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Discuss this new article by @BClick here
Discuss this new article by @BClick here
There is, of course, the very interesting case of what can be termed 'minor utopianism'- the sort of situation where things are objectively better but on a sufficiently small scale that it's an interesting question about whether it is a utopia or just a slightly better world, and whether the latter is implicitly a utopia of sorts. I'd say works where the Nazis take power but either exile the Jews or are defeated earlier count here- the world isn't necessarily a better one in many ways, but you can't really argue it's not a utopia of sorts for the millions in this world who live rather than die.
Ah, I actually reported it on social media as though it was his first, hope that's OK!Little trivia note. Brian's first Article was 15 months ago, this is his second. Given we've only been doing regular articles for 19 months, this is basically a big comeback, where we bring the old sports star out of retirement.
So everyone patiently waiting all that time for another Brian article (and who wasn't), this is for you.
And jokes aside, I think it's a really fun article. We don't often cover genres of AH so it's nice to see this.
The usual rules about telling a good story still apply
This can also go the other way, of course, with one man's visceral dystopia being another man's "er, that doesn't seem too unreasonable...?"While this is muddying the waters even more, I've occasionally seen the sort of thing the author thought was a utopia but which a lot of other readers wouldn't.
My go-to example for alternate history is The Big One postwar (its authors denials of such being rather, er, unconvincing), where the US has an (uncontroversial) min-maxed bomber fleet and all its military toys, hapless opponents it can and does easily nuke, and is ruled by immortal manipulators with catlike eyes, one of whom is a Mary Sue insert.
As I was reminded yesterday by a spate of likes in the Old Country, I tried a subversion of this when writing my "Hugh Laurie is Labour's Third Man* in 1997" TL. I wrote a Telegraph (although I'm not sure it was stated as that paper, that was the intent) retrospective of his career. In it, I lamented many things that the editor found dreadful. Most of them, I would rather like to see, but I thought it would be a far more interesting experience to see them criticised by somebody with an opposing view. It wasn't a massive utopia for me, nor a visceral dystopia (I think) for the editor. It is, in fact, a very minor utopia compared to the ones @Alex Richards mentions upthread. But I thought it was a more entertaining thing to write, and hope it was a more entertaining read.This can also go the other way, of course, with one man's visceral dystopia being another man's "er, that doesn't seem too unreasonable...?"
This can also go the other way, of course, with one man's visceral dystopia being another man's "er, that doesn't seem too unreasonable...?"
That's part of what I was going for in LTTW. Of course a big aspect to it is that while England is more 'European', France is also more 'British' in the sense of continuity, being a stable constitutional monarchy, etc.I remember you having a French team-member in LTTW book 4 writing that armed police and identity cards in England might be a dystopia to his English teammates but for him, it's just England being like France
Ah, I actually reported it on social media as though it was his first, hope that's OK!
I remember you having a French team-member in LTTW book 4 writing that armed police and identity cards in England might be a dystopia to his English teammates but for him, it's just England being like France
I remember getting the reverse culture shock on reading about some US reactions to Terry Pratchett's Men At Arms, which never felt in the least controversial to me.Yes, trying to avoid current politics, I know there is a long-term American sense that denying them gun ownership the way it has been in the UK for some years, would have made their country a dystopia and, especially in the 1930s, prone to dictatorship. You see a lot of memes on this basis referencing either the American War of Independence or the German occupation of Poland.
There is, of course, the very interesting case of what can be termed 'minor utopianism'- the sort of situation where things are objectively better but on a sufficiently small scale that it's an interesting question about whether it is a utopia or just a slightly better world, and whether the latter is implicitly a utopia of sorts. I'd say works where the Nazis take power but either exile the Jews or are defeated earlier count here- the world isn't necessarily a better one in many ways, but you can't really argue it's not a utopia of sorts for the millions in this world who live rather than die.
I remember getting the reverse culture shock on reading about some US reactions to Terry Pratchett's Men At Arms, which never felt in the least controversial to me.
The main thing I remember on reading Amazon reviews is a few people giving it one-star reviews because they think the authors hate America for daring to suggest that maybe Trump wouldn't have been elected if there had been a different candidate in 2016. (Not sure exactly who that was since I haven't read the anthology myself). Other reviews are more mixed, with some positive reviews while others describing the anthology as hit and miss.Does anyone know how well Steven H. Silver & Joshua Palmatier, ed., Alternate Peace (2019) is selling/being received?
The concept of (plot spoilers)On the grounds of police not armed or the diversity of the police which feature in the book. Especially in his later novels Pratchett put acceptance of diversity at a heart of the story, notably in 'Thud'.
There is, of course, the very interesting case of what can be termed 'minor utopianism'- the sort of situation where things are objectively better but on a sufficiently small scale that it's an interesting question about whether it is a utopia or just a slightly better world, and whether the latter is implicitly a utopia of sorts. I'd say works where the Nazis take power but either exile the Jews or are defeated earlier count here- the world isn't necessarily a better one in many ways, but you can't really argue it's not a utopia of sorts for the millions in this world who live rather than die.
It wasn't really to do with this, although it absolutely would apply, but I remember a discussion about Ruins of an American Party System on how, even thought it was clearly not a utopia by any stretch, it would be very hard for someone from TTL not to see at least the 30s and early 40s of OTL as a dystopia.Thanks as always for the edits and pictures, Gary.
With the interesting twist that in-universe, nobody knows how much worse it would have been.