'Liberating Atlantis' by Harry Turtledove - Book Club Questions

Liberating Atlantis is the third in Harry Turtledove’s Atlantis series. The series straddles the border of fantasy and alternative history and centers on events in the large island of Atlantis. Liberating Atlantis concerns a slave revolt in the United States of Atlantis and has obvious parallels to the antebellum United States of America and the American Civil War. Use these book club discussion questions on Liberating Atlantis to lead your reading group into the novel.

Spoiler Warning: These book club discussion questions reveal important details about Liberating Atlantis by Harry Turtledove. Finish the book before reading on.

1. What do you think about the consular government in Atlantis?
2. How do Victor Radcliff’s relations with a slave impact Atlantis?
3. If Frederick had not spilled the food, how would his life have been different?
4. Without Frederick Radcliff to lead a slave rebellion, would one have developed anyway? Would it have succeeded?
5. Without a slave uprising, how might the United States of Atlantis have resolved its divisions over slavery?
6. How could educated leaders such as Stafford support slavery? Should we judge him by the standards of his time or on a more absolute scale?
7. What do you think about compensating slaveholders for freeing slaves?
8. Could a slave uprising have succeeded in the real world United States?
9. Do you think slavery could have been eradicated in the United States without a violent civil war?
10. What does the future hold for Atlantis?