(i) Malcontents proclaim themselves Olafists and make trouble locally.
(ii) Insurance rates rise astronomically.
(iii) Shipping firms cancel routes.
(iv) Climate modification of Ramnu is suspended during the emergency.
(v) Luxury liners with noble passengers have armed escort.
(vi) There is controversy about the significance of a Merseian raid into the Realm of Gorrazan on the far side of the Terran Empire.
Thus, Poul Anderson, in The Game Of Empire, shows us not only the fighting in space and the intrigue in the Patrician System but also the consequences throughout the Empire and beyond, as far away as Ramnu and Gorrazan - and the latter is significant, as Flandry suspects, because Merseians always have reasons for their actions.
1 comment:
Hi, Paul!
I asked, and Poul Anderson wrote in reply to one of my letters to him that he did in part have the rivalry between the USA and the USSR in mind when showing us the conflict between the Empire and Merseia. Soviet intrigues and invasions as far apart as Afghanistan and Nicaragua comes to mind as examples. These formed part of the background in which THE GAME OF EMPIRE was written.
Sean
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