Theemile wrote:FriarBob wrote:[...]But many (likely most) emperors in the history of mankind -- especially those setting up a new dynasty -- have decreed a new dating system shortly after gaining power. [...]
Ah, but in those cases, an emperor or king or whoever starting the dating process on his birth/throne ascention/wolf killing/whatever was the normal dating process. His father did it - his son will do the same. You were born in the 4th year of the reign of Claudius, and married in the 12 year of his replacement. The names were "tab" markers in the same system, not a complete break.
Like BC/AD, This would a complete replacement of the current system. If anything people would be referring to the number of years since the Shongairi invasion for awhile, Not the start of the Terran Empire or whatever it is initially named.
My initial point (obviously missed) was the name appears to be from a future context, with a Historian derived dating system and possible title which may be different than the actual governmental title. Yes, I could be wrong, But David is known to write from an future historical point of view in previews and openings - like the Honorverse Book intro to the Mayan Crises from Ceres Press in the 2050s PD.
We each either confused the other or perhaps missed a point. Or just disagree and can't let go. Or maybe all of the above. Because my point is that even if the child follows in the footsteps and renumbers (again) *someone* started it. Someone -- usually the founder of the dynasty and/or empire -- did it first. And that it was not 'weird' for him to do so.
And yes you could be wrong, but so could I. For that matter, anyone who has ever dared to speculate about where Weber is going has probably been wrong more often than right. But while he has written from a future history perspective before, that still doesn't eliminate any (much less all) of my other points: that empire is normal in this scenario, that authoritarian government is too, that an empire can still have democratic principles, that this is common in Weber's work, and that the empire is about to be formed. (And for the last one, yesterday's snippet rather blatantly hints at such, but does not outright prove it.)
Nor does his habit of writing 'future history' eliminate my last point: that this is going to be (in this fictional 'reality') such a major departure from all of prior history that it's appropriate to redate more or less immediately.
We perhaps appear to see the author writing himself into the novel.
