories where the world has been wildly shuffled (rather than just one change) but in this it's just endless name dropping (grunt Gene Rodenberry contemplates taking a long trek!!!!!) with no narrative spine, nor rationale for all the changes (as another reviewer pointed out, if Hitler's a happy Texas artist why did we get the Third Reich?). And the balkanized US was handled way, way better in the old CAPTAIN CONFEDERACY comic.
June 22, 2023
For some reason, only the name of L. Neil Smith is showing here, but in fact there should be four, of whom two are writers and three are illustrators.
And, yes, I realize that adds up to five.
Writers include L. Neil Smith and Rex May, but Rex was also "Baloo," that master of the witty little single panel cartoons.
Scott Bieser is a master of the grand statement in art and I blush to admit I know nothing about Jennifer Zach, the final name. But just being part of this gang shows she has talent, and good taste in associates.
There is fun in this book, and we see some of the characters from L. Neil's previous books, including my Iowa-born cousin.
And, as we can always expect, there is plenty of humor-laden dialogue.
L. Neil and Rex have both left us, and left us much the poorer. Thank goodness for what Arthur Schopenhauer called "that paper memory of mankind" -- books.
And, yes, I realize that adds up to five.
Writers include L. Neil Smith and Rex May, but Rex was also "Baloo," that master of the witty little single panel cartoons.
Scott Bieser is a master of the grand statement in art and I blush to admit I know nothing about Jennifer Zach, the final name. But just being part of this gang shows she has talent, and good taste in associates.
There is fun in this book, and we see some of the characters from L. Neil's previous books, including my Iowa-born cousin.
And, as we can always expect, there is plenty of humor-laden dialogue.
L. Neil and Rex have both left us, and left us much the poorer. Thank goodness for what Arthur Schopenhauer called "that paper memory of mankind" -- books.
November 19, 2021
A nice piece of cross-time fiction in graphic novel form, written with tongue firmly in cheek and set in a world where Texas never joined the Union but conquered the western Confederate states and parts of the western US territories, where the Bear Flag Republic also never joined, and where the United States had drifted leftward and become a "scientific socialist" country closely allied with the USSR. The French were never expelled from Mexico, which has its own Emperor Porfirio under the Franco-Mexican empire.
The story starts in 1947, a time when WWII is still raging in Europe but Japan has not entered the war on either side. Presumably the Sino-Japanese War is still going on, but this is not mentioned.
A lot of historical figures show up in different guises. Malcolm Little (who became Malcolm X in our world) is a serious young man who is a Texas Ranger. Meir Kahane is also a young Texas Ranger.
Adolph Hitler never joined the NAZI Party but instead emigrated to Texas and became a mural artist under the tutelage of Diego Rivera. (This may offer an explanation of why WWII is still raging in 1947 and why the NAZI organization was much more dominated by homosexuals in that history. Without Hitler in the way, the original organizers of the party, such as Ernst Roehm and Heinrich Himmler, might still have "stormed to power" but without Hitler's inept meddling in military affairs.)
One entertaining feature of the story is the challenge of identifying people from our history, such as two famous 20th Century comedians and a well-known pin-up model.
I recommend it.
The story starts in 1947, a time when WWII is still raging in Europe but Japan has not entered the war on either side. Presumably the Sino-Japanese War is still going on, but this is not mentioned.
A lot of historical figures show up in different guises. Malcolm Little (who became Malcolm X in our world) is a serious young man who is a Texas Ranger. Meir Kahane is also a young Texas Ranger.
Adolph Hitler never joined the NAZI Party but instead emigrated to Texas and became a mural artist under the tutelage of Diego Rivera. (This may offer an explanation of why WWII is still raging in 1947 and why the NAZI organization was much more dominated by homosexuals in that history. Without Hitler in the way, the original organizers of the party, such as Ernst Roehm and Heinrich Himmler, might still have "stormed to power" but without Hitler's inept meddling in military affairs.)
One entertaining feature of the story is the challenge of identifying people from our history, such as two famous 20th Century comedians and a well-known pin-up model.
I recommend it.
January 6, 2015
If the purpose of alternate history fiction is to act as a puzzle for the reader, challenging him or her to figure out the references, then this book deserves another star. If the purpose is to entertain the reader, with the trivia quiz secondary, then it's only a two star book.
One reason is that the author tries to shoehorn in every possible reference, without pausing to consider the ramifications. For example, he sets up a world in which Hitler never comes to power in Germany, but somehow the Nazis still do. Too many of the references are just too jokey, like Walt Disney becoming president-for-life of an independent California Republic, or a strangely-exiled Pope playing poker with Frank Sinatra. Others are just weird, like a young Malcolm Little [later Malcolm X] somehow becoming a Texas Ranger. Some are just creepy and borderline racist, like the Japanese doctor whose accent keeps wandering from mock Japanese to mock Chinese and back, as if the author didn't bother to even keep the insult consistent. The best thing about the art is that the characters are mostly recognizable.
The highlightof the historical cameos was Jerry Lewis, under his real name, acting as a spy.
The story itself, of the various fragmented parts of North America fighting over an apparent flying saucer, was interesting as a story, just not well enough executed.
One reason is that the author tries to shoehorn in every possible reference, without pausing to consider the ramifications. For example, he sets up a world in which Hitler never comes to power in Germany, but somehow the Nazis still do. Too many of the references are just too jokey, like Walt Disney becoming president-for-life of an independent California Republic, or a strangely-exiled Pope playing poker with Frank Sinatra. Others are just weird, like a young Malcolm Little [later Malcolm X] somehow becoming a Texas Ranger. Some are just creepy and borderline racist, like the Japanese doctor whose accent keeps wandering from mock Japanese to mock Chinese and back, as if the author didn't bother to even keep the insult consistent. The best thing about the art is that the characters are mostly recognizable.
The highlightof the historical cameos was Jerry Lewis, under his real name, acting as a spy.
The story itself, of the various fragmented parts of North America fighting over an apparent flying saucer, was interesting as a story, just not well enough executed.
April 6, 2012
Very fun romp, a little hard to explain. Darcy does a great job in another review
May 22, 2015
This was a hoot!
September 26, 2013
When even the bad guys won't shoot the garbage cans, you know you have a winner.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews