Mike Bond is clearly a student of history and world events. He’s also a fine writer. Sometimes, it isn’t the best novel to combine everything the author knows into one project, even if he takes seven books to do it.
America is the first novel in a seven-book series tracing the history of the United States and many other world conflicts. Having lived through many of the events described in the book, purportedly from the point of view of different characters, I didn’t find the author’s narrative to be balanced journalism or believable dialogue for his characters. Many times, he quotes speeches and writing from the time, though always with a slant.
The book switches point of view often between two male characters and two females. Despite growing up in the same community, and the same household for three of them, they have divergent views on war, patriotism and education that feel, at least in the last half of the book, preachy. However, I loved the first half, where the author introduces Mick, Troy, Tara and Daisy, and their rural childhoods and coming of age stories set the stage for the novel.
Bond then takes the four and tries to cover all the politics, religious issues, sexuality, and philosophy onto them. Maybe ONE character’s quest would have been okay, but the reach of this book, and the number of characters needed to cover the agenda, was just too much.
Bond is an excellent writer. His settings are brilliant,
almost sentimental and his characters are people I liked knowing. I just wish
they hadn’t fallen into the stereotypes of the day and used a bit more common
sense. And restraint.
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