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Old 11-18-2017, 06:54 AM   #3
kreios
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Default Re: [Blog] n-Body Politics

Quote:
Originally Posted by vicky_molokh View Post
/me warily wonders if the politics will be optimistic like THS, or follow the lead of grim darkness of the Expanse . . .
I'm actually not sure whether the Expanse is that much darker than THS.

No, wait, hear me out!

Spoilers follow, but I'm trying to mark at least those for the later books.

I'd argue that much of the Expanse's less optimistic parts stem from the two factors of essentially only having a bipolar world and weapon yields. Note that I'm only looking at the Protomolecule as a generic catalyst of tension; the same might have been achieved by new technology.

Now, much of the tension comes from the fact that there are essentially only two main factions (Earth and Mars) plus the Third-World-equivalent (the Belt). This means that your conflicts are immediately much bigger, and escalation (coupled with the high weapon yields) much more dangerous.

However, I'd argue that THS, were it a bipolar world, could easily see something like that. The Pacific War can be compared to any of the Earth/Mars conflicts in the Expanse, except it actually went hot even on Earth. It just wasn't as destructive because the two factions didn't cover half a globe. Or look at the Andes War.

We also, in THS, tend to concentrate on the fifth-wave nations and on space (which has to have a high TL). The Expanse, on the other hand, looks at the proverbial underbelly of the system. What do you know about Earth? That there are 30 billion people who, according to Martian propaganda, consume free drugs and get a basic income. That suggests an acceptably high planetary income, but we almost never visit those places.

Spoiler for Nemesis Games
Spoiler:  


In summary, I'd actually say that the differences come more from a concentration on the poorer areas, only two main powers, and a higher "vulnerability" of the whole setting and situation - a necessity if you want to have those high-stakes stories. THS is still more optimistic, though.

But don't worry, I plan to be inspired much more by THS.
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