The Kite and the Coin Toss

by Ron Swan

Overview

In an event coined The Signers' Day of Reckoning, Benjamin Franklin swings from a noose while his son, William, watches. Benjamin and his fellow rebellion leaders meet their ends on July 2, 1782, the sixth anniversary of the ratification of their treasonous declaration. Over two hundred years later in a province formally known as Pennsylvania, Joshua Franks works as a scientist in a royally sanctioned lab with a lofty goal to use lightning as an alternative energy source to illuminate the villages that stand in destitute, dark contrast to the royal cities they surround and support. While attending a college history class, Joshua soon learns what the government allows to be taught surrounding the failed treasonous revolt. But everything changes on his twenty-first birthday when his parents pass on their most secret and prized possessions, leading Joshua to learn the shocking truth that he is a descendent of Mr. Franklin, and that he may be the only person with an opportunity to complete the task his forefather and fellow revolutionaries started so long ago. In this suspenseful historical tale, a young man is gifted his family's greatest secret on his twenty-first birthday that closes the time loop on a mystery over two centuries old.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781663217738
Publisher:	iUniverse, Incorporated
Publication date:	02/26/2021
Pages:	334
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.75(d)

Editorial Reviews

2021-08-18
In this SF-infused novel, a young scientist in an alternate totalitarian world may have discovered a way to change history.

Joshua Franks, a college student and scientist, lives in George’s Cross. More than two centuries ago, this royal city was known as Philadelphia. It was here, in the late 1700s, that the British army hanged a group of rebels called “the Signers”—men like George Washington and Benjamin Franklin who declared their freedom with the Declaration of Independence. By 2021, the British Empire has conquered much of the world. Joshua works in a “lightning lab,” where scientists have attempted to harness the power of lightning for a decade. One day, he has a breakthrough, stumbling on a potential method of sending a message to the past. When the merciless ruler King George VII gets wind of the discovery, he forces Joshua to repeat the dangerous experiment. Around the same time, Joshua learns he’s a descendant of Franklin’s, and his parents gift him the inventor’s journals. With the benefit of hindsight, Joshua may be able to help the Signers, though this will mean crossing the powerful king. Swan provides a captivating alternative history. Big Ben, for example, is in George’s Cross, the royal lineage’s home for centuries. The author wisely simplifies the globe-spanning narrative by focusing on the former Philadelphia and merely hinting at countries, like China, that haven’t succumbed to Britain’s “ever-expanding empire.” Well-developed characters further mold this fictional world; Joshua, in a mandatory academy program since he was 3 years old, sees his parents only once a year on his birthday. The author’s language is often playful, mostly courtesy of Joshua’s eccentric pal Emerson Flanders, who (affectionately) calls him “Joshu-blah” or “Joshu-arse.” The plot, though predictable, boasts delightful SF turns and an ending open to readers’ interpretations.

An engrossing political tale with an intriguing what-if scenario.

Kirkus Reviews