has been over for more thanyears, and the victory of the Axis countries means the United States has been divided into two different territories.
Imperial Japan now rules over the Western American Territories with an iron fist, and conditions are harsh for the former citizens of the United States.
The smallest act of rebellion is dealt with swiftly and harshly, and while those actions are intended to intimidate and stamp out any disagreement, resistance groups have sprung up all across the land.
Ren Cabot finds himself more deeply involved in the movement than he planned when he takes his father's place in a plot to smuggle the Japanese princess out of the palace.
He's up against some tough challenges since those in power have superior soldiers with geneticallyenhanced talents, It's almost impossible to keep up with all the fastpaced action here as characters are introduced, only to be quickly killed off, or to turn out to be on a different side than readers might have expected.
The fact that Ren has been secretly writing antiestablishment essays is interesting when readers consider how physical everything seems to be in this book.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed the book, even considering the fact that so many of the rebels and their leaders seem to be so young.
I regret that the author didn't spend more time describing this new world in which her story takes place, though, as that would have added to my interest in reading it.
Still, alternate histories always have an audience because it is fascinating to ponder what might have happened if a war had ended differently.
Give this one to fans of WWII or speculative fiction to see what they make of it, Love genre switching although I definitely have my favorites but found this one as one I have doubles of I may not remember I have it but I always know when I want to read something LOLone copy from a Library of Congress giveaway and then another from one of our Scholastic Book fairsthis is an alternate history retelling of what would happen if the Axis powers won World War IIvery Blood for Blood and Wolf by Wolf Ryan Graudin the premise especially that I loved so muchI am all into an imagining of what what would happen in a society where race determined everything and nothing is as we now know it
“After the Axis powers won the war and carved up the US into three piecesthe Eastern American Territories, ruled by the Nazis the Dakotas, run by the Italians and the Imperial Japanruled Western American Territories, which covered the rest of the states west of the Mississippi Riverthe government imposed a strict social hierarchy.
the Axis powers had long reasoned that they were destined to rule the world because they were superior in every waymentally, physically, and especially racially.
” Pg.
Our protagonist Ren is unfortunately right in the middle as a biracial child born to White and Chinese parents and doesnt know whether he is fortunate to never know freedom or missing something crucial
“Ren used to think who had it worse.
Was it his greatgrandpa, who had known what liberty felt like but had lost it during the takeover Or was it Ren himself, who had never tasted it at all” Pg.
After losing his outspoken Chinese mother to an execution because of her opinions and controversial treasonous newspaper Ren lives with his father and has his own secret life which has him hiding from everyone.
. Ren lives as somewhat of a renegade named The Viper writing essays printed in pamphlets and dispersed through illegal newspapers with a bounty ofmillion yen on his headif anyone can figure out who the Viper really is
Hiding his identity proves harder than he thinks especially when he is recruited to join another faction of the Resistance led by his cousin.
. Their team aims to kidnap the Crown Princess and use her royal blood to unlock a secret testing facility on Alcatraz where the Nazis are experimenting with genetics and creating super soldiers called the Ronin Elite who have abilities to kill with deadly secret powers.
. . Ren joins their team last minute and is set up right inside the palace in place of his father as a tailor to find a way to smuggle the princess out while the powerful struggle and flail trying to locate the Viper
“Ren felt no remorse about making the crown prince lose sleep, but his stomach churned over what this meant for the WAT.
As long as the Viper remained at large, the Empire would keep slaughtering Americans who didnt deserve to die, ” Pg.
This book twists and turns a lot as they plot to kidnap the princess and plans change minute by minute.
. Rens life as the Viper adds such intensity to the plan and if students can stay with this alternate history lesson and cast of characters they will find a really good reading adventure.
. I liked it and can see a small percentage of our students wanting to see what this one is about, .
When I picked up this book, I was reminded of another alternate history book I had read that I felt was meh.
Lo and behold, this is a companion/sequel to that meh alternate history book! Huh!
Live in Infamy takes place in the Western American Territories.
It has beenyears since Hitler won WWII, The United States has been split into three portions Germany rules over the Eastern American Territories, Italy has the Dakota's I believe it is Italy, and Japan rules over the Western American Territories known as the WAT.
Ren is half Chinese and half white, His mother was executed five years ago for crimes against Japan, He hates the Empire. So much so that he has taken on the identity of the Viper, an extremist who writes essays urging people to take a stand.
His cousin, Marty, is part of the Resistance, and she has recruited Ren to help in a plan to kidnap the crown princess.
The plan goes awry, but Ren keeps his head on,
This was definitely an improvement from The Only Thing to Fear, When I read The Only Thing to Fear, I was disappointed in the author's use of experimental soldiers that are known as Anomalies.
These soldiers have supernatural powers, Zara St. James, from the first novel, is an illegal Anomaly, and she shows up in the middle of this novel,
The best part of this novel is that the author left out any semblance of a romance, It was just Ren trying to figure out how to get to his mother surprise! She survived, Barely and help the Resistance,
I look forward to the conclusion, which I assume will take place in the Dakota's, How will the WAT and the EAT resistance fighters team together and destroy what Hitler has instilled Even though this is promoted as a companion to THE ONLY THING TO FEAR, I can tell you that it stands up fairly well as its own story.
I would probably appreciate this alternate history world a bit more and the characters in it if I had read the other book first, though.
It's a fastpaced story imagining the USA as occumpied territoryyears after the Allies lose World War II to the Axis powers.
I'm not sure the who anomolies and Vwas explained well enough, I was a bit lost there and wanted to know more about that, I'm not sure if that's something already covered in the first book or if it's something that will be explained more in the next book.
Because there will be a book, right Not enough of the loose ends are tied up for this to be the last book in the series.
Overall, I give this a B rating, I think parts could have been better explained, but I give it a tiny bump up in the rating because I know it'll be super popular with teens.
Live in Infamy continues the alternative history begun in The Only Thing to Fear, The premise of both books is simple it'syears after the Allies have lost WWII, and the Axis powers have divided up the United States into three territories the Eastern American Territory EAT ruled by the Nazis, the Western American Territory WAT ruled by Imperial Japan, and the Italian Dakotas.
And like all oppressive regimes, there is a resistance movement seeking to thwart and overthrow them, The Only Thing to Fear focused on the Eastern American Territory and resistance leader Zara St, James, who is also an Anomaly,
In Live in Infamy, Richmond takes the reader to the Western American Territory WAT, where they meet Ren Cabot, ayearold Chinese American whose Chinese mother was in the resistance and executed five years earlier, Since then, Ren and his father have worked together in the family's tailoring and cobbling business, A resistance movement still exists in the WAT but now essays by someone known only as the Viper are circulating and causing unrest among the people, and especially ruling Crown Prince Katsura, who wants nothing more than the catch the Viper.
And no one suspects that Ren is the Viper, including his father, Paul Cabot, and cousin Marty,
Paul Cabot has recently been summoned to Fort Tomogashima, also called the Fortress, to help with sewing uniforms for an upcoming Joint Prosperity Ball.
But one night, Marty brings him home with a badly injured hand, and Ren discovers they are both in the resistance, It is decided that Ren will take his father's place in the Fortress, where two other resistance members are already embedded,
Once inside the Fortress, the plan is to kidnap the Crown Prince's daughter, Aiko, during the ball, and take her to Alcatraz.
Marty has intel
that there are prisoners being held there, and when Ren learns his mother might be one of them, the mission becomes personal.
But it is more than just about rescuing prisoners, Alcatraz is also being used as a laboratory for experiments with Anomalies,
Before the war, the Nazis had been involved in genetic testing in their concentration camps, The result was super soldiers called Anomalies, each of whom has a particular super human ability, Used by both the EAT and the WAT, the number of Anomalies has been dwindling quickly, and need to be replaced, More testing has resulted in a genetic breakthrough called V, a joint effort of the Empire and the Nazis, The Joint Properity Ball is a chance to deliver Vto Alcatraz while everyone's attention of focused elsewhere, But the resistance also really wants that Vand the fifteen remaining Anomalies in Alcatraz,
At the Fortress, Ren also discovers that the Viper's essay's against the Empire are a focus of the Crown Prince's anger, so much so that he is willing to, and does, execute anyone caught with a copy of an essay and copies are circulating widely.
Marty and the resistance have come up with a wild, convoluted plan, but if the mission fails, Ren's cover could easily be blown.
Live in Infamy is not just a dramatic companion to The Only Thing to Fear, it is also a worthy one, and I think Richmond has really honed her writing chops for this second novel.
She has included just enough twists and turns to make the story interesting, exciting, and suspenseful but not so much that the reader has trouble following the plot and the best part is that it is a stand alone novel.
Which means that if you missed reading The Only Thing to Fear, that's OK, although you might want to read it as well.
I thought Ren was a nicely developed character, one whose anger at the injustice and treatment of racially different and racially mixed people is totally justified.
Other characters, like Marty, Mr, Cabot, and even Greta Plank, who plays a large part in Ren's time within the Fortress, aren't quite as developed as I would have liked them to be given their roles in the story's plot, but I don't think that diminishes the overall enjoyment of the novel.
I should also mention that there are some violent scenes so this book may not appeal to more sensitive readers.
I personally found reading Live in Infamy an intriguing alternative history of WWII, particularly at this moment in time, Richmond tackles race and biracial themes as well as political persecution, and the role of the resistance, These are themes readers find in books about WWII, but they are also once again coming to the surface in today's world, so although this is an alternative history, it will no doubt resonate with today's readers.
This book is recommended for readers age,