Thursday 9 November 2017

Familiar Names

"'The same dynasty misruled part of Korea before the Change, I understand.'
"Jared blinked. 'Wait a minute, Kim-Jong-Il survived the Change?'
"'That was his name, yes,' Reiko said. 'His grandson rules there now, as sorcerer and priest of the dark powers and God-King, claiming a right to command all mankind.'"
-SM Stirling, The Desert And The Blade (New York, 2016), Chapter Twenty-Two, p. 556.

Some people alive at the time of the writing of a fictional future survive into that future. See also:

Ralph Nader
Gorbachev
Prince Charles and others

In contemporary fiction: Paolo Roberto.

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

As "dynasties" go, the Kims of North Korea has to be the single most repulsive ruling family I've ever heard of! And I wonder if we will see mention of Kim Jong-il's son Kim Jong Un, the current arguably bonkers ruler? I can well imagine both of them going mad and becoming sorcerers and priests of dark powers after the Change in Korea. And, so far at least, Kim Jong Un has no son.

Sean