History Literature / FireOnTheMountain

* AlternateTimeline: From July 4, 1859 onwards; when the Harper's Ferry raid and its aftermath go very differently than they did in reality.

%%* AlternateTimeline: From July 4, 1859 onwards.

* AlternateTimeline: From July 4, 1859 onwards.

* DifferentStatesOfAmerica and DividedStatesOfAmerica: The 1859 United States is split up into Nova Africa across the south from the Atlantic coast to New Orleans and the remnant United States in the north as far west as Chicago. Texas, New Mexico and Arizona (both then the New Mexico Territory), and California are reclaimed by Mexico. The remainder of the current real continental USA is governed by several different Native American nations. In the alternate 1940s, the United States was replaced by a socialist state after another revolution.

* MexicoCalledTheyWantTexasBack: And also New Mexico, Arizona, and California.

* SlidingScaleOfAlternateHistoryPlausibility: A Hard/Soft mix.

* ShowWithinAShow: In reality; ''John Brown's Body'' was a Union marching song in the Civil War that has remained popular in various versions in the United States. In this timeline, ''John Brown's Body'' is a white nationalist AlternateHistory novel published in the United States before the Second Revolutionary War. It imagines a world where Brown and Tubman failed, Brown was hanged, and Lincoln became president. It closely resembles real history through the mid-1900s. We never learn how it ends.

* MexicoCalledTheyWantTexasBack: And also Arizona and California.

* DifferentStatesOfAmerica and DividedStatesOfAmerica: The 1859 United States is split up into Nova Africa across the south from the Atlantic coast to New Orleans and the remnant United States in the north as far west as Chicago. Texas, Arizona, and California are reclaimed by Mexico. The remainder of the current real continental USA is governed by several different Native American nations. In the alternate 1940s, the United States was replaced by a socialist state after another revolution.

* InSpiteOfANail: In real July 1959, the first Australopithecus remains were excavated at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania. In alternate July 1959; before her visit to Harpers Ferry, Yasmin Abraham was participating in the excavation of Australopithecus remains at Olduvai Gorge. This at least allowed Bisson to describe the project realistically.

* InSpiteOfANail: In real July 1959, the first Australopithecus remains were excavated at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania. In alternate July 1959; before her visit to Harpers Ferry, Yasmin Abraham was participating in the excavation of Australopithecus remains at Olduvai Gorge.

* BalkanizeMe: Featured for the United States and mentioned for Canada with the separation of Quebec and for the United Kingdom with Irish independence in the 1880s. Mexico gets the reverse treatment, regaining territory that the United States had claimed.

* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: Abraham Lincoln never ran for president and became a fighter trying to prevent Nova Africa's independence; wanting to preserve the union of the United States over any opposition he had to slavery.

* RichardNixonTheUsedCarSalesman: Abraham Lincoln is remembered as a former Whig Congressman who tried and failed to reunite Nova Africa with the United States. Karl Marx did not write any of the books he wrote in reality after 1859, but was a prominent foreign supporter of Nova Africa. None of the socialists we encounter are communists or Marxists.

* PresentAbsence: Despite being their raid being the focal point of the divergence from our timeline, Brown and Tubman both only show up briefly in the story and Bisson had characters paraphrase their words rather than giving them dialogue. Averted with Frederick Douglass, the first president of Nova Africa, who gives an extended speech describing his support for Brown and Tubman and convincing northern abolitionists - black and white - to join them.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Bisson covered quite a bit of real immediately-antebellum United States history; but some details are incorrect. For example; he has barbed wire fences being deployed in the United States around his point of divergence, when in reality barbed wire was only just being invented in France and was not widely used in America until the 1870s.

In this timeline; General Harriet Tubman joined with John Brown to lead the raid on July 4, 1859. It was successful and sparked a slave revolt in the American south that established the independent socialist state of Nova Africa. The story is set in 1959; with the protagonist Yasmin Abraham visiting Harpers Ferry and the surrounding area. Flashbacks in the form of a series of letters by Yasmin's great-grandfather Abraham, who escaped slavery who fight with Brown and eventually became a physician, and his mentor, an abolitionist doctor named Thomas Hunter, form the rest of the book and detail the divergence from reality.

In this timeline; General Harriet Tubman joined with John Brown to lead the raid on July 4, 1859. It was successful and sparked a slave revolt in the American south that established the independent socialist state of Nova Africa. The story is set in 1959; with the protagonist Yasmin Abraham visiting Harpers Ferry and the surrounding area. Flashbacks in the form of a series of letters by Yasmin's great-grandfather Abraham, who escaped slavery to who fight with Brown and eventually became a physician, and his mentor, an abolitionist doctor named Thomas Hunter, form the rest of the book and detail the divergence from reality.

* CoolCar: In alternate 1959, Yasmin drives a hydrogen-fueled car with magnetic bearings. Played with when it keeps breaking down and we learn that hydrogen burners are being phased out in favor of more reliable electric vehicles.

* ElvisLives: Played with. We do not encounter counterparts of any other real people born after 1859; but a hundred years after Tubman and Brown's raid, the Yasmin encounters a gas station mechanic and motoring enthusiast named Elvis Presley.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Bisson covered quite a bit of real immediately-antebellum United States history; but some details are incorrect. For example; he has barbed wire fences being deployed in the United States in early 1860, when barbed wire had then only just been invented in France and was not widely used in America until the 1870s.

* ShowWithinAShow: In reality; ''John Brown's Body'' was a Union marching song in the Civil War that has remained popular in various versions in the United States. In this timeline, ''John Brown's Body'' is a white nationalist AlternateHistory novel published in the United States before the Second Revolutionary War. It imagines where Brown and Tubman failed and Brown was hanged. It closely resembles real history through the mid-1900s. We never learn how it ends.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Bisson covered quite a bit of real immediately-antebellum United States history; but some details are incorrect. For example; he has barbed wire fences being deployed in the United States in early 1860, when it had then only just been invented in France and was not widely used in America until the 1870s.

* MercyKill: John Brown is shot in the head during a battle and survives, but is in agony and will not recover. Harriet Tubman and Brown's other commanders agree to have Hunter and Abraham give him an overdose to end his suffering. General Tubman takes over leadership of Nova Africa's Army Of The North Star.

* MultinationalTeam: In the alternate 1860, Thomas Hunter organizes with an international community of socialists and others to support Brown, Tubman, and Nova Africa. In the alternate 1959, the Pan African Space Program includes North American nations including Nova Africa and is launching a series of human missions to Mars.
* PointOfDivergence: Brown and Tubman's raid on Harper's Ferry on July 4, 1859. In reality; Harriet Tubman was ill and did not take John Brown's invitation to participate in the raid, which was delayed from July to October. In this timeline, Tubman did not get sick and her leadership was crucial to the raid and the success of Brown's army.
* PresentAbsence: Despite being the focal point of the divergence from our timeline, Tubman and Brown both only show up briefly in the story and Bisson only gives words from them secondhand. Averted with Frederick Douglass, the first president of Nova Africa, who gives an extended speech describing his support for Brown and Tubman and convincing northern abolitionists - black and white - to join them.