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Royalty & Aristocracy

In the breaks in his writing schedule, David has promised to stop by and chat for a while!
Royalty & Aristocracy
Post by Mauddib   » Sat Oct 01, 2011 5:03 pm

Mauddib
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Joined: Wed Aug 19, 2009 4:53 pm

Hi David,

Virtually all of your books have Royal/Imperial governments and associated aristocracy:
Honor Harrington
Safehold
Dahak (that one made me laugh: Emperor Colin!)
Furies (ditto: Emperor Murphy!)
Empire of Man
Multiverse

I was just wondering if there was an intrinsic reason for using this form of government, rather than a more egalitarian one, e.g., Presidents, Senators etc.

Just finished reading the Dahak series again, and it is very interesting to see how your Safehold series seems to have developed from it.
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Re: Royalty & Aristocracy
Post by namelessfly   » Mon Oct 03, 2011 1:01 pm

namelessfly

Given human history, some form of aristocratic rule seems to be the natural stae of humanity.

Factor in the likelihood that small groups of wealthy individuals will provide the capital to fund a colony and aristocracy becomes almost inevitable.
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Re: Royalty & Aristocracy
Post by dscott8   » Wed Oct 05, 2011 6:19 am

dscott8
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From a plot standpoint, it's handy to have a character who can simply say, "So let it be written, so let it be done."
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Re: Royalty & Aristocracy
Post by Phwop   » Wed Oct 05, 2011 10:42 am

Phwop
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From a plot standpoint, it's handy to have a character who can simply say, "So let it be written, so let it be done."


Yeah.

The emotional impact of a single character giving orders as opposed to a more muddled group (even if you're intimately familiar with everyone in it) is hard to argue against I believe.
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Re: Royalty & Aristocracy
Post by dscott8   » Thu Oct 06, 2011 6:53 am

dscott8
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Not to mention all the plot tension over what a ruler can do versus what they should do. Melanie Rawn's Dragon Prince series explores this beautifully -- High Prince Rohan believes in waiting for developments and negotiation, his son Pol believes in taking the battle to the enemy - -and both screw up at times.

Elizabeth and Benjamin both have moments when they come up against the practical limits of their theoretical powers, and Prince Roger learns a lot about this during his development.
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Re: Royalty & Aristocracy
Post by namelessfly   » Wed Oct 12, 2011 12:42 am

namelessfly

dscott8 wrote:From a plot standpoint, it's handy to have a character who can simply say, "So let it be written, so let it be done."


Quoting Cecil B DeMill's The Ten Commandments?

My dad used to train and ride horses in his movies and his race and steeplechase stables.

By odd coincidence, I also know a direct descendant of Seabisket's owner.

My wife and I were watching the scene where Prince Moses is making his triumphant entry. Wife comments that Princess NYMPHOtiri (spelling intentional) is getting so excited that she is about to slide off the balcony railing she's sitting on.
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Re: Royalty & Aristocracy
Post by dscott8   » Thu Oct 13, 2011 8:03 am

dscott8
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namelessfly wrote:My wife and I were watching the scene where Prince Moses is making his triumphant entry. Wife comments that Princess NYMPHOtiri (spelling intentional) is getting so excited that she is about to slide off the balcony railing she's sitting on.


"It's good to be the King" -- Mel Brooks (or was it Elvis?)

Did the Princess do a shower scene later? I forget.
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Re: Royalty & Aristocracy
Post by Michael Everett   » Thu Oct 13, 2011 11:01 am

Michael Everett
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Location: Bristol, England

dscott8 wrote:
namelessfly wrote:My wife and I were watching the scene where Prince Moses is making his triumphant entry. Wife comments that Princess NYMPHOtiri (spelling intentional) is getting so excited that she is about to slide off the balcony railing she's sitting on.


"It's good to be the King" -- Mel Brooks (or was it Elvis?)

Did the Princess do a shower scene later? I forget.


Great! Namelessfly's got a protegee!
~~~~~~

I can't write anywhere near as well as Weber
But I try nonetheless, And even do my own artwork.
(Now on Twitter)and mentioned by RFC!
ACNH Dreams at DA-6594-0940-7995
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Re: Royalty & Aristocracy
Post by Manty01Actual   » Wed Nov 02, 2011 1:43 am

Manty01Actual
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The short and truthful answer is simple, and I'd love to talk more about this with DW, but starting here is fine: a note on geo-politics, it is fluid and dynamic. We will start here on Earth: ask yourself this question: where can anyone on this planet go by the oceans currents without being an ally of or have the intrinsic blessing of the United States Navy? What happens when a Nation such as ours becomes too big for the planet it occupies currently? It expands off-world.

In the next phase, the one that is in its working up stage, we begin permanent colonization of off-world real estate and begin gathering resources. Pay attention to the next part, it's important: for the next phase to work, there are only two forms of government that will have any chance of success: a corporate democracy, or a monarchy, or some variation of both. When this begins, in a scant 10-12 years from the date of this post, we will be knee deep in some new ideas and the consequences of that. This changes everything. Please go study the subject, I highly recommend everyone here to go get Harrison Schmitt's book "Return to the Moon" and see the first of many arguments regarding the subject of off-world resource development and the part business will play in the advancement of the next phase in human development and civilization. The new models governing this need to start here as well as the 1 or 2 institute think tanks actually spending any time on the subject.
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Re: Royalty & Aristocracy
Post by pokermind   » Fri Nov 04, 2011 10:16 am

pokermind
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Dear Dave and other visitors:
In the truth is stranger than fiction category in his book, ('My Four Years in Germany' Grosset & Dunlap, pubs., New York, 1917, sorry I don't remember the page or even chapter.) James W. Gerard notes the princes of Germany practice their social skills as youths by formally introducing themselves to every tree and bush on their estates, that social interaction is the business of royalty not government. Written by the former US Ambassador to Imperial Germany just prior and during early WW 1, and a 'propaganda' book for WW 1 this might be just a Sea Story. Dave if you're writing more in the 1632 series, or even part of Raoul's training to be a noble in the Honorverse it might be a useful idea for you to incorporate. With the name Weber I assume German ancestry, this is an anti-German propaganda tome from the days when insults got personal, be warned German immigrants disloyal to the USA are advised to put back on their rags and wooden shoes and return to the Fatherland, and he even suggests lynching Germans taking up arms for Germany within the US.
And while I'm telling you how to write might I suggest that Philip Jenkins the love sick teenage runaway/stowaway who learned navigation, and coned a ship in a hurricane in the Grantville Gazette might be a good lad for your Admiral Simpson to press-gang.

I remain your most humble and obedient servant,
Charles E. Simpson AKA CPO Poker Mind.
CPO Poker Mind Image and, Mangy Fur the Smart Alick Spacecat.

"Better to be hung for a hexapuma than a housecat," Com. Pang Yau-pau, ART.
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