Nicholas van Rijn, entrepreneur;
Hugh Valland, natural leader;
Sir Nigel Loring, baronet and SAS colonel.
They are distinct characters, not generic fictional heroes. Here is another question: what kind of man founds a dynasty? Manuel Argos, pragmatist, founds the Terran Empire. Both Roan Tom and Gratillonius could start a dynasty. Tom merely makes alliances in order to survive whereas Gratillonius is concerned about the well being of society.
Sir Nigel Loring assesses Lord Bear:
a good friend and a dangerous enemy;
capable of making a sudden deadly blow without warning;
able to run a company and to do much more if needed;
wit, if not genius;
"...willpower to spare..." (The Protector's War, Chapter Eighteen, p. 506)
Sir Nigel suspects that most dynasties are founded by men like Lord Bear.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I can imagine Gratillonius, if not exactly a founder of dynasty, at least becoming so prominent in Armorican affairs as the Empire waned that he would become an ancestor of the later dukes of Brittany.
I agree with Sir Nigel's assessment of Lord Bear. Most lasting dynasties seemed to have been founded by men like Manuel Argos and Mike Havel. Pragmatic, enormously able and determined, hard when they had to be (but not usually sadistic), etc.
Sean
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