Review
———
Title: The Last Republic
Author: Ryan McBeth
Publisher: Ryan McBeth Productions
Genre: Alt History Fiction
Year Published: 2025
Number of Pages: 285
Binding: Paper
ISBN: 9798282030525
Price: 17.99
Title: Lies to Rule Men
Author: Ryan McBeth
Publisher: Ryan McBeth Productions
Genre: Alt History Fiction
Year Published: 2025
Number of Pages:
Binding: Paper
ISBN: 9798276351506
Price: 17.99
Reviewed by Andrew Hamilton for the Association for Mormon Letters
Are you a fan of the Alt history fiction genre? Are you one of those who has read to explore what the world would be like if the South won the US Civil War? If Hitler won WWII? If John F. Kennedy had not been assassinated? If Charles Lindbergh had defeated FDR in 1940 and turned the USA toward fascism?
Ryan McBeth, an author with a background in military strategy, has a new question for audiences to ponder. In his “Deseret Series” (two books so far), he asks, “What would the world be like in 2025, if in the 1850s, the LDS Theocracy of Deseret under Brigham Young had become an independent nation instead of becoming a part of the United States?” I found McBeth’s answer to be very entertaining, engaging, and thought-provoking.
In The Last Republic and Lies to Rule Men, decisions by a US President lead to an alternate reality. In the 19th century, the USA chose to wait the Mormons out, expecting the Mormon theocracy to collapse, but instead, it thrived. In this reality, Deseret emerges as a formidable, independent nation covering present-day Utah, Nevada, much of Arizona, and southern California, from Los Angeles to San Diego. During this US Civil War, many refugees sought refuge in Deseret, resulting in a mixed population of Mormons, Protestants, and Catholics. However, the Mormon majority and theocracy retain total control.
The Church and the state are completely mixed in McBeth’s Deseret. Polygamy was preserved. Culturally, the Mormons in this universe are not as extreme as the Amish, but they eschew much of modern culture. Cell phones exist in Deseret, but they are not allowed to have cameras or do many of the things that smartphones in the USA can do. Social media is strictly forbidden. TV and entertainment exist but are controlled by the state and are kept within Church values. The LGBT population is not welcome. Terminology, language, and Mormon culture didn’t change much past the 1890’s. Brigham Young’s retrenchment movement persevered.
Some world events were similar in McBeth’s version of history; others are quite different. For example, in this version of the USA, Donald Trump was still President in the mid 20-teens, but he was elected as a democrat. One of the things I really enjoyed about both books is how McBeth manages to wave together the various subtle to major reality differences and make them blend and work well and be very believable.
As The Last Republic opens, relations between Deseret and the USA are tense, but mostly friendly. Tourists go both ways. World visitors come to Deseret. People from the US vacation there and enjoy the various mountains and other natural landmarks, much like they do in our world. The opening chapter starts with Lt. Levi Sorenson, one of Deseret’s evangelical minorities and a member of the Department of State Security, preparing for a day’s work. He is looking for smuggled “Whisper phones” – illegal smartphones that are strictly banned in Deseret. During a raid to stop some smugglers, an LGBT activist is accidentally killed while they are broadcasting to the internet. The USA takes this action very seriously. Figures in the media play it up for ratings. Members of the US government manipulate the situation to solidify power for their political party. The two nations quickly descend towards war.
More characters appear: media personalities, church leaders, US politicians, military leaders, and others. Everyone’s story unfolds a chapter at a time. Each character remains throughout the book, but individual chapters focus on one at a time. The threads converge as cultures, powers, and nations collide, leading to open conflict. The rising tension and sharp character development drive the narrative forward. In these two books, McBeth creates a tightly plotted narrative that kept me reading and will keep you engaged. His characters and alternate USA/Deseret are expertly crafted and cohesive. The Mormons of Deseret resemble their 19th-century counterparts more than modern versions, yet fit seamlessly into the story. McBeth avoids turning his Mormons into parochial caricatures, instead treating them and the LDS church with respect. His Mormon characters and the citizens of Deseret are thoughtfully portrayed.
While McBeth was going for an Alt History version of Mormonism that culturally never really left the 1890’s, there are still a few things that will feel weird to actual Mormons. He rightly has Mormon men referring to each other as “Brethren.” Mormons did that in the 19th century, and that term is still used today. He also uses the term “Sistren” for the Mormon women. That term has never been used by Mormons, who in the 1800’s, 1900’s and now only ever use “Sisters.” Each time that term came up, it kicked me out of the narrative just a bit. He also has a character whose patriarchal blessing showed up unexpectedly in the mail. This would never happen to a real Mormon. Throughout the history of the LDS church, receiving a patriarchal blessing has always been an ordinance that was performed in person by the laying on of hands and a mailed copy after the ordinance would definitely be expected. BUT overall, for a Non-Mormon, McBeth did a great job of capturing Mormon culture if it had continued to evolve into an isolated, Polygamous version modern version of the 1800’s church.
I found both books to be full of action and adventure. Both are well written with great plot development and well-fleshed-out, in-depth characters. Both kept me engaged, and I kept reading as much as possible to see what was coming next. I will say that I enjoyed Last Republic more than Lies to Rule Men for two reasons. One, Lies to Rule Men kept all of the characters from Last and added several more important characters. Each chapter is mostly dedicated to a single character’s story, and they don’t pop up again until their next “turn.” There were enough characters in Lies that sometimes when they came back, I got a little lost and had to go back and do a quick review of their previous appearance.
The other thing that made me enjoy Last Republic more is that the ending of Lies felt way too unresolved. The story didn’t end so much as just stop. Now, maybe there will be a book three that will pick up the story, but that will only partially help me. I don’t want to give any spoilers, but there were several major story threads that can’t be picked up for various reasons. These were major threads that went from being important to just ending. Maybe that was meant to depict the tragedy of war, but there were several characters’ storylines where my reaction after an entire book (or two books) worth of build-up, only to have an unexpected end, was, “WAIT, I invested all that time and concern in them, and they just ended like that!” But others could have an entirely different reaction.
Despite those mild concerns, I HIGHLY recommend Ryan McBeth’s “Deseret Series.” If you enjoy Alt history, action novels, military-themed fiction, Mormon history, or just plain enjoy well-written fiction, these two books are for you. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I had a hard time putting them down; I made it through both books in just over a weekend. This series is a great addition to your Mormon, action, or military-themed fiction collections.