Category Archives: Mike Resnick

Mini Review: Red Chapel

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Red Chapel
by Mike Resnick

While visiting England in the fall of 1888, a young Theodore Roosevelt assists Scotland Yard in the effort to capture Jack the Ripper. As the streets of Whitechapel become bloodier with each murder, Teddy’s American brand of investigative consultancy shines light into the darkness of the world’s most famous unsolved mystery.

Red Chapel is short story that was originally published in Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine. I downloaded it in ebook form from Fictionwise. At $1.29 it was appropriately priced. I enjoyed the story, of course as I mentioned before I love any alternate history with TR. TR meets Jack the Ripper– a must read. The story was pretty simple– no surprises, you could say even a bit on the predictable side. That being said, the plot worked and there were no holes in it– something that is more difficult to pull-off in alternate history books than perhaps any other genre. It was well-written and TR was excellently represented. I would recommend this story to anyone interested in TR or AH.

Redchapel – A Review

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Red Chapel
by Mike Resnick
2003

Available as an eBook only.

$1.29 at Fictionwise.com in multiple formats.
$1.03 at Amazon.com for Kindle only.

Redchapel is an alternate history story that proposes that young Theodore Roosevelt, prior to the Spanish-American war but after his ranching days in the Dakotas, visits London in time to take on the murder mystery of all time– Jack the Ripper. This novella has been nominated for several awards, including the prestigious Hugo Award.

Redchapel is descriptive, and well-paced. It is easy to visualize the foggy streets of Whitechapel as London bobbies, blowing their whistles, chase after Saucy Jack. The British characters were well-written and believable and the plot, though not overly complex, made sense. Even more important to me was that Theodore Roosevelt was done well. I’ve read numerous biographies and several of Roosevelt’s own books, including Letters to his Children, and while many writers get a passable Roosevelt, few hit him as dead on as Resnick. Of course this is a young Roosevelt, not quite as complex as he might have been later in life. But still, nicely done.

I enjoyed this story, though it didn’t last long. Be aware. At only 11,624 words, this is a single day’s read– a couple of days if you only read on the train. On the plus side, Resnick has at least one more Roosevelt alternate history.