Cahokia Jazz

Ultimately, the novel was unsatisfying, but not in the way that comes from careless writing or a lack of vision on the part of the writer. Rather, it's unsatisfying in the same way that life is--you understand why it has to be that way, and although you often wish things could be different, you can't help but glory in the moments that were given.

I don't want a movie of this, I want a video game where the player gets to explore the city of Cahokia. Through it, we get to see the author's vision of Indigenous cultures entering the 20th century but on their own terms. It's colorful, adventurous, brutal, brazen - perfect setting for a politically charged noir murder mystery.

I nearly abandoned this when it opened with detectives at a murder scene, a prelude I realized I've come to associate with formulaic slop. And I wasn't sure I would still enjoy noir as much as I once did. It doesn't take long for the wildly imaginative dimensions of the story to burst forth from the outrageously explosive plot. The alternate history is both utopian and dystopian in noir proportions, full of interesting observations, implications, and jazzy interludes.

An alternative history where the Native American Cahokia Nation was not wiped out by disease from white explorers and settlers, and went on to thrive. It takes place in the 1920s and it's very noir-esque. While it is a detective story that does come together nicely, it is more of a character piece. There are so many well developed characters and the fleshing out of the Cahokia people overall is easily believable.

A tad overstuffed, but (because of this?) succeeds as (all of) hardboiled noir, speculative anthropology, and cathartic routing of white supremacy, which is no small accomplishment. Could have done with a more low-key ending, in my opinion, for some light and shade, but superb writing and characterisation throughout, with more than a few lines that elicited audibly-impressed noises. This alt-history nerd left happy.