The Snowflake Rebellion
Will Alaska secede from the union? Could it?
After 50 years as a state, might Alaska go its own way? Author Tom Brennan explores the possibility in his unique novel The Snowflake Rebellion. In this satirical look at what might have been — and what lies ahead — Brennan writes the history of Alaska as it would look if a few events had played out differently.
A young couple comes to Alaska from the East Coast. Deeply in love, Colin and Sheila Callihan take opposing paths, he an oil company geologist, she an environmental activist. He discovers a vast oil reservoir on the North Slope; she becomes his most vocal critic.
Sheila dies in a plane crash while photographing a tanker wreck and oil spill in Prince William Sound. Colin is devastated and becomes a drunken bar brawler living on a Homer fishing boat. He teams up with a beautiful television anchorwoman who is running from the camera.
Governor Jimmy Pender asks Colin to join the Alaskan Independence Party and bring it under control. The party’s increasingly militant members are creating a political firestorm. The state rebels against decisions made in Washington and economic control by outsiders. Colin and his new love, Julia, lead the rebels’ insurrection.
The Snowflake Rebellion is the Mouse that Roared of Alaska literature. Its scenes range across the vast Alaska landscape and include:
- — a raid by irate Alaska Natives against the foreign trawl fleet in the Bering Sea,
- — Colin’s lover strips naked and climbs on a battle tank to break up a firefight between the Alaska National Guard and federal forces at Fort Richardson,
- — a Petersburg gunsmith revives an ancient cannon to fire a bowling ball at a Seattle cruise ship from the deck of a state ferry.
- — revolts by loggers, fishermen and oil workers.
The 49th state is embroiled in an unprecedented struggle for freedom. Though the plot seems ripped from today’s headlines, The Snowflake Rebellion has been in development for 16 years.
Published by Arctic Tern Books, Anchorage, AK. Available from bookstores and other book sales outlets. Signed and personalized copies may be ordered from Arctic Tern Books, 100 East Cook Ave., Anchorage, Alaska, 99501 (907) 279-4730. Price $14.95 plus $4.35 packaging and shipping to domestic and APO/FPO addresses. Canada, cover price plus $6.75; Mexico, $9.95; other international, $12.95.
The Snowflake Rebellion is Tom Brennan’s fourth book and first novel. His first three titles are Moose Dropping and Other Crimes Against Nature, Murder at 40 Below and Cold Crime, all published by Epicenter Press, Kenmore, WA.