the southern oceans (Maurai);
Stockholm (Tau Zero);
Hiroshima (The Stars Are Also Fire);
Archopolis (the Terran Empire in the Technic History).
All are appropriate as alternatives to earlier locations. What more appropriate than Hiroshima as symbolizing the need to transcend past conflicts?
The World Federation, based in Hiroshima, appoints Jaime Wahl y Medina as Governor of Luna. Wahl reminds us of Chunderban Desai, appointed High Commissioner of the planet Aeneas in the Didonian System in Sector Alpha Crucis of the Terran Empire. As Lunar Governor, Wahl must deal with Dagny Beynac who has had a long and varied career. See A Power In The Land.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I remember Hiroshima being the capital of the World Federation we see in the earlier HARVEST OF STARS books. But, I thought your comments about it being appropriate being ironic because of all the conflicts we see in the HARVEST books. I do not in least believe humans will ever "transcend" conflicts. And I think Anderson himself meant us to think that was his belief as well.
There's also the different World Federation we see in STAR FOX and FIRE TIME. But, I don't recall, offhand, where the capital was located.
Btw, we don't know where the capital of the Solar Commonwealth was located in the Technic stories. And I wish we could have seen more of Archopolis and Admiralty Center, in the Flandrdy tales.
I know you don't much care for the Hoka stories co-written by Anderson and Dickson, but those stories also shows Earth as having a world capital. Earth was led by the United Commonwealths, which was what the British Commonwealth became after becoming a true world gov't, setting up the Interbeing League, with its seat in League City, New Zealand!
And New Zealand became the center of the Maurai Federation, as we both know.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
I couldn't remember where precisely the capital was in the Maurai History so I just wrote vaguely "southern oceans." New Zealand, both in this History and in the Hoka series, is another interesting idea for the location of a future world government.
I think Anderson would agree that the location of a world government in Hiroshima in the HARVEST OF STARS history expresses an aspiration for peace on Earth.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
One problem with using islands as the sites of world capitals are the limitations that places on how large such cities can become. So that makes me doubt the practicality of using New Zealand and Japan like that.
I still think Anderson was being ironic in selecting Hiroshima as the capital of the World Federation in the HARVEST books. Dreamy and naive idealists aspired to "transcend" conflicts, but we still see plenty of conflicts in the HARVEST timeline!
Ad astra! Sean
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