Home ยป Forum ยป Story Discussion and Feedback

Forum: Story Discussion and Feedback

Howard Faxon - Remittance Man

7dreams ๐Ÿšซ

https://storiesonline.net/s/50257/remittance-man

An amazing story. Perfect for Native American Heritage Month. All Howard Faxon stories have gone behind the paywall, and are now premium. He has a wide range of outstanding stories, from science fiction to fantasy, to hard bitten stories of difficult retirements and world and galaxy spanning travels.

This story begins in England in the early 1800's, with a revenge against a man who mutilates a woman, and then he is running for his life to the great lakes region where he learns the ways of the Indians. It is an alternate history of sorts, and the story of a man and his family and their tribe on the frontier. Really well done.

NC-Retired ๐Ÿšซ
Updated:

@7dreams

Yes, yes, and YES!

This is one of the best tales on SOL for an alternate history of that time.

Too bad that Howard is RIP. His attention to detail and plausibility in his writing is without peer.

richardshagrin ๐Ÿšซ

@7dreams

Review by richardshagrin [other reviews by richardshagrin - Contact Reviewer]
Reviewed: 9/20/2015

This is a difficult story to review. I loved it, but it goes in so many different directions, with different characters at the center of the individual books or chapters). Its what I think of as a typical Howard Faxon story. He tells you how to build and make things, how to cook things, how to hunt and gather and grow food. Its also an alternate history with the native Americans keeping much of what they owned in the early 1800s. I think it is better if I let you read what happens rather than try to recite it in the review.

I give the story full marks (a ten) for plot. Lots of things happen, many, perhaps most violent. There is almost no sex, except the hero has children, as do others, but minimal discussion of how. This story could be on Fine Stories. The technical quality is high, up to the author's standards. I only saw one thing in a long story and that is very good indeed. Ok I will say. It was a "the" instead of a "then."

I am giving this a ten for appeal to reviewer. I read it before, and that was my reaction then. I recommend the story to all, and strongly to those who like historical or alternate history fiction. The author recommended it to me after I criticized one of his other stories for ending abruptly. This one could have gone longer, but ended where it did in a very satisfactory way. Read and enjoy.

Plot: 10 | Technical Quality: 10 | Appeal to Reviewer: 10

solreader50 ๐Ÿšซ

@7dreams

An amazing story. Perfect for Native American Heritage Month.

An excellent tale that got a nine from me. Unique as far as I can tell, in his approach to life in late 18th/ early 19th century North America. It give a vision of how things might have turned out without the Manifest Destiny and the genocides that it caused.

Replies:   Paladin_HGWT
Paladin_HGWT ๐Ÿšซ

@solreader50

how things might have turned out without the Manifest Destiny and the genocides that it caused.

Without Manifest Destiny the borders of the USA would be different. The various tribes wouldn't hold any of that land, even their reservations, in the 20th century. The USA was competing with the United Kingdom, the Russian Empire, and the Kingdom of Spain, among others for the land west of the Appalachian mountains. By the 19th century Japan and Germany were in search of colonies. Germany considered war against the USA for control of the Philippines. Japan fought both China and Russia for Korea, Manchuria, and Taiwan; later seizing islands throughout the Pacific (including some from Imperial Germany).

"Genocide" is an even more vacuous claim. Do you "blame" China for the "Black Death" that killed more than 30% of the people of Europe at the time?

The vast majority of tribal peoples of North America who died from c.1400-1900 died from disease. There is significant evidence that fishermen and some merchants from Europe, and possibly Moors too, had contact with various peoples who were living in North America before Columbus set out on his first voyage of discovery.

There is almost no contemporary documentation of these ventures, as they were illegal. Monarchs, or Guilds, or the Hansetic League, claimed jurisdiction off ALL Trade, even if unaware of the Americas. "Vineland" was "known" and a matter of trade disputes between England and the Hansetic League in the 1300's, a sideshow to the Hundred Years War (primarily, but not exclusively between England and France).

Disease was spread by native traders and wanderers. The "mound peoples" and a comparatively extensive farming and crafting peoples west of the Mississippi River, from present day Minnesota to Missouri. Disease wiped out a high percentage of the already scant population of North America before c.1500. Survivors of these settled tribes were wiped out by the Souixian tribes as they expanded south and east.

Mexico is an exception to the rest of North America, for the purposes of the above paragraph. Spanish atrocities throughout Mexico, Central and South America, could be considered genocide. However, utterly unaffected by events in the story, or the comment I am responding to.

From c.1700 to 1900 more of the tribal peoples of North America were killed in inter-tribal warfare, than killed by people of the USA. Disease killed even more. The USA did in some cases try to destroy the culture of many tribes. Not just limiting their hunting and nomadic lifestyle, but also raiding, horse stealing, slavery, etc.

Aspects of the European Enlightenment caused some to question the legitimacy of conquests of land, and forced "resettlement" of most tribes. Such considerations are unique to the USA and Canada, as nearly all other peoples/nations conquer lands and peoples if they are capable. This is a good thing, mostly, that civilized people question wars of conquest, and are revolted by genocide.

I really enjoyed the story. However, I wondered what power would have dominated North America.

The British followed a comparatively enlightened policy in Canada, mostly because they were trying to contain the USA with the minimum cost. The British were stretched beyond thin with their colonies in India, Africa, and elsewhere, as we as adventures and misadventures in China, Afghanistan, elsewhere in Asia and across the globe.

Read about how Spain, Belgium, Germany, Japan, etc. treated the people they conquered in their colonies across the globe.

helmut_meukel ๐Ÿšซ

@7dreams

All Howard Faxon stories have gone behind the paywall,

I had downloaded all (I think) of his stories back then and started reading.
Because I didn't remember the title "Remittance Man" I just checked and found I'd read only 31 stories and still 65 to go. Remittance Man is one of them.

I think I'll start again to read his stories and put others I intended to read on the backburner.

HM.

Replies:   chrisl
chrisl ๐Ÿšซ

@helmut_meukel

"Remittance Man" is also one of my favourites, I hope you enjoy it, if you do, may I recommend another first nations story "Adopted Family" current timeline and very bittersweet.
If you are a fan of Marion Zimmer Bradley his Darkover Fanfic are amongst the best "A New Matrix" "Cleaning Up" "Laran Legacy" and "The Wild Child"

Back to Top

 

WARNING! ADULT CONTENT...

Storiesonline is for adult entertainment only. By accessing this site you declare that you are of legal age and that you agree with our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.


Log In