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eBook available: Motor Matt’s “Century” Run

Motor Stories #3It’s been a few months since we released the second issue of Motor Stories through Project Gutenberg. After a bit of a wait, the third issue is now here. In Motor Matt’s “Century” Run; or, The Governor’s Courier, heroic motor enthusiast Matt King finds himself helping local law enforcement break up a gang of smugglers who defy the Chinese Exclusion Act.

As is usual for the series, there’s plenty of fast-paced action as well as some signs of the changing times in which the story was written. Perhaps most interesting is the tension, also seen in earlier volumes, between clearly racist views (blood determines behavior, ethnic slurs are part of normal conversation) and more open-minded perspectives (characters question the fairness of Chinese exclusion, the villains aren’t portrayed simply as one-dimensional evil-doers). While the contemporary reader will undoubtedly see a lot more bad than good here, it is nonetheless interesting to see even small cracks in the racist assumptions of the period’s literature, as well as to observe discussions of contemporary social issues in what is otherwise a lightweight adventure novel for youthful readers.

More Motor Matt adventures will be coming soon. In the meantime, you can find the full text of this issue online at Project Gutenberg, where it can also be easily downloaded to the reading device of your choice.


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Last Modified: October 7, 2014

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