The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich ****

***2021 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction*** TheNight Watchman by Louise Erdrich tells the story of congressional plans to terminate the Turtle Mountain Chippewa, abrogate their treaties, and take away their land. Following Pixie, her grandfather, and several others, the story of the people on the Turtle Mountain Reservation unfolds. It is a story of a heroic challenge to white encroachment, triumphant spirit, and the dismal treatment of the native Americans. Alternately it is a heart-warming tale of overcoming adversity and humble circumstances

It is set in “the mid - 1950s, supposedly the golden age for America, but in reality a time when Jim Crow reigned and American Indians were at the nadir of power — our traditional religions outlawed, our land base continually and illegally seized (even as now) by resource extraction companies, our languages weakened by government boarding schools.” The narrator is Pixie (Patrice) Paranteau, a single young woman with works at the Jewel Bearing Plant. The central character is her grandfather who is chairman of the Turtle Mountain Advisory Committee and night watchman at the Jewel Bearing Plant.

Opposite Thomas Wazhashk and the Turtle Mountain Chippewa was Senator Arthur V. Watkins. He “was indeed a pompous racist. But to give Watkins his due, he also was instrumental in bringing down Senator Joe McCarthy and ending an ugly era in national politics.” In “Watkins’s religion, the Mormon people had been divinely gifted all of the land they wanted. Indians weren’t white and delightsome, but cursed with dark skin, so they had no right to live on the land. That they had signed legal treaties with the highest governmental bodies in the United States was also nothing to Watkins. Legality was second to personal revelation. Everything was second to personal revelation. And Joseph Smith’s personal revelation, all written down in The Book of Mormon, was that his people alone were the best and should possess the earth.”

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Murder at Mount Vernon by Robert J Muller *****

Murder at Mount Vernon is a historical mystery that tells the story of a man, confronted with conflicting duties and powerful adversaries, who takes a moral journey toward two fateful decisions: whether to abandon his long-sought retirement for the Presidency and how to free his slaves.

The novel begins with the murder of an enslaved man at Mount Vernon. During this time, George Washington is contemplating whether he should accept the position of President. The murder is followed by the discovery of a conspiracy to steal from his plantation and more murders. The chaos complicates his decision because he doesn’t want to move to New York and leave the plantation in disarray. In addition, word of mismanagement at Mount Vernon might allow his opponents to block his election.

As Washington and his friend Colonel Humphreys (narrator) investigate the murder, they uncover a widespread conspiracy to steal from the local plantations and a plot by the British to destabilize the new country. Colonel Humphreys presents a strident voice and conscience for abolition while Washington is more concerned with Federalism and unity based on the new constitution. The Bill of Rights and the Civil War are foreshadowed.

A mystery that starts with one murder, but becomes more involved as multiple conspiracies are uncovered, leading to more murders.

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Dune by Frank Herbert ****

Dune by Frank Herbert is a 1965 Science Fiction classic centered around an arid planet. Or is it a fantasy? Frank Herbert built an environment and culture around the scarcity of water. Few other science-fiction works construct such a detailed world. In this way, Dune is more like fantasy (Harry Potter, LOTR) than sci-fi (Star Trek, Star Wars).

Dune uses many tropes that were later popularized in Sci-Fi movies and television. Mentats are hyper-logical and Bene Gesserit are hyper-perceptive, character types repeated throughout SF. Bene Gesserit use a “command voice” that cannot be ignored or disobeyed. This is also common in several SF contexts.  The “cone of silence” also appeared in Get Smart and elsewhere. While the book predates Star Wars by more than a decade, much foreshadows that franchise—the evil emperor and galactic politics.

Dune is a classic—worth reading over 50 years later, combining the best of fantasy and SF.

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