- Title:
- Fatherland: A Play
- Author:
- R.J. Hanson
- Alex Hanson
- Release:
- November 17, 2021
- Format:
- Paperback
To be clear up front, I received this play for free, as a gift from author R.J. Hanson, whose work I consider myself a fan of.
This may just be the first ever story I’ve ever read where I just put it down in shock and went “What the hell did I just read?” It’s a play, set in 1960s Texas in the United States, but it’s eerily similar to R.J. Hanson’s book Fires That Forge in the Bloodlines Reforged Saga.
I don’t mean a similarity or two, I mean the entire plot of the play is nearly identical. They both have the exact same dialogue, reveals, and so on throughout the story. I even made a table on the Bloodlines Reforged Saga wiki to make note of the characters that appear in both stories. Some share names, others don’t. Think of it like how comic books have alternate universes where the same people all exist, but they’re ever so slightly different from each other.
Having listened to Fires That Forge 5 or 6 times since I discovered it in August 2021, I knew where the plot was going, so I thought I was prepared….. I wasn’t. I would advise against reading the “instructions” prior to reading the actual story. They did partially spoil a reveal, but it was saved because I thought it was a typo/mistake.
As I previously mentioned about the comic book alternate universe thing, I’ll note that I don’t actually like comic books or superheroes. I just like the idea. Seeing these characters I’ve grown to love in a slightly alternate universe is slightly eerie, but also super interesting to me. I like that their story is being told in different universes and that some things for them are essentially destiny, despite them not being officially tied in any way.
As for the play itself, I enjoyed it. It made me genuinely interested in watching a play, as well as seeing this one acted out. I’ve only ever watched a single play that I remember. When I was in middle school, I watched some high-school students act out Anne Frank’s story and this story brought back that memory and made me want to watch some online or see one in person again.