So I got a review that is pretty positive, but the last line, was pretty funny.
They posted: Finally, the whole "empire is good, communism is rape and murder" can become a bit off-putting at times for us non-Americans.
And I honestly LAUGHED. The DPRS is NOT a communist government!
So -I'm- not the one making the connection between rape & murder and communism. That would be the reviewer.
I also (personally) don't think that 'Empire is Good'. I actually believe it's bad. But that's not what the story is about. A lot of things I write don't reflect my personal beliefs, preferences, or desires. I'm a story teller, I tell stories. I try to entertain people and I think I've been fairly successful at it. At least I hope so!
Oh, for the record, the DPRS is loosely based on the French Revolution. LOOSELY. I didn't want to get into the Jacobians, and all the insanity that came afterwards. So I kinda just cut to the authoritarian government with a dictator running it.
Hi John, hope you are well.
ReplyDeleteI’m the reviewer you cite. Let me tell you first and foremost that I really enjoyed the book, I think it has the potential to be a great series.
About that last line, come on, you can’t tell me that the communism thing is all on me. You choose to put “People's republic” in the name, if you don’t want readers to make that association don’t use that title witch is historically and commonly associated with communist states. And in several passages of the book you describe the DRPS in a way that is very much a reflection of a communist government and the way they justify their actions. If you are saying that is my imagination and none of your writing I’m not buying it.
As for the “Empire is good” bit, I’m not talking about your personal beliefs, but in the book there’s no questioning of the Empire. Maybe it will be addressed in future books, but so far your protagonists, from whom the series takes its name, are a bunch of zealots of an Empire and an Emperor who conquers other worlds and have no problem doing it by force, and they are all for it. Of course that if you compare them with the DRPS the Empire sounds lovely, that's why in my review I said that the antagonist are a little cartoonish, I think you had to make them all rapists and murderers so we could root for the empire’s followers.
It's great to be able to exchange thoughts with the author and I thank you for reading the reviews. Looking forward to the next book!!
Kind regards,
Gastón B.
Part 2 (too long)
DeleteAll of the interactions and the ways people and the groups have been playing out have all been well thought out, and a lot of what goes on are based on different historical actions of different groups - though none were as large as the empire.
4: Conquering others by force - that's something every country does, whenever it has the chance. Every country every political grouping. That doesn't make them bad (nor does it make them good) though in their eyes it is right and proper for them to annex these other planets. Call it 'Manifest Destiny'. When you consider the standard of living for the people in the Empire, there are planets out there where the populace would more than welcome them (hence the plans to buy off Rogan's world rather than fight for it).
5: Rape and murder and all sorts of other abuse are the typical consequence whenever you create secret police and government officials who do not answer to the people and have nothing reining them in. Who have unlimited power, or power with very few limits on it. This is actually fairly common, in ALL governments, of all stripes, when you start creating those kinds of positions. Dictatorships, oligarchies, they get it the worst, Monarchies and Democracies get it almost as bad. But even republics get it, when they get too corrupt.
Understand that Speaker Neill is based on an ACTUAL political figure from the USA who existed in my lifetime and whose actions caused a LOT of anguish. He was very powerful, he was 100 percent corrupt, and he destroyed a lot of people and ruined a lot of lives and hurt this country greatly. When they FINALLY took him down, they didn't even jail him, they just let him retire. That's how much power he had. Other people went to jail for him.
So there are actually a lot of historical precedents, many in the last several hundred years, for everything in the story. You may think monarchies and such are bad. But there are people have lived in them, and are still living in them, that wouldn't change their system of government given the chance. Who love their government and love their leaders. This is not at all uncommon. Especially in Monarchies. Europe is full of such examples. So is China in several of it's old Golden Ages if you go back and look at them.
But I still laughed when you brought up communism, because while yes, these things happen a lot under communism - they happen under many other repressive government systems as well and it's pretty clear (at least I thought it was) that this isn't communism at all. Maybe a touch of fascism, because the fasces is used a bit. But that's about it.
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