SM Stirling, Conquistador (New York, 2004).
See here and, indeed, here.
(i) Small aircraft, designed and made in the Commonwealth, require only imported engine parts and cockpit electronics. (p. 424) One plane's hull is "...a monocoque..." (ibid.) (?) However, more sophisticated items, like Black Hawk helicopters, have to be brought whole through the Gate.
(ii) "'...it's easier to stay married here. Fewer distractions; people stay put more.'" (p. 425)
So how will Roy, who had two divorces FirstSide, fare in New Virginia?
(iii) "There was no problem with carrying weapons openly here in the Commonwealth..." (ibid.)
In fact, dueling is legal, albeit rare.
(iv) "...you don't have to wade through layers of bureaucrats to get something done... But is that because of the way John Rolfe organized the place or just the scale?" (p. 426)
Do you like the sound of the place? Tom is beginning to like being there. It all sounds strangely innocent and unsophisticated somehow although with a very rough edge. There are ways of getting dead that do not exist FirstSide.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
In many ways I do like the Commonwealth, esp. not having to hack and chop layers after layers of bureaucrats to get things DONE. And I think our real world Western civilization used to be a lot like that, before 1914. So something like the Commonwealth IS possible.
Sean
How much of that is just the scale?
When I read 'Conquistador' I thought that most of the good points of 'New Virginia' were due to it having fewer people per unit area.
Kaor, Jim!
I agree some of what we see in the Commonwealth would be due to "scale," but far more would be due to John Rolfe's ideas and how he organized the nation he founded.
Ad astra! Sean
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