tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119816335163312523.post3153029695021142719..comments2023-04-27T04:39:45.647-04:00Comments on JT Thinks About Stuff: Book Review: The Collapsing EmpireJThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12170062950345779215noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119816335163312523.post-8467780194391832522017-03-30T19:48:07.989-04:002017-03-30T19:48:07.989-04:00This is what I mean about the idea of the Interdep...This is what I mean about the idea of the Interdependency being cool, but underdeveloped. The whole political system is designed from the ground up to ensure that the individual worlds <b>can't</b> survive on their own. The monopolies are a way of enforcing that. It's not just haverfruit. If you want repairs to your oxygen plant, you have to deal with some monopoly on some other planet. And if they want your computers, they have to deal with you.<br /><br />Hence, the empire's stability: no internal wars and no challenges to the ruling family. It's hard to go to war when by doing so you cut yourself off from whatever vital resource your enemy happens to monopolize.<br /><br />Agree that they only have access to the 47 worlds, but why? Does the Flow just end there? Is everything else too far away? Are there sharks? Inquiring minds want to know.JThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12170062950345779215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119816335163312523.post-723282094729505442017-03-30T18:23:55.890-04:002017-03-30T18:23:55.890-04:00One last point then I will leave it alone. You sai...One last point then I will leave it alone. You said, "their tech was high enough to cope." I agree. So there isn't any fear that the systems wouldn't survive the end of the Flow. Sure, they'll be separated, but they could survive on their own. So it is sad, yes, but not the end of the world (or 47 worlds).<br /><br />I got the impression that they only had access to the 47 worlds.seanovanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00288825590780391411noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119816335163312523.post-13814359191961483932017-03-30T10:44:04.793-04:002017-03-30T10:44:04.793-04:00Well, I could justify it. They discover the Flow. ...Well, I could justify it. They discover the Flow. They send out explorers, maybe found a few outposts. Then the Flow moves away from Earth. What do you do? Explore or die.<br /><br />My questions were more along the lines of: why stop at 47 worlds? Does the Flow end there, or is nine months of travel as far as anyone can stand, or was there a political decision that that's enough?JThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12170062950345779215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119816335163312523.post-61078031009188879272017-03-29T23:02:25.038-04:002017-03-29T23:02:25.038-04:00Yeah, I just couldn't get over it. Sure, havin...Yeah, I just couldn't get over it. Sure, having a wormhole network out in the galaxy is great, but unless there is a really good reason to go there, nobody would. You can just as easily (actually much more easily) just stay in your home system and build habitats. <br /><br />I guess I'm too unforgiving, needing the politics and economy of a political and economic epic to make more sense. It's the premise of the book after all.seanovanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00288825590780391411noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119816335163312523.post-39072361474086041622017-03-29T10:15:18.929-04:002017-03-29T10:15:18.929-04:00Not really.
(Trivial spoilers ahead.)
It seemed...Not really. <br /><br />(Trivial spoilers ahead.)<br /><br />It seemed evident to me that the Interdependency was at the mercy of the Flow. They found 47 systems they could get to, and colonized them. The fact that those systems weren't terribly human-friendly wasn't a worry because their tech was high enough to cope. It's not that they didn't <i>want</i> Earthlike worlds; it's that they couldn't <i>find</i> them.<br /><br />This leaves aside the question of why go into space in the first place, I admit. I thought about that fora few seconds and then decided to just go with it.JThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12170062950345779215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119816335163312523.post-20625774772860119192017-03-28T23:30:34.834-04:002017-03-28T23:30:34.834-04:00Did the infrastructure part (I mentioned in my rev...Did the infrastructure part (I mentioned in my review) not bother you?seanovanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00288825590780391411noreply@blogger.com