[MR] There Will Be Dragons and the SCA

[Shalandara at aol.com]

Interesting sidenote to this.  At roughly the same time Ringo  was
writing this, S.M. Stirling was working on his novel "Dies the Fire", 
which is the start of a (now) 6 volume series.  (A 7th is due out this 
fall).  Both involve a loss of electricity and explosives, but the 
reasons are vastly different.  Both have the SCA involved, but  in
different ways.
 
Stirling's novels are started in Oregon ; Ringo's in Virginia.  But  each 
of them had first considered the other setting before discarding it.
 
They are friends, and were amused that each was working on a 
similar project at the same time.
 
Elizabeth
 
 
In service to  my Crown, my Barony, and my Canton
Lady Elizabeth of Hadley Hall
(mka  Elizabeth Ernst)
Lozengy Or and Vert a Chief Sable
Canton of Sudentorre,  Barony of Stierbach, Kingdom of Atlantia

 
 
 
In a message dated 4/10/2010 1:49:43 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
chessler at usa.net writes:

In 2004,  John Ringo, an SF writer whom I have only recently 
discovered, wrote  "There Will Be Dragons," an SF novel in which the 
SCA (Society for  Creative Anachronism) and Renaissance Faires play 
important roles. He has  since followed up with three more novels in 
the series, but these are more  SF or Fantasy, and have much less 
about subjects of interest to members of  the SCA, qua members.

The novels take place about 2000 years in the  future (that is, about 
4000 CE [AD]). Earth has become a utopia, with most  material needs 
provided by replicators and nannites, and life expectancy  about 500 
years. Genetic modification and nannites also make it possible  for 
people to modify their bodies and minds to various forms. The birth  
rate has declined, with most people having only one or two children,  
so the earth's population has fallen to about 1 billion.

Government  and crime have essentially vanished. There is a council of 
13 members who  "manage" the few nuclear power plants that provide all 
earth's needs, and  who manage "the net." There is also an artificial 
intelligence that  manages the net, and which prevents "accidents."

The ruling council  splits and shuts down the net, and most electric 
power. Thus people have  to go out to the countryside to survive. Most 
of the action revolves  around a location in the Shenandoah Valley of 
Virginia (near Massanutten  Mountain) where there is an annual 
renaissance faire, and where some  people live permanently, many of 
them practicing "old time" agriculture  (it appears to be  19th century).

There two factions of the  council fight, with the "good guys" using 
Roman Legion tactics, supported  by English Longbow. The bad guys use 
genetic modification to produce  highly aggressive super warriors 
("orcs"). The overall artificial  intelligence ("Mother") does not 
take sides, but prevents explosives, or  even high-pressure steam. 
Thus vehicles are limited to early 19th C  technology.

The first novel in the series, There Will Be Dragons, is  mostly 
Science Fiction. Almost all technologies have a scientific basis  that 
may be extrapolated from current technology. Later novels become  
closer to Fantasy, with dragons, mer-men and other things that might  
be possible with genetic modification and nanotechnology, but are  
awfully speculative.

The novels are available in paperback or in  electronic form for just 
about any format.  Moreover, they are  available as free downloads, or 
in several of the CDs that Baen binds with  first editions of many of 
its novels. The CDs may be copied or distributed  so long as nothing is 
charged.

You can get the CDs at  http://baencd.thefifthimperium.com/   which 
offers all the CDs  that Baen has released.
The particular disk  is
http://baencd.thefifthimperium.com/11-UntotheBreachCD/
although the  novels may be found on other disks.

If you go to the Baen web site  http://www.baen.com/library/home.htm
you can find the first two novels in  the series as free downloads in 
even more  formats
http://www.webscription.net/p-412-there-will-be-dragons.aspx
http://www.webscription.net/p-125-emerald-sea.aspx
The  remaining novels are available in additional formats, for a few  
dollars.

Highly recommended

--

YIS

Davitt il  Bigollo da Pisa
Erudit de l'Academie de Espee de Atlantia
Storvik  (rapier)
Roxbury Mill (other things)   
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