Black Chamber (novel)

Black Chamber by S. M. Stirling begins a new series in which Theodore Roosevelt's bid for the U.S. presidency in 1912 was successful. The story begins on September 1, 1916 and features a "Black Chamber" that is much more than the historical U.S. government agency.

Black Chamber
AuthorS. M. Stirling
Audio read byTodd McLaren
Cover artistShutterstock
SeriesTales from the Black Chamber
GenreAlternate history
Set inAlternate World War I
PublisherAce
Publication date
July 3, 2018
Media type
Pages400
ISBN9780399586231
OCLC1088679484
813/.54
LC ClassPS3569.T543 B58 2018
Followed byTheater of Spies 
Websitesmstirling.com/books/black-chamber

Plot summary

Preliminaries

When William Howard Taft, Theodore Roosevelt's opponent in the 1912 presidential election dies of a heart attack, Roosevelt's election is assured.[1] After Roosevelt takes office, the United States conquers Mexico "for its own good" and begins a rigorous progress agenda.[1][2]

Main plot

In September 1916, the United States has not yet declared itself a participant in World War I. President Roosevelt wants to stay out of World War I. However, the war is going very well for Germany and Roosevelt learns that the Germans have a new weapon whose characteristics are unknown.[1]

Luz O'Malley Aróstegui is a senior field operative for the Black Chamber, a U.S. spy and security agency. Luz, who is ethnically Cuban-Irish, impersonates a Mexican-Irish revolutionary in order to contact a German agent who she learns is Baron Horst von Dückler. They become lovers and Luz learns that the weapon, called "The Breath of Loki", is a poisonous gas that kills on contact. Luz convinces Ciara Whelan, an Irish-American with a grudge against the U.S. to help her.[1][3]

Eventually, Luz has to deal with a German plan to keep the United States out of the war by bringing the poisonous gas to the East Coast.[4]

Characters

Factual

Fictional
  • Luz O'Malley Aróstegui, Senior Field Operative with the Black Chamber
  • Ciara Whelan, a Fenian at the beginning
  • Captain Baron Horst von Dückler, assigned to German military intelligence

Critical reception
  • Liz Bourke called Black Chamber a "rattlingly good spy thriller" and liked the characters but disliked that none of the characters could truly be considered good and was troubled by the main plot involving the use of chemical weapons on civilians.[2]
  • Publishers Weekly in a starred review praised the "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."[5]

References
  1. "A Book Spy Review: 'Black Chamber' by S. M. Stirling". The Real Book Spy. TheRealBookSpy.com. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
  2. Bourke, Liz. "Liz Bourke reviews Black Chamber by S.M. Stirling". Locus. Locus Publishing. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
  3. Di Filippo, Paul. "Paul Di Filippo Reviews Black Chamber by S. M. Stirling". Locus. Retrieved 21 May 2020. Luz is an agent of the Black Chamber, a kind of prototype combo of the OSS, NSA, MI6 and a dozen other...services.
  4. "Black Chamber by S. M. Stirling". Penguin Random House. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  5. "Fiction Book Review: Black Chamber". Publishers Weekly. 2018-04-30. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
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