Rating: 
Summary: ok, so Publishers Weekly didn't like Smith's politics
Review: "The serpent in this Eden is a statist plot to generate so much fear of terrorism by cross-temporal immigrants that people will demand a (gasp!) government."Publishers Weekly is right, of course. Nobody is claiming the government should have more power after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. There are no military tribunals for suspected terrorists. There is no new bureaucracy for "Homeland Security". Nobody is calling for a National ID. That, and Smith is the only person on the face of the Earth who ever wrote a fictional account of a conspiracy to grab political power. It was a fun read (more fun if you get the inside jokes) and worth your time if you don't consider it blasphemy against the State (or don't mind blasphemy against the State).
Rating:
Summary: ok, so Publishers Weekly didn't like Smith's politics
Review: "The serpent in this Eden is a statist plot to generate so much fear of terrorism by cross-temporal immigrants that people will demand a (gasp!) government." Publishers Weekly is right, of course. Nobody is claiming the government should have more power after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. There are no military tribunals for suspected terrorists. There is no new bureaucracy for "Homeland Security". Nobody is calling for a National ID. That, and Smith is the only person on the face of the Earth who ever wrote a fictional account of a conspiracy to grab political power. It was a fun read (more fun if you get the inside jokes) and worth your time if you don't consider it blasphemy against the State (or don't mind blasphemy against the State).
Rating: 
Summary: This is not The Probability Broach
Review: ...The Probability Broach tells the story of Win Bear, a detective from Denver, who falls through a hole between universes, meets another version of himself and other interesting people, and saves the day for the good guys. It is very reminiscent of Beyond This Horizon, and other Heinlein stories, in both tone and politics, and the plot came right out of H. Beam Piper. Naturally I loved it and immediately bought every other Smith novel that I could find. The American Zone continues this story with Win settled in the house and business of his intercontinual doppleganger. He has married Clarissa MacDougall Olson, a woman straight out of the Lensman series and the sweetheart every red-blooded American male yearns to marry, and his only problem seems to be keeping his weight down. The novel starts with a bang, literally, as Greater LaPorte celebrates Independence Day. Win is watching the fireworks when a couple of potential clients show up to engage his services. Someone is smuggling videos across the universes that star their dopplegangers or have other actors in their roles. Since they are the local equivalents of Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, this intercontinual competition is cutting into their royalties. As Gable and Lombard are leaving, the sound and pressure wave of a huge explosion pass through. Someone has blown up the Old Endicott Building. And this is just the first in a series of manmade diasters. Who is using terrorist tactics against the North American Confederacy? At this point the explanations begin. Unfortunately, these backgrounders mostly involve talking heads and some extravagant claims are made for the libertarian philosophy. This pontification got in the way of the story over and over again. While enjoying political discussions and intrigued with the possibilities of libertarianism, I would rather be shown the ideas than be told. Heinlein did a much better job of weaving the ideology into the action. Even in Starship Troopers, which I consider his most political novel, he presented the philosophy as part of the daily life of the protaganist. Smith tries this approach, but the philosophy overwhelms the plot. The plot, however, is very weak. Win and his friends reckon that the only people who would gain from these terrorist acts are the political fringe groups avocating more government and successively visit the authoritarians (and their monarchist offshoots), the majoritarians, and the fascists. Meanwhile, Win keeps following leads to the video smugglers. And somebody keeps trying to kill him. After bumbling around, Win falls into the answers to both his case and the terrorist problems. We are treated to a few interesting treatises on guns, knives and technology throughout the story and meet a number of interesting and disgusting characters along the way. Nevertheless, the ending is just not as satisfying as I would expect. The book title refers to the section of town settled by incontinual immigrants who have not yet adapted to their new universe. The Hanging Judge is a restaurant in the middle of the American Zone where most of the political discussions and confrontations occur. The most effective presentations of the libertarian ideology in this book are shown by contrasting the actions and words of different immigrants. Some just want their governmental mommies and others want to be free of government controls... I am quite disappointed. However, the inside jokes -- e.g., Clarissa, Will Sanders -- and public jokes -- e.g., Buckley and Bennett Williams -- are funny.
Rating: 
Summary: WIN BEAR IS BACK AT LAST!!!!
Review: A new North American Confederacy novel at last. After a hiatus following THE GALLATIN DIVERGENCE, L. Neil Smith has finally returned to his most popular creation, the alternate world first visited over twenty years ago in his classic novel THE PROBABILITY BROACH. As fate would have it, THE AMERICAN ZONE deals specifically with how a truly free society would handle a spate of terrorist attacks. In the wake on 9-11, the issues LNS deals with are incredibly relevant for Americans today. All our favorite characters return, including Lucy Kropotkin and Will Sanders, plus numerous figures from our own world (or similiar realities) appear under different names. Half the fun is realizing which real-world public figure LNS is skewering under another name. As always, there's plenty of action, lots of laughs, and a fine mystery along with the libertarian philosophy. If you can stand to take your freedoms straight, with no chaser, this is the novel for you! Read and enjoy.
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Summary: Win, Lucy & Clarissa meet September 11, Confederacy style!
Review: Detective 'Win' Bear of _Probability Broach_ fame is back, this time tracking down terrorists who have bombed a building in Greater LaPorte, the capitol of alternate America (AKA the Confederacy). What's at stake? Not just bringing the bad guys to justice, but the very character of the Confederacy itself. Writing pre-9/11, Smith shows the Confederacy undergoing the same choice between liberty and security that we see today in America. And security in the form of more government can be very, very seductive.... If you'd like a wonderfully entertaining and thought-provoking look at an America that might have been, try this book. Packed with interesting ideas -- it even has a libertarian take on baseball. Warning! This is not for those who dislike the bracing smell of gunpowder, or the consequences of giving up legalistic 'control' over other people's behavior. I loved it!
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Summary: It's been a long time coming.
Review: El Neil has been working on this book for over six years (he read a synopsis of it to a convention audience in 1995) and the time he invested has paid off. The book is a wonderful read, presents a much more detailed view of his North American Confederacy, and explains how such a society would handle terrorist attacks without massive restrictions of the freedoms of its people. Some might call such a society a pipe dream - I say let's all light up and dream it into existence. Read this book, and sweet dreams to all.
Rating:
Summary: Dynamite sequal
Review: Ever since he crossed over from his polluted dying United States to this alternate Confederacy, detective Win Bear has been quite happy about his "plight". He never wants to go back to his birth world especially since he enjoys his work as the only detective in the area and he loves his wife.
However, terrorist activities killing thousands apparently caused by some of Win's peers, other crossers, have created a serpent in Eden. Bear knows he must stop this group before some founding fathers get together and form a government like the one he left behind that two centuries earlier destroyed his previous world.
THE AMERICAN ZONE might have played out better before 9/11, but in light of that debacle the theme looks weak because the international world is ignored as a threat. Understanding the Libertarian theory that entangling alliances causes much of the trouble including the 9/11 tragedy, most of the audience will still resent the premise that big government leads to big counter acts by terrorists. L. Neil Smith cleverly interweaves Libertarian sermons into his alternate American history tale that will be easier to follow if the audience reads THE PROBABILITY BROACH first as this story follows in sequence. This is a well-written alternate historical novel starring a wonderful hero, but then there is 9/11 to challenge the underlying axiom of Mr. Smith's basic premise. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: Talking heads and vengance served cold.
Review: I have read almost everything Smith has written, many of which I enjoyed, and I know several of those who he uses as templates for charachters from my days in his circle of friends. I read the book out of curiosity of how he would handle several of those people. I admit a certain perverse pleasure over several of his characterizations of popular figures but the constant drone of his main characters turned talking heads and the petty way he wrote about those he has personal issues with turned me off. I plowed through to the end just to see who else he was going to attack, and to see if I was included in this list. I was sad to find the characters of Win Bear, Lucy, Will and Clarissa turned into talking heads for his personal disputes with those who disagree with him. I sadly must rate this as one of Smiths lesser books and found myself disapointed after such a long wait between novels.
Rating:
Summary: libertarian pipe dream
Review: I really did not like this book. I am a libertarian, but I could never under any circumstances see any thing that was written come to pass. I know its a fantasy, but it was so unrealistic and so poorly written. Besides the fantasy, the detective work was boring. It's another book that has the detective floundering around only to have the case dropped in his lap nice and tidy. It seems like he wrote this book in one sitting, probably just after Sept 11. Boring and way over the top, a must not read. And its a shame because I have liked his books in the past.
Rating:
Summary: Great sequal!
Review: If you are like me you find a good series but you catch a book in the middle and nothing makes sense. This is not that book. If for some reason you read this book first there is enough backstory filled in that it all makes sense.
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