Post by rockefeller on Dec 20, 2022 19:41:51 GMT
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Dec 12, 2022 at 7:34am QuotelikePost OptionsPost by rockefeller on Dec 12, 2022 at 7:34am
Finally got around to Sanders' Empire cap the other day, which is, in my subjective view, a winner. The sort of thing that's fun to read, was probably fun to write, and, more importantly, has something to say. The abundance of humor tempers what I felt to be an angry work, a snicker of hopelessness.
Or maybe it's just that, personally, I've all but had it with our politicians, and even our species. We are all either great usurpers or greatly usurped, or some admixture thereof. But I don't think we're any worse or better than we ever were. The native Americans, with their zillion "nations" and whom Sanders' story metaphorically references, were not (to say the least) nice to each other. Those enslaved here, had long enslaved others. But the world is smaller now, and bullshit is not just more readily disseminated, but also exposed.
The cap is rife with hilarious allusions to popular SF. The description and world building are excellent. Initially, I disliked the ending. The Grey elder suggested unimagined powers to resist Earth's imperialism, a narrative promise that seemed never kept. But on further reflection, it was the only true ending. The poor, beautiful, projectile-lactating sheep got what they deserved.
Was it too heavy handed in its mockeries? I wondered, but then thought, no, it's hysterical. Send it up. All the way up.