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ItCotCK; Who Read It?
Topic Started: Apr 10 2008, 02:45 PM (692 Views)
SladeJack
The Grand SladeJack
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The quality of the mock-entries varied greatly. Mao's premature death confused me because Stirling tried to sell the series as an AH with a 1962 POD, and he should know better than to sneak in pre-POD differences. There was also an inconsistency on the question of what was the last major war in Earth history--TSP says the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, ItCotCK says "the Laotian Crisis" which I assume is a greatly stripped-down Vietnam War. Some of the entries, particularly in TSP, just seemed weird, while others gave excellent background information to an as-yet just hinted-at plot element that was about to play a major role in the chapters that included them.

We also know that Kennedy was not assassinated and became a two-term President and that Dole (one assumes this means Bob but no first name is given) was President in 1980 or '81 (this is of course the difference between in which year he was elected) when the first bases on Venus were set up.

As of TSP (1988) both the USSR and the PRC were saying "To get rich is glorious." Whether Deng was in power is never explicitly said; it sounds that way, but if Zhou was Chairman prior to that that could also account for it. China is beginning to surpass Russia as the dominant EastBloc power. By 2000 China and the Communist nations of East Asia are firmly entrenched as the dominant power in their alliance and are practicing "socialism with special characteristics."

A very confusing point on chronology--when the Thoughtful Grace pick up Teyud from Tharsis, they give her an update on the political situation in Dvor-Il-Adazar in which they say "The EastBloc is less of an independent actor than they were when you were conceived." That implies there had been humans on Mars since 1940.
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Custer
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Hmm, a Zhouist China sounds like an interesting AH all by itself.
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TR1
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That is something I rather hope Stirling does more with.
"Nobody's gay for Moleman." - Hans Moleman
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Custer
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TR1
Apr 13 2008, 03:00 AM
That is something I rather hope Stirling does more with.

Were you talking to me or SJ?
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TR1
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You, sorry.

"Nobody's gay for Moleman." - Hans Moleman
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SladeJack
The Grand SladeJack
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I don't know if Stirling would be the ideal choice to do a Zhouist China. Straight AH doesn't appear to be his strong suit; he seems more inclined to time-travel and ASB, judging by his body of work thus far.
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Custer
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I mean a Zhouist China scenario in general, not necessarily by Stirling.
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SladeJack
The Grand SladeJack
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Yes, that would be good.
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MapleLeafs4Ever
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For those who may be interested, TR found a wiki devoted to Stirling at:

http://www.smstirlingwiki.org/w/Main_Page

It looks to be pretty rudimentary since it was established only in February but Stirling readers might be interested in contributing.
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TR1
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I finished it tonight. Pretty good, but as SJ said: far too many questions to feel like a complete storyline.
"Nobody's gay for Moleman." - Hans Moleman
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SladeJack
The Grand SladeJack
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I dare to hope this is Evidence, but who knows.
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TR1
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Some immature part of my brain hopes that Stirling just reveals that the whole galaxy has been terraformed, unlikely as that is.
"Nobody's gay for Moleman." - Hans Moleman
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SladeJack
The Grand SladeJack
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It seems to me that he's about to fall into a causality loop, though. This was terraformed, so was that, so was the other, and at this rate we can put off having to deal with ultimate origins indefinitely! Maybe it would be for the best if the series ended after all.
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