Black Chamber is set in a timeline where William Howard Taft, then President of the United States, dies of a heart attack before he could be nominated again as the Republican presidential candidate in the 1912 election. With Taft gone, the Republicans have no choice but to nominate Theodore Roosevelt, former American president who in our timeline ran under the Progressive Party in 1912 after he failed to secure the Republican nomination. In this timeline, however, Roosevelt gets the nomination, defeats Woodrow Wilson, changes the name of the Republicans to the Progressive Republicans and sets about driving America out of its 19th century attitudes as soon as possible.
Fast forward to 1916 and President Roosevelt's reforms have revolutionized the country. New possibilities have been opened for women and POCs, while industrial and technological development is encouraged by the federal government, which sits on any robber barons or traditionalists who might try to stymie change. Mexico has also been invaded in response to a raid by Pancho Villa and is now a protectorate of the United States, which has to deal with an insurgency against their rule there. Meanwhile, the Great War rages in Europe, but Germany is doing a tad better than they did in our timeline, having managed to capture Verdun. Nevertheless, their unrestricted submarine warfare has angered President Roosevelt and it is only a matter of when America will enter the war on the side of the Entente.
As preparation for this, our hero, Luz O'Malley Aróstegui, is tasked with a secret mission that will take her to the heart of Germany. Posing as a Mexican insurgent willing to help the Germans fight America, she meets with a German agent who takes her to the middle of Saxony where she witnesses a weapons test that can finally break the stalemate on the Western Front...and make America think twice before challenging the coming Pax Germanica.
Black Chamber was an enjoyable read...but it had issues. Admittedly I found the setting to be fascinating. Theodore Roosevelt ranks in my top 5 favorite American presidents and seeing what he might have done had he won his third term made for an interesting thought experiment. I especially liked how Roosevelt worked hard to chip away at the laws that kept women and POCs down, which is an optimistic take on the early 20th century that was refreshing to read. Furthermore, I never felt bored during the less action packed scenes of the novel, which is a plus when it comes to the spy genre and me.
That said, a lot of Stirling
Also I found the idea that Mexico could be subjugated so easily in just a couple of years to be a little hard to believe. The insurgency is described as almost dead by the start of Black Chamber, which is surprising considering the Philippines put up more of a fight in our timeline when the United States tried to incorporate them.
That all being said, Black Chamber is still a good book in my opinion and I am interested in seeing where Stirling is taking the story. Not to spoil anything, but Stirling seems to be trying to take the geopolitical situation of 1940s Europe and transplant it a couple decades ahead of schedule. Granted the Kaiser's Germany is not Nazi Germany, but there are a lot of hints through the book that we are going to see World War II fought with the personalities and weapons of an earlier generation...and that could be cool to read about.
