Brave New World should’ve stolen the show in Sentrys of Terrene

Wow, I’d gone dark a little longer than I anticipated! I managed to put myself into a bind over the last couple of weeks, putting a lot of work into my Interactive Lore Compendium, and found myself in a rush during my final proofread for my epic dark fantasy, Spirit and Water.

That said, my reading had been relegated to, well, audiobook listening. It’s been the case for a while, but lately, it’s been exclusive. Still, it gave me an excuse to bull-rush my way through The School Revolution by Ron Paul, so there’s some light there.

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And it didn’t stop some of that new content I created at the Compendium from seeping its way into some de facto reviews. One of which involved my own trilogy, Sentrys of Terrene - and yes, it’s spelled Sentrys on purpose.

When I first wrote The Rebellion Awakens, I thought I’d get clever and compare its centrally-planned society to something we’d seen in George Orwell’s 1984. But I was wrong. Dead wrong. Because Vranommian Society should’ve been closer to one we’d seen in Brave New World. Allow me to explain with the post I wrote a few days back.

From the Compendium…

Oh yes, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World is a blueprint in the tyrannical Empire of Vranom. Because in this centrally planned society, two things are clear:

Everyone’s life is planned out for them from birth until their scripted death

Everyone’s ultra-pleased about it

I should probably add a third one, too, but very, very few in this society featured in The Rebellion Awakens are “unlucky” enough to cross it. That’s when someone either questions or shows signs of questioning why things are done a certain way.

Nope, in Vranom, you’re expected to sit and enjoy the propaganda shoved down your throat and like the taste of it. And most people don’t just love it, they do so with a smile and bow. They love being told what to eat, what they’re going to do for a living, why the Sentry Order was evil, and that people are an existential threat when left to their own devices. Where have we heard that last one in our own world?

Problem is, in the World of Terrene, super, nuclear-powered governments blew that world to smithereens, leaving just about one percent of its population alive. If Terrene’s global population matched our own and 99.5 percent of it went to the wayside, it would leave us with roughly 400 to 500 million people.

Brave New World should’ve made an appearance in Sentrys of Terrene

While the Star Wars original trilogy inspired Sentrys of Terrene, another book, Beyond the Wall by Kate L. Mary, helped inspire Vranommian Society. From the wristwatches Sabre Kjaergaard and her peers wear that tell them where they need to be and when, all the way to the type of foods they’re required to eat, plus mandatory medical wellness checks.

That’s all shown in The Society from Mary’s work. Also, Beyond the Wall features George Orwell’s classic. Naturally, it needed to make an appearance in The Rebellion Awakens. And while Sabre saw correlations between it and Vranom, Brave New World would’ve driven it home.

People were blissfully ignorant, happy, and raring to do all they could for the empire. Very, very few of them asked questions, and it didn’t end well for those who did. Sabre found that out when she had the audacity to question her teachers or even hesitate before answering a question. Yeah, hesitation could also put you on the chopping block.

Still, Sabre probably would’ve understood things better had I put Aldous Huxley’s classic atop that refrigerator instead of Orwell’s.

How did 1984 even get into the World of Terrene, anyway?

My Renegades Epic comprises five worlds and six series. The “Original Six,” as I like to call them. One world, Terra, is based on our own world, except it’s laden with alternative history. For example, the COVID lab leak theory isn’t just a thing; a “Winter Soldier,” for lack of a better term, was responsible for that leak.

In my works’ lore, Elementals, Mages, and Sentrys can travel through the Five Worlds via archways that are hidden from view. They’re often underground, in bunkers, or hidden in military bases. Their energy pull is so great that, if a normal person born without Elemental, Mage, or Sentry ability tried to go through an archway, the resulting energy cost would kill them.

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That said, an Elemental from the World of Terra brought the book over, and it somehow ended up in Ern Kjaergaard’s hands before Sabre located it. Why they never brought Huxley’s work along, too, I may find out one day.

Anyway, if you’d like to stumble upon 1984 in The Rebellion Awakens, be sure to check it out today!

(This article first appeared on TCMarti.com)