Friday 23 September 2016

Parliament

"The English parliament had started that way, with magnates called together to hear what the king had in mind...
"Eventually, though, it started working the other way 'round."
-SM Stirling, Against The Tide Of Years (New York, 1999), Chapter Fifteen, p. 223.

Poul Anderson shows us moots, assemblies and parliaments down the ages, notably:

the Council of Suffetes in Ys (with Karen Anderson);
the World Parliament in The Star Fox;
the Great Khruath of all the choths on Avalon;
an imitation of the British Parliament on Toka (with Gordon R Dickson).

James Blish's Doctor Mirabilis is a historical novel covering the period of:

Roger Bacon, discoverer of scientific method;
Simon de Montfort, "Father of Parliament";
Robin of Sherwood, symbol of popular resistance.

Thus, Doctor Mirabilis is like a prequel to science fiction.

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

And we should hope Babylon's political evolution is spared the bloody tragedy of the English Civil War or anything like the Revolution of 1688 (which was NOT "Glorious"). But human beings what they are I doubt it!

And we see mention of similar legislative bodies in Anderson's Technic Civilizations as well. Such as the parliament of the Commonwealth and the legislative bodies of colonial worlds such as Aeneas and Dennitza.

Sean