Divided We Fall by Trent Reedy (review)

A rising senior who recently enlisted in the Idaho National Army, Daniel Wright finds himself called up by the governor to quell a riot in the state capital that has erupted in response to President Rodriguez’s controversial push for a Federal Identification Card. Daniel accidentally discharges his weapon during the riot, setting off what the media immediately dubs the Battle of Boise, and now Daniel is both acclaimed as a hero and execrated as a murderer by opposing political camps. While he wrestles with his personal demons over whether his stray bullet actually killed any of the protesters, the broader situation escalates: the Idaho governor closes the state borders, the federal government attempts to capture the governor, and an uneasy standoff puts the entire nation on edge. Before the first volume of Reedy’s new trilogy concludes, the Idaho Army National Guard is called up by the president, and Daniel and his fellow guardsmen must decide to which polity they owe their loyalty. Reedy skillfully stages his drama in a near future that’s a direct heir of our current domestic political fractures and technological probabilities, lending the scenario both immediacy and credibility. The sturdy framework is undermined by a prosaic secondary cast, from Daniel’s liberal, brainiac girlfriend, to his anxiety-disordered mother, to his we-got-your-back-dude buddies who improbably tag along on lifeendangering rides. Nonetheless, this is a crew of hard-drinking, rodeo-riding, gunloving teens who don’t generally figure as good guys in YA action lit, and they will undoubtedly win fans as they head into a second title and an uncertain future.