Russia, Merseia;
India, the Patrician system;
Kim, Diana;
lama, Axor;
Indians of different castes, non-humans settled on Imhotep and Daedalus.
Imhotep, with its Imperial administration buildings, has a British Raj feel, especially since the orphan Diana keeps a sleeping bag in an abandoned temple. However, the plots of the two novels, Kim by Rudyard Kipling and The Game Of Empire by Poul Anderson, diverge after their initially similar starting points. Kim trains for Intelligence work whereas Diana might do so after the events of The Game... This title, of course, echoes the "Great Game" between Britain and Russia in Asia.
An sf writer must invent future societies whereas a writer like Kipling observed and recorded everyday details of living societies, like:
"All hours of the twenty-four are alike to Orientals..." (p. 37)
Culture shock for a British visitor!
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