AGAINST THE MACHINE: LUDDITES (research samples)
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“If we don’t manage these machines and ourselves who make them, if we don’t marry what we make with who we are … then we’ll all become nowt but slaves!”
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English mill-masters develop a new factory system acquiring machines to replace men. A young worker leads Luddite rebels attacking mills and smashing machines. With increased assaults and even murder North England feels the grip of terrorism. Government agents attempt to suppress the rebellion. In 1812 there are more British troops in North England than fighting Napoleon. Against the Machine: Luddites relates the story of the diverse characters caught in this conflict. It unveils the exploitation which marked the Industrial Revolution, reflecting our own Technological Revolution: that of the 21st Century. |
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Reviews for "Against the Machine: Luddites"
Quick Reviews from Goodreads:
James D. A. Terry Author
Against the Machine: Luddites and Against the Machine Manifesto, when read together, forge a compelling magnum opus of quantum entanglement not only providing the historical support for each other but presenting a disturbing portrait of the human condition.
Nat Ward: Awesome read! It is a splendid story that I loved reading! I cannot wait to read the rest of the trilogy. I highly suggest this story to everyone.
Madalyne Dickinson: This book was insane! I read this all in the same day - couldn't put it down. Each and every chapter kept me so involved, wanting more and needing to find out the rest. The ending shocked me. It was one of those books that sent you into panic and on the edge of your seat!
Chaim Toy: Some very amiable characters. I really liked the main characters. The plot is gripping as well.
Russ Howe: Great read! The characters were something else altogether! The pressure, the build up, the drama... I loved it! Can't wait for more. Great job!
James D. A. Terry Author
Against the Machine: Luddites and Against the Machine Manifesto, when read together, forge a compelling magnum opus of quantum entanglement not only providing the historical support for each other but presenting a disturbing portrait of the human condition.
Nat Ward: Awesome read! It is a splendid story that I loved reading! I cannot wait to read the rest of the trilogy. I highly suggest this story to everyone.
Madalyne Dickinson: This book was insane! I read this all in the same day - couldn't put it down. Each and every chapter kept me so involved, wanting more and needing to find out the rest. The ending shocked me. It was one of those books that sent you into panic and on the edge of your seat!
Chaim Toy: Some very amiable characters. I really liked the main characters. The plot is gripping as well.
Russ Howe: Great read! The characters were something else altogether! The pressure, the build up, the drama... I loved it! Can't wait for more. Great job!
by David Reyes, The Book Commentary
"Van Norman has just established himself as one of the great storytellers in the historical genre, crafting a novel that is rich in history and culture and that absorbs the reader right from the very first sentence...."
Against the Machine: Luddites by Brian Van Norman is one of the novels I have read twice before reviewing, because of the beauty of the prose, the wonderful depiction of the social setting with its nuanced realities, and the skillful handling of characters.
The story takes readers to a historical setting in northern Great Britain during the Napoleonic Wars. Readers are introduced to a group of have-nots whose livelihood is gradually taken away from them by the industrial revolution that has replaced the work of human hands with machines. The luddites won’t have any of that, so they set out to destroy the machines. It’s a new war, and how far will it take them?
The narrative features a magnetic protagonist, the twenty-two-year old George Mellor, whose father disappeared from Huddersfield many years ago, leaving the family penniless. George has had to make his own way, “taking ship as a cabin boy advancing to sailor for seven years, until he’d returned to find his mother, Mathilda, remarried to Wood.” He is a natural born leader who possesses experience beyond his years and an almost carnal charisma.
This young man, together with his peers, Big Will Thorp, Thomas Smith, and Sam ignites a revolution that is about to disrupt society’s machinery. This novel narrates the story of the luddites and the havoc they cause to mill-masters who procure more machines to replace human labor. It is an attack on a system and on progress, for progress doesn’t advance everyone. Follow each character as they evolve through the chaotic atmosphere, and can the British troops stop the madness and the terror?
Brian Van Norman has just established himself as one of the great storytellers in the historical genre, crafting a novel that is rich in history and culture and that absorbs the reader right from the very first sentence: “It was snowing indoors.” His gift for character and plot sets this novel apart. The prose is flawless and filled with wonderful descriptions. There is an unalloyed quirkiness that entices the reader and while the characters are anti-revolutionary, they are so skillfully developed that it is hard to not share their sympathy, even in their worst moments. Against the Machine: Luddites is a spellbinding historical novel with unforgettable characters.
"Van Norman has just established himself as one of the great storytellers in the historical genre, crafting a novel that is rich in history and culture and that absorbs the reader right from the very first sentence...."
Against the Machine: Luddites by Brian Van Norman is one of the novels I have read twice before reviewing, because of the beauty of the prose, the wonderful depiction of the social setting with its nuanced realities, and the skillful handling of characters.
The story takes readers to a historical setting in northern Great Britain during the Napoleonic Wars. Readers are introduced to a group of have-nots whose livelihood is gradually taken away from them by the industrial revolution that has replaced the work of human hands with machines. The luddites won’t have any of that, so they set out to destroy the machines. It’s a new war, and how far will it take them?
The narrative features a magnetic protagonist, the twenty-two-year old George Mellor, whose father disappeared from Huddersfield many years ago, leaving the family penniless. George has had to make his own way, “taking ship as a cabin boy advancing to sailor for seven years, until he’d returned to find his mother, Mathilda, remarried to Wood.” He is a natural born leader who possesses experience beyond his years and an almost carnal charisma.
This young man, together with his peers, Big Will Thorp, Thomas Smith, and Sam ignites a revolution that is about to disrupt society’s machinery. This novel narrates the story of the luddites and the havoc they cause to mill-masters who procure more machines to replace human labor. It is an attack on a system and on progress, for progress doesn’t advance everyone. Follow each character as they evolve through the chaotic atmosphere, and can the British troops stop the madness and the terror?
Brian Van Norman has just established himself as one of the great storytellers in the historical genre, crafting a novel that is rich in history and culture and that absorbs the reader right from the very first sentence: “It was snowing indoors.” His gift for character and plot sets this novel apart. The prose is flawless and filled with wonderful descriptions. There is an unalloyed quirkiness that entices the reader and while the characters are anti-revolutionary, they are so skillfully developed that it is hard to not share their sympathy, even in their worst moments. Against the Machine: Luddites is a spellbinding historical novel with unforgettable characters.
by Will Fawley, Prairie Fire, A Canadian Magazine of New Writing
"This novel is a history, one that provides a window into the past. But it is also relevant to today. The themes of revolution and machines are apt for our times. It is this parallel between the present and the past that makes Against the Machines: Luddites a must-read in 2020."
Against the Machine: Luddites is Brian Van Norman’s third novel, and is a work of historical fiction that takes place in northern England at the beginning of the industrial revolution. The book follows the birth and progression of the Luddite movement, a revolution of workers who protested the adoption of machines which ultimately threatened their jobs in factories and mills.
Van Norman uses a well-researched historical setting to tell a tale that not only teaches us about the past, but offers a window into the struggles we face today with work, class, and the very real automation of our jobs. Van Norman paints a vivid picture of the dilemma: “To keep their fast waning trade, the mill owners sought technological answers. They began to employ machines to do the work of men: gig-mills, knitting frames, power looms and shear frames, all driven by water from streams in north England’s vales. So families who had spent generations working the wool lost their livelihoods and fell into penury.” (2)
The book opens with a fourteen-year-old named Ned Lud reaching a breaking point. Frustrated with how he’s treated as a mill worker, he takes a hammer to the machines. This single act sparked a flame that had been growing in the workers, and sent a powerful message that soon had people referring to those who would fight the machine as Luddites. While the plot begins with a singular event, the tension quickly grows into a sweeping novel that leads into full-blown revolution.
Van Norman did thorough research, and presents historical details in a modern, engaging way that makes the setting believable and absorbing. He also uses fiction effectively to fill the novel with action and intrigue. There are spies, angry mobs, deception, betrayal, murder, revenge, assassination, interrogation, torture, and full scale battles. There is always some new situation escalating, and new character dynamics evolving, with twists and revelations in nearly every chapter.
The cast of characters is expansive, but largely focuses on the workers who resolve to fight against the machine. They are first introduced in John Wood’s shop, where a group of Luddites are meeting. Another John, John Buckworth, takes an oath to join a Brotherhood of workers who want to fight against the machines. Buckworth is uncertain about joining the group, but is soon convinced by his wife, Mary Buckworth, who is the only woman in the group. Her father owned a mill, so she knows the business and knows how to navigate the world of both factory workers and owners. Mary is a strong, fully-developed character who is refreshing amongst the boys’ club cast of the Brotherhood.
Over time, the Brotherhood gets more and more desperate, and begins manipulating people to join. What begins as an honest frustration and protest quickly escalates, leading to pre-meditated violence. The novel raises many questions about how people make their voices heard, and what is the right way to go about protest. Some turn to words, while others resort to violence in an effort to be acknowledged.
Van Norman does a great job of showing us this complex struggle, in which there really is no right answer. The author paints a full picture of life in northern England at the time, and all of the many groups of people affected by early machines. We meet not only factory workers, but the other side as well, the owners, and even a character responsible for delivering the machines to the mills. This complexity makes the political and social tension real, as no one singular person is right or wrong, and all of them are just trying to live their lives against the backdrop of revolution.
This multifaceted approach to the issues of the novel is what makes it so powerful, and is most evident in John Buckworth, because he is deeply conflicted and tries to see things from both sides. “‘You must examine … both sides … before you stoop to violence,’ Buckworth said… ‘These machines might become a blessing for you if society were different. There is an international economy which reaches far beyond our Yorkshire. These machines will allow us to join that economy, increase our trade. The machinery itself is not evil. Think how efficiently it works, how it does the most arduous part of a workman’s task!’” (8)
Midway through the novel, it becomes clear that this book is more than a simple history, and is deeply introspective as well. Mary Buckworth wonders, “Machines. Is that all we are? Machines to be worked then discarded?” (166). She seems to be getting at the central theme of the novel—humans against the machine. On the surface, the Luddites are fighting against the machines, but really the machines are just things. The people are really just fighting each other—the machinations of society—over resources, money, and justice.
There is an eerie moment where the book becomes almost too self-aware, and one of the characters muses something of a prophecy. “Someday we’ll have machines doing all our work for us. We’ll think the machines so important we can’t live without them! But what if they gain a mindfulness of their own. What if they learn t’ think?” (362)
This novel is a history, one that provides a window into the past. But it is also relevant to today. The themes of revolution and machines are apt for our times. This novel could easily be about robots taking our jobs in the twenty-first century, and the frustration workers feel over the way they are treated and compensated. It is this parallel between the present and the past that makes Against the Machines: Luddites a must-read in 2020.
Van Norman uses a well-researched historical setting to tell a tale that not only teaches us about the past, but offers a window into the struggles we face today with work, class, and the very real automation of our jobs. Van Norman paints a vivid picture of the dilemma: “To keep their fast waning trade, the mill owners sought technological answers. They began to employ machines to do the work of men: gig-mills, knitting frames, power looms and shear frames, all driven by water from streams in north England’s vales. So families who had spent generations working the wool lost their livelihoods and fell into penury.” (2)
The book opens with a fourteen-year-old named Ned Lud reaching a breaking point. Frustrated with how he’s treated as a mill worker, he takes a hammer to the machines. This single act sparked a flame that had been growing in the workers, and sent a powerful message that soon had people referring to those who would fight the machine as Luddites. While the plot begins with a singular event, the tension quickly grows into a sweeping novel that leads into full-blown revolution.
Van Norman did thorough research, and presents historical details in a modern, engaging way that makes the setting believable and absorbing. He also uses fiction effectively to fill the novel with action and intrigue. There are spies, angry mobs, deception, betrayal, murder, revenge, assassination, interrogation, torture, and full scale battles. There is always some new situation escalating, and new character dynamics evolving, with twists and revelations in nearly every chapter.
The cast of characters is expansive, but largely focuses on the workers who resolve to fight against the machine. They are first introduced in John Wood’s shop, where a group of Luddites are meeting. Another John, John Buckworth, takes an oath to join a Brotherhood of workers who want to fight against the machines. Buckworth is uncertain about joining the group, but is soon convinced by his wife, Mary Buckworth, who is the only woman in the group. Her father owned a mill, so she knows the business and knows how to navigate the world of both factory workers and owners. Mary is a strong, fully-developed character who is refreshing amongst the boys’ club cast of the Brotherhood.
Over time, the Brotherhood gets more and more desperate, and begins manipulating people to join. What begins as an honest frustration and protest quickly escalates, leading to pre-meditated violence. The novel raises many questions about how people make their voices heard, and what is the right way to go about protest. Some turn to words, while others resort to violence in an effort to be acknowledged.
Van Norman does a great job of showing us this complex struggle, in which there really is no right answer. The author paints a full picture of life in northern England at the time, and all of the many groups of people affected by early machines. We meet not only factory workers, but the other side as well, the owners, and even a character responsible for delivering the machines to the mills. This complexity makes the political and social tension real, as no one singular person is right or wrong, and all of them are just trying to live their lives against the backdrop of revolution.
This multifaceted approach to the issues of the novel is what makes it so powerful, and is most evident in John Buckworth, because he is deeply conflicted and tries to see things from both sides. “‘You must examine … both sides … before you stoop to violence,’ Buckworth said… ‘These machines might become a blessing for you if society were different. There is an international economy which reaches far beyond our Yorkshire. These machines will allow us to join that economy, increase our trade. The machinery itself is not evil. Think how efficiently it works, how it does the most arduous part of a workman’s task!’” (8)
Midway through the novel, it becomes clear that this book is more than a simple history, and is deeply introspective as well. Mary Buckworth wonders, “Machines. Is that all we are? Machines to be worked then discarded?” (166). She seems to be getting at the central theme of the novel—humans against the machine. On the surface, the Luddites are fighting against the machines, but really the machines are just things. The people are really just fighting each other—the machinations of society—over resources, money, and justice.
There is an eerie moment where the book becomes almost too self-aware, and one of the characters muses something of a prophecy. “Someday we’ll have machines doing all our work for us. We’ll think the machines so important we can’t live without them! But what if they gain a mindfulness of their own. What if they learn t’ think?” (362)
This novel is a history, one that provides a window into the past. But it is also relevant to today. The themes of revolution and machines are apt for our times. This novel could easily be about robots taking our jobs in the twenty-first century, and the frustration workers feel over the way they are treated and compensated. It is this parallel between the present and the past that makes Against the Machines: Luddites a must-read in 2020.
by A.K. Hale https://www.amandahale.com
"...is not only a great read, it is an important book that does what historical fiction does best – shines the torch of a specific historical event on a parallel contemporary trend."
Brian Van Norman’s novel – Against the Machine: Luddites – is not only a great read, it is an important book that does what historical fiction does best – shines the torch of a specific historical event on a parallel contemporary trend. The Luddites protested the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution; today we have all our eggs in the basket of the Technological Revolution. The parallels are obvious, as is the inevitability of the outcome.
In muscular language, earthy and poetic, Van Norman evokes the beauty and harshness of the Yorkshire Moors in a manner vivid for any reader, but especially so for this reader who spent five years of her youth on those blustery damp Moors.
In the midst of a war with France, challenged by Napoleon Bonaparte, the British government found itself threatened by a civil war at home, sparked by the dilemma of man versus the machine, compounded by poverty, injustice, and class oppression.
Using the hooks of violence, murder, sex and romance, Van Norman captures and holds the reader in suspense by ending each chapter with a predictive flourish. The battles are personalized by a broad cast of characters, focussing on the young Luddite leader, George Mellor. A dramatic prologue posits the original Ned Lud as a boy who rebelled not so much against the machines he smashed with a sledge hammer, but against the inhumanity of his employers. Machines are neutral, as is technology. It is all about how we use them.
The dramatic irony of this rollicking, terrifying tale comes when Mellor, through damage of his spirit, is himself rendered heartless and mechanical. His lover, Mary Buckworth, “found it curious he could not recognize he’d become the same as the tyrants he cursed.” As the fugitive Mellor is pursued to his inevitable end, he experiences a series of revelations, realizing himself “caught inside history.”
Van Norman’s book is visionary in its scope, illuminating humanity’s eternal struggle with wars and ideologies, only to be tricked across the generations by ever more elusive forms of enslavement. One is left with a deeper understanding of Nietzsche’s theory of eternal recurrence.
The research is impeccable, the details fascinating. The true meaning of “terrorism” is demonstrated together with its techniques. This is educational movie material.
In muscular language, earthy and poetic, Van Norman evokes the beauty and harshness of the Yorkshire Moors in a manner vivid for any reader, but especially so for this reader who spent five years of her youth on those blustery damp Moors.
In the midst of a war with France, challenged by Napoleon Bonaparte, the British government found itself threatened by a civil war at home, sparked by the dilemma of man versus the machine, compounded by poverty, injustice, and class oppression.
Using the hooks of violence, murder, sex and romance, Van Norman captures and holds the reader in suspense by ending each chapter with a predictive flourish. The battles are personalized by a broad cast of characters, focussing on the young Luddite leader, George Mellor. A dramatic prologue posits the original Ned Lud as a boy who rebelled not so much against the machines he smashed with a sledge hammer, but against the inhumanity of his employers. Machines are neutral, as is technology. It is all about how we use them.
The dramatic irony of this rollicking, terrifying tale comes when Mellor, through damage of his spirit, is himself rendered heartless and mechanical. His lover, Mary Buckworth, “found it curious he could not recognize he’d become the same as the tyrants he cursed.” As the fugitive Mellor is pursued to his inevitable end, he experiences a series of revelations, realizing himself “caught inside history.”
Van Norman’s book is visionary in its scope, illuminating humanity’s eternal struggle with wars and ideologies, only to be tricked across the generations by ever more elusive forms of enslavement. One is left with a deeper understanding of Nietzsche’s theory of eternal recurrence.
The research is impeccable, the details fascinating. The true meaning of “terrorism” is demonstrated together with its techniques. This is educational movie material.
by Alan Brooke
Brooke, Alan & Lesley Kipling. Liberty or Death. Huddersfield Local Historical Society (1988)
"Jane Austen meets Quentin Tarantino..."
No book could be more timely. As concern grows daily about the impact of technology on the planet, Brian Van Norman traces the origins of the first organised resistance to machinery during the infancy of the Industrial Revolution in England. His evocation of the Luddite movement in its Yorkshire heartland is vivid and inspiring. The passing of an old way of life before the Juggernaut of economic ‘progress’ is portrayed through a convincing cast of characters aligned on both sides of what the writer accurately depicts as naked class war.
Although many of the participants left little, or no, record of their hopes and fears at the time, Van Norman imagines and fleshes out the personalities to bring to life a time of political and social crisis that raises many questions paralleled in today’s conflicts. What drives people to political violence? Why do those in power lack empathy with the sufferings of the oppressed? Why, turning a question from the last actual written words of the Luddite leader, George Mellor, is a human ‘soul not worth more than work or gold’?
Inevitably the account revolves around the involvement of Mellor in the main events of the tumultuous year of 1812, when resistance to the introduction of machinery in the cropping (cloth finishing) trade escalated into armed insurgency and assassination, centred on the Yorkshire textile town of Huddersfield. Is Mellor a ‘freedom fighter’ or a ‘terrorist’? The story describes Mellor’s dawning awareness of the brutalising effect of the fight against machines as he struggles to reassert his humanity, while an arch-opponent of the Luddites, the cleric Hammond Roberson, also fears that the conflict has turned him into a ‘Zealot’, a crusader, a ‘warrior priest’. The dehumanising effect of violence is sympathetically depicted in the internal torment of these two characters.
Although a product of the novelist’s art, the story follows closely the actual events and personalities that inspired it. The corpulent magistrate, Radcliffe; the haughty and ruthless, counter-guerrilla commander, Captain Raynes; the hard-nosed mill owner, Cartwright; the Machiavellian solicitor and spy-master, Lloyd – all might appear to be stereotypes, but are in fact based on the available evidence in contemporary accounts, often from their own correspondence. The Luddites themselves left little personal record, but nevertheless, with insight and empathy, Van Norman succeeds in representing their fears of a rapidly changing world beyond their control and the doomed path their attempted resistance has forced them along.
The personal emotions and political ideas are set in a context often described in vivid detail, recreating a picture of the Regency period where romance and glamour co-exist with violence and squalor – Jane Austen meets Quentin Tarantino. The backdrop of the events is atmospherically portrayed, from the bleak Pennine Moors, to bustling, commercial Huddersfield and the muddy lanes of the City of York, with its’ daunting Castle and magnificent Minster. Some historical buffs may find a few anachronisms to quibble over but the broader canvas provides the reader with an authentic portal into an age when the foundations of the modern world were being laid. The intrusion of the ‘factory system’ into the rural world of the small scale craftsman was breaking down a social and economic order that had existed since the end of the Middle Ages.
The fast-paced climax of the story, the pursuit and arrest of the Luddites Mellor and Thorpe, is fictionalised but captures all the tension and intrigue of the time, as the insurgents were tracked down and the oath-bound solidarity and omerta of the Ludds was torn by recrimination and betrayal. One tragically absurd incident is in fact true. How the loss of a hat led men to the scaffold.
The link to present day concerns about technology is encapsulated in an imagined dialogue in which Mellor expresses an inspired vision of the future - a future dominated by machines. One prediction that is not fulfilled is that of the military commander, General Maitland. He asserts that after their trials no one will remember the Luddites. Over 200 years on, thanks to writers like Van Norman, the Luddites are not only remembered, but celebrated. For that alone this book deserves a place on the shelves not only of the general reader, seeking a well written historical adventure story, but of all those concerned about the direction of our technology driven world.
Although many of the participants left little, or no, record of their hopes and fears at the time, Van Norman imagines and fleshes out the personalities to bring to life a time of political and social crisis that raises many questions paralleled in today’s conflicts. What drives people to political violence? Why do those in power lack empathy with the sufferings of the oppressed? Why, turning a question from the last actual written words of the Luddite leader, George Mellor, is a human ‘soul not worth more than work or gold’?
Inevitably the account revolves around the involvement of Mellor in the main events of the tumultuous year of 1812, when resistance to the introduction of machinery in the cropping (cloth finishing) trade escalated into armed insurgency and assassination, centred on the Yorkshire textile town of Huddersfield. Is Mellor a ‘freedom fighter’ or a ‘terrorist’? The story describes Mellor’s dawning awareness of the brutalising effect of the fight against machines as he struggles to reassert his humanity, while an arch-opponent of the Luddites, the cleric Hammond Roberson, also fears that the conflict has turned him into a ‘Zealot’, a crusader, a ‘warrior priest’. The dehumanising effect of violence is sympathetically depicted in the internal torment of these two characters.
Although a product of the novelist’s art, the story follows closely the actual events and personalities that inspired it. The corpulent magistrate, Radcliffe; the haughty and ruthless, counter-guerrilla commander, Captain Raynes; the hard-nosed mill owner, Cartwright; the Machiavellian solicitor and spy-master, Lloyd – all might appear to be stereotypes, but are in fact based on the available evidence in contemporary accounts, often from their own correspondence. The Luddites themselves left little personal record, but nevertheless, with insight and empathy, Van Norman succeeds in representing their fears of a rapidly changing world beyond their control and the doomed path their attempted resistance has forced them along.
The personal emotions and political ideas are set in a context often described in vivid detail, recreating a picture of the Regency period where romance and glamour co-exist with violence and squalor – Jane Austen meets Quentin Tarantino. The backdrop of the events is atmospherically portrayed, from the bleak Pennine Moors, to bustling, commercial Huddersfield and the muddy lanes of the City of York, with its’ daunting Castle and magnificent Minster. Some historical buffs may find a few anachronisms to quibble over but the broader canvas provides the reader with an authentic portal into an age when the foundations of the modern world were being laid. The intrusion of the ‘factory system’ into the rural world of the small scale craftsman was breaking down a social and economic order that had existed since the end of the Middle Ages.
The fast-paced climax of the story, the pursuit and arrest of the Luddites Mellor and Thorpe, is fictionalised but captures all the tension and intrigue of the time, as the insurgents were tracked down and the oath-bound solidarity and omerta of the Ludds was torn by recrimination and betrayal. One tragically absurd incident is in fact true. How the loss of a hat led men to the scaffold.
The link to present day concerns about technology is encapsulated in an imagined dialogue in which Mellor expresses an inspired vision of the future - a future dominated by machines. One prediction that is not fulfilled is that of the military commander, General Maitland. He asserts that after their trials no one will remember the Luddites. Over 200 years on, thanks to writers like Van Norman, the Luddites are not only remembered, but celebrated. For that alone this book deserves a place on the shelves not only of the general reader, seeking a well written historical adventure story, but of all those concerned about the direction of our technology driven world.
by James Terry, The Reading Room
Published by Guernica Editions (April 1 2020)
Cover design by David Moratto
Front cover image by Diane Eastham and made by Photo Lab
"...challenged my preconception of historical fiction novels and has emerged triumphant. He truly is a master of his craft."
Against the Machine: Luddites challenged my preconception of historical fiction novels and has emerged triumphant. Brian Van Norman has, without doubt, opened my eyes to a genre that hitherto I was predisposed to overlook. It is a skilfully crafted saga based closely upon events and people in Yorkshire, England, in 1812, full of twists and turns. Right from the first line, “It was snowing indoors.” it grabs your attention and won’t let go.
It is told from the perspectives of the characters, both real and imagined, on both sides of the uprising by the Luddites. The characters are meticulously drawn, strong and well developed, although I must admit, the large number was somewhat challenging. However, from Mellor, the protagonist, down to the seemingly most insignificant character, I found myself empathizing with their profound moral dilemma in pursuit of freedom, justice and basic human rights. Indeed, Van Norman paints such vivid portrayals of even the antagonists’ humanity and their foibles that, at times, you find yourself sympathizing with them in spite of yourself.
It is a tapestry of intrigue and subterfuge woven on the fabric of conflict between the classes and stitched together with the threads of love, passion and courage.
A wordsmith, Brian Van Norman is brilliant at creating a sense of realism so powerful you will smell the gun powder, sweat and fear as if you were witness to the events. He truly is a master of his craft.
Be sure to read Van Norman’s previous novels The Betrayal Path and Immortal Water.
Published by Guernica Editions (April 1 2020)
Cover design by David Moratto
Front cover image by Diane Eastham and made by Photo Lab
"...challenged my preconception of historical fiction novels and has emerged triumphant. He truly is a master of his craft."
Against the Machine: Luddites challenged my preconception of historical fiction novels and has emerged triumphant. Brian Van Norman has, without doubt, opened my eyes to a genre that hitherto I was predisposed to overlook. It is a skilfully crafted saga based closely upon events and people in Yorkshire, England, in 1812, full of twists and turns. Right from the first line, “It was snowing indoors.” it grabs your attention and won’t let go.
It is told from the perspectives of the characters, both real and imagined, on both sides of the uprising by the Luddites. The characters are meticulously drawn, strong and well developed, although I must admit, the large number was somewhat challenging. However, from Mellor, the protagonist, down to the seemingly most insignificant character, I found myself empathizing with their profound moral dilemma in pursuit of freedom, justice and basic human rights. Indeed, Van Norman paints such vivid portrayals of even the antagonists’ humanity and their foibles that, at times, you find yourself sympathizing with them in spite of yourself.
It is a tapestry of intrigue and subterfuge woven on the fabric of conflict between the classes and stitched together with the threads of love, passion and courage.
A wordsmith, Brian Van Norman is brilliant at creating a sense of realism so powerful you will smell the gun powder, sweat and fear as if you were witness to the events. He truly is a master of his craft.
Be sure to read Van Norman’s previous novels The Betrayal Path and Immortal Water.
by Christian Fernandez,
"Contemporary readers can easily read the message of this book into their own experience with technology..."
A story that is intelligently plotted, expertly written, and that has a huge potential to seduce fans of historical novels, Against the Machine: Luddites by Brian Van Norman plunges the reader into the period in which the Napoleonic Wars took place and explores a historical phenomenon that is scarcely discussed in books, the threat that the luddites posed to the industrial revolution. While this is a novel that is well-researched with fascinating and colorful historical hints, it also explores the reality of change and how it affects those who do not stand to benefit much from it.
The industrial revolution is gaining grounds in Britain and with machines quickly replacing skilled labor. The mill-masters are laying off workers, replacing them with machines, a situation that doesn't sit well with George Mellor, a boy whose growth has been precocious and whose leadership skills come just as naturally. George has known what it is like to have nothing and his hardship has left a great impact on him. And he is not alone. His friends Big Will Thorp, Thomas Smith, and Sam are as disgruntled with the situation as is anyone losing work to machines. They start a revolution to disrupt the revolution, attacking machines and even getting involved with murder. But how far can they go before they are stopped?
Against the Machine: Luddites is a novel that is as relevant today as it is telling of the Napoleonic period, a story that brilliantly depicts what happens when technology replaces human skill. Contemporary readers can easily read the message of this book into their own experience with technology, including the AI tools and robots that have stolen work from many hands. Brian Van Norman weaves an unsettling sense of uncertainty into the story and brings to life a social situation that punctuated life in a specific moment in history. The characters are lovely, the prose exciting, featuring terrific descriptions and intelligently crafted dialogues. The humor isn't lacking and the accent of the characters is wonderfully captured in the dialogues. Real as all-get out, from scenes in the mill that depict the condition of workers to the rowdy clash against machines!
"Contemporary readers can easily read the message of this book into their own experience with technology..."
A story that is intelligently plotted, expertly written, and that has a huge potential to seduce fans of historical novels, Against the Machine: Luddites by Brian Van Norman plunges the reader into the period in which the Napoleonic Wars took place and explores a historical phenomenon that is scarcely discussed in books, the threat that the luddites posed to the industrial revolution. While this is a novel that is well-researched with fascinating and colorful historical hints, it also explores the reality of change and how it affects those who do not stand to benefit much from it.
The industrial revolution is gaining grounds in Britain and with machines quickly replacing skilled labor. The mill-masters are laying off workers, replacing them with machines, a situation that doesn't sit well with George Mellor, a boy whose growth has been precocious and whose leadership skills come just as naturally. George has known what it is like to have nothing and his hardship has left a great impact on him. And he is not alone. His friends Big Will Thorp, Thomas Smith, and Sam are as disgruntled with the situation as is anyone losing work to machines. They start a revolution to disrupt the revolution, attacking machines and even getting involved with murder. But how far can they go before they are stopped?
Against the Machine: Luddites is a novel that is as relevant today as it is telling of the Napoleonic period, a story that brilliantly depicts what happens when technology replaces human skill. Contemporary readers can easily read the message of this book into their own experience with technology, including the AI tools and robots that have stolen work from many hands. Brian Van Norman weaves an unsettling sense of uncertainty into the story and brings to life a social situation that punctuated life in a specific moment in history. The characters are lovely, the prose exciting, featuring terrific descriptions and intelligently crafted dialogues. The humor isn't lacking and the accent of the characters is wonderfully captured in the dialogues. Real as all-get out, from scenes in the mill that depict the condition of workers to the rowdy clash against machines!
By Scott Jones: Goodreads, Google Books
"A fast paced novel with excellent character development..."
Once in a while, not often enough, a historical fiction book comes along that doesn't feel like a history book; Against the Machine: Luddites is an exciting story and leaves you feeling like you've learned something worthwhile.
Mr Van Norman has taken a little known piece of British history (at least to me) and turned it into a gem of a book. While the term Luddite is not uncommon in conversation, the details of the origin of the term is quite a story. "Against the Machine" traces the Luddite movement in the early 19th century through the men involved in the uprising against the textile owners, the politicians, soldiers and the women who were dragged into the revolt.
A fast paced novel with excellent character development, Mr Van Norman does a good job of conveying the idealistic torment of George Mellor the leader of the movement as well as many of the peripheral characters, some likable, some definitely not.
I highly recommend this book.
"A fast paced novel with excellent character development..."
Once in a while, not often enough, a historical fiction book comes along that doesn't feel like a history book; Against the Machine: Luddites is an exciting story and leaves you feeling like you've learned something worthwhile.
Mr Van Norman has taken a little known piece of British history (at least to me) and turned it into a gem of a book. While the term Luddite is not uncommon in conversation, the details of the origin of the term is quite a story. "Against the Machine" traces the Luddite movement in the early 19th century through the men involved in the uprising against the textile owners, the politicians, soldiers and the women who were dragged into the revolt.
A fast paced novel with excellent character development, Mr Van Norman does a good job of conveying the idealistic torment of George Mellor the leader of the movement as well as many of the peripheral characters, some likable, some definitely not.
I highly recommend this book.
by Deborah Weisberg: Amazon, Goodreads, Google Books
"Many times I find myself returning to past passages and rereading material in exquisite appreciation."
"AGAINST THE MACHINE: LUDDITES" is the exciting long-awaited new novel by meritorious author Brian Van Norman. Without fail, Van Norman has again accorded us with yet another compelling narrative woven in history and dynamically relevant today. This time he has delivered the bedrock for the original Rage Against the Machines.
In contemporary terminology, "Luddite" is a profound label of insult and anti-progress used to describe those folks disgruntled with any form of new technology. In today's current High-Tech industry modern "Luddites" actuate modern technological rebellions, not by swinging 'Enoch's Hammer', but by weaponizing through the means of computer viruses and various malware zealously designed to disrupt the machines that antagonize and threaten them. Mr. Van Norman ingeniously takes us back in history to the brutal core of the original Luddite movement in order for us to ultimately understand ourselves and our own tortured revolutions.
Established in industrialized northern Great Britain during the 1803-1815 Napoleonic Wars, the original Luddite uprising consisted of organized gangs of malcontented and mostly anonymous men hell bent on destroying machinery mostly used in the textile industry. Provoked by deteriorating poverty-level wages, resulting starvation and the crushing threat of having their livelihoods replaced by machines, the Luddites evolved into the counter-revolutionaries of the Industrial Revolution (19th century).
In "AGAINST THE MACHINE: LUDDITES", partially an intriguing love story, Brian van Norman daringly seduces our sympathies towards these fervently anarchistic rebels. He teases our vigilant hearts open to passionate benevolence, especially flourishing with his main character, George Mellor. Leadership thrust upon him at an early age, Mellor labors through the emotional conflicts of adultery, moral principles and the boldness of his beliefs. Van Norman may have softened our feelings towards Mellor but we cannot avoid asking ourselves the question, "Are the Luddites dignified victims or ruthless terrorists?"
Through van Norman's vitalized penmanship we feel a remarkable empathy towards his characters and enthusiastic affection for Mellor's mates; Big Will Thorp, Thomas Smith and Sam Lodge. Noble men, struggling and committed to their deep beliefs. "It ain't the machines themselves, lads, but they're the mark of the maisters' greed. And that's why we must smash 'em!"
I am consistently impressed by Brian Van Norman's talent for and attention to detail, his careful research and strong character development. He has superbly mastered the art of illustrative picturesque writing that honestly should place him in the category of celebrated classical authors. Through his words you can smell the heavily scented wild heather and crisp snowfall and hear the rasping clash of grating unoiled machinery.
Many times I find myself returning to past passages and rereading material in exquisite appreciation. Slows me down but the book is much too good to sacrifice content for time. One of my personal indicators of a great book is how preoccupied one is with the story and characters while away from reading.
"Ned Lud did tha'!"
"Many times I find myself returning to past passages and rereading material in exquisite appreciation."
"AGAINST THE MACHINE: LUDDITES" is the exciting long-awaited new novel by meritorious author Brian Van Norman. Without fail, Van Norman has again accorded us with yet another compelling narrative woven in history and dynamically relevant today. This time he has delivered the bedrock for the original Rage Against the Machines.
In contemporary terminology, "Luddite" is a profound label of insult and anti-progress used to describe those folks disgruntled with any form of new technology. In today's current High-Tech industry modern "Luddites" actuate modern technological rebellions, not by swinging 'Enoch's Hammer', but by weaponizing through the means of computer viruses and various malware zealously designed to disrupt the machines that antagonize and threaten them. Mr. Van Norman ingeniously takes us back in history to the brutal core of the original Luddite movement in order for us to ultimately understand ourselves and our own tortured revolutions.
Established in industrialized northern Great Britain during the 1803-1815 Napoleonic Wars, the original Luddite uprising consisted of organized gangs of malcontented and mostly anonymous men hell bent on destroying machinery mostly used in the textile industry. Provoked by deteriorating poverty-level wages, resulting starvation and the crushing threat of having their livelihoods replaced by machines, the Luddites evolved into the counter-revolutionaries of the Industrial Revolution (19th century).
In "AGAINST THE MACHINE: LUDDITES", partially an intriguing love story, Brian van Norman daringly seduces our sympathies towards these fervently anarchistic rebels. He teases our vigilant hearts open to passionate benevolence, especially flourishing with his main character, George Mellor. Leadership thrust upon him at an early age, Mellor labors through the emotional conflicts of adultery, moral principles and the boldness of his beliefs. Van Norman may have softened our feelings towards Mellor but we cannot avoid asking ourselves the question, "Are the Luddites dignified victims or ruthless terrorists?"
Through van Norman's vitalized penmanship we feel a remarkable empathy towards his characters and enthusiastic affection for Mellor's mates; Big Will Thorp, Thomas Smith and Sam Lodge. Noble men, struggling and committed to their deep beliefs. "It ain't the machines themselves, lads, but they're the mark of the maisters' greed. And that's why we must smash 'em!"
I am consistently impressed by Brian Van Norman's talent for and attention to detail, his careful research and strong character development. He has superbly mastered the art of illustrative picturesque writing that honestly should place him in the category of celebrated classical authors. Through his words you can smell the heavily scented wild heather and crisp snowfall and hear the rasping clash of grating unoiled machinery.
Many times I find myself returning to past passages and rereading material in exquisite appreciation. Slows me down but the book is much too good to sacrifice content for time. One of my personal indicators of a great book is how preoccupied one is with the story and characters while away from reading.
"Ned Lud did tha'!"
HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY
by ANN CHAMBERLIN
“Parallels to technology’s stranglehold on lives and livelihoods today are seamlessly but not anachronistically drawn.”
1812. England faces Bonaparte and a war in America. Novels from this period like Jane Austen’s can ignore this darker side as ladies stroll through the grounds in floating empire gowns and meet dashing soldiers. On the other hand, in novels like this one, you can learn what those soldiers stationed on English ground—more of them there than were actually fighting France—were really up to as the Industrial Revolution took hold in Yorkshire and other counties in the north. The human cost upon which the likes of Charles Bingley made their fortunes initiated untold human suffering.
I found the first couple of chapters daunting as we were introduced to numerous characters: one group, the impoverished Luddites, who were trying to save their livelihoods against machines concentrating the means of production into fewer and fewer hands. On the other side amassed the owners of those machines and the mills they ran on water or coal power. These introductions made it difficult to sort one common English name from another.
After that, the more important characters came quickly to life, in scenes of debased cruelty as well as elevating heroism. I found the whole saga very engaging, particularly so as we come to understand that these are real historical characters, drawn from court records and lists of wanted and condemned men. Their descendants—including me—walk among us today. The research and style are commendable for accuracy and their ability to evoke the time period.
Parallels to technology’s stranglehold on lives and livelihoods today are seamlessly but not anachronistically drawn.
by ANN CHAMBERLIN
“Parallels to technology’s stranglehold on lives and livelihoods today are seamlessly but not anachronistically drawn.”
1812. England faces Bonaparte and a war in America. Novels from this period like Jane Austen’s can ignore this darker side as ladies stroll through the grounds in floating empire gowns and meet dashing soldiers. On the other hand, in novels like this one, you can learn what those soldiers stationed on English ground—more of them there than were actually fighting France—were really up to as the Industrial Revolution took hold in Yorkshire and other counties in the north. The human cost upon which the likes of Charles Bingley made their fortunes initiated untold human suffering.
I found the first couple of chapters daunting as we were introduced to numerous characters: one group, the impoverished Luddites, who were trying to save their livelihoods against machines concentrating the means of production into fewer and fewer hands. On the other side amassed the owners of those machines and the mills they ran on water or coal power. These introductions made it difficult to sort one common English name from another.
After that, the more important characters came quickly to life, in scenes of debased cruelty as well as elevating heroism. I found the whole saga very engaging, particularly so as we come to understand that these are real historical characters, drawn from court records and lists of wanted and condemned men. Their descendants—including me—walk among us today. The research and style are commendable for accuracy and their ability to evoke the time period.
Parallels to technology’s stranglehold on lives and livelihoods today are seamlessly but not anachronistically drawn.