The Year the Cloud Fell: An Alternate History

The Year the Cloud Fell is the first novel in the Fallen Cloud fantasy series. It is an alternate timeline story in which the Nebraska Sea never fully retreated over the past 65 million years. This allowed dinosaurs of all kinds to acclimate to the changing conditions until modern times. Furthermore, some of these dinosaurs were tamed by the natives and used as riding animals.In this novel, George Armstrong Custer, Junior, is the son of the US President, a Captain in the US Army Engineers, and the commander of the experimental dirigible Abraham Lincoln. On its maiden flight, the dirigible is caught by a thunderstorm while flying over the Unorganized Territory and forced down. There George is nursed by Speaks While Leaving, a Cheyenne woman who has true visions, and then captured by a patrol led by Storm Arriving. George is offered the name One Who Flies and is taken back to the encampment, where he is exposed to Cheyenne ways. He tries to escape, but runs into a patrol, falls off his mount, and lands on his own knife. As he recovers, he makes friends among the Cheyenne, Storm Arriving and Speaks While Leaving among others, but one of his closest is Laughs Like A Woman, a Contrary, a subject of the Thunder Beings wrath and scrutiny. Eventually, George begins to see the errors in the white man's view of the Cheyenne and to regret the hurts done to them. To stop the killing, he joins with his new friends to ride coup on the chief of the Horse People, his father.This novel is billed as science fiction, but is really a fantasy. First, it explicitly involves direct intervention and contact with the Thunder Beings of Cheyenne legends. Second, it concerns a history that is basically unchanged until the United States collides with the Cheyenne, despite the major geological deviance of the Nebraska Sea; just the effects on world wide weather over 65 million years should be enough to change the course of European history, much less the direct effects upon the Spanish, French and English explorers. The chances of George Armstrong Custer fighting in a Civil War in the United States of America while North America still has such a geological feature, and dinosaurs as well, is extremely small. Maybe about as small as all the air around someone's head withdrawing to leave a vacuum; possible but not very likely.This novel probably should be classified as a native fantasy. However, with sufficient suspension of disbelief, this misclassification does not detract from the quality of writing, for the plot is interesting and the characterization is very well done. Overall, it is a pleasure to read. Recommended to anyone who enjoys adventure and exotic cultures in a fantasy setting.

Kurt Giambastiani has introduced me to a whole new reading experience. I read from two to eight books a month, and have done for years, but this is my first alternate history. I wondered if I could accept the idea of 19th century dinasaurs trained and ridden by the Cheyenne. I quickly did, and I loved everything about THE YEAR THE CLOUD FELL. I'm going to read it again.Giambastiani's characters are extremely well developed. I especially appreciated the women in his book. His insight into and his understanding of the female psyche is evident in the way he has created women who think and behave as true women. He has peopled THE YEAR THE CLOUD FELL with real and very believable characters and given them complex relationships that are completely human. I also apppreciate very much his knowledge, use, and explanation of the Cheyenne language and culture.The main character, George Armstrong Custer, Jr., a captain and engineer in the U.S. Army, is well defined as a man determined to be his own man, out of the shadow of his army-hero-become-president father. In an effort to chart the locations of the government's Cheyenne enemies, under his father's orders, he flies an experimental dirigible over their territory. The dirigible is brought down by a thunder storm, and Custer is taken prisoner by the Cheyenne. Thus begins his great adventure. Kurt Giambastiani's THE YEAR THE CLOUD FELL is an exciting story. Read and enjoy. It would also make a great action film. The visual effects would be phenominal.

The Year The Cloud Fell is a well done work of alternate history. I'm new to the genre but I'm glad this book was my introduction. It paints a hopeful portrait of an America that could have been. After some initial disorientation due to the historical shifts (not the least of which is the appearance of dinosaurs - which are a seamless part of the landscape and not used to 'dress up' the story)I found myself easing comfortably into the life of the Cheyenne. These are the same native Americans depicted in the film 'Little Big Man' (one of my absolute favorite movies)and it was a pleasure to get to know them again through the eyes and mind of this obviously talented author. The story is riveting and I found myself struggling to choose sides - a mark of good fiction if you ask me. I look forward to the next bit of writing from Mr. Giambastiani.

THE YEAR THE CLOUD FELL is one of those books that expands the definition of alternate history. Like Stirling's Nantucket series, Giambastiani goes beyond the simple "Point of Diversion" plot and puts a fascinating story into an historical setting. His imagined America where dinosaurs still live and have been domesticated by the Cheyenne provides a fascinating basis for his novel, and one that I enjoyed a great deal.Giambastiani's characters are deeply motivated and finely drawn. He has avoided the white hat / black hat trap so common among other works set in this period. Every character has depth. President George A. Custer is not the mindless dolt or equally mindless villain of movies and westerns. He is understandable as a father and as a president in Expansionist America. His son, George, Jr., is equally understandable as the son of a very famous man, struggling to make a name for himself but faced with a decision that might destroy his chances. Giambastiani's Cheyenne characters are just as powerfully crafted. Caught in a changing world and faced with a formidable enemy, they work hard to find a solution without compromising their traditions. Giambastiani creates complex relationships that pull you through the story, wanting to know what will happen next. The author's detailed realism makes it all come alive on the page.This is more than just another "what if so-and-so won the war" thought experiment, and frankly, I found it a refreshing change. This is a wonderfully human story with terrific action and a spellbinding finale. I hope to see more from this author, and soon!

My wife and I both found this a great read. Neither of us could put it down once we started it! We didn't question for a minute the world that the author created. Giambastiani's narration is so descriptive that I felt as if I was there with young George Custer, Jr., as he journeyed through a land that was very different, but also completely familiar. Giambastiani has created an alternate America in the late 1800s where American Indians share the Great Plains with, and even domesticate, the dinosaurs of a long-gone age. What would America be like, had this really happened? Read this book and find out!