Carmen
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
That's fascinating--thanks for answering! So does Barrayaran imperial succession follows similar logic to the inheritance of Countships--in terms of being able to take into consideration things like suitability for the job or other factors, over totally inflexible male primogeniture over all other considerations (along the lines of what we saw with Rene Vorbretten)?
Lois McMaster Bujold
The Barrayaran imperial succession, like successions in real history, are pretty much a matter of the moment. Precedents may break or be broken, or hold, depending on what the people with power around the events want to have happen at the time.
"Power" by the way, is a trickily undefined term that usually sneaks by unexamined. I'd define it most broadly as "the flow of will in human activities", which, if you back-translate it into most of the places the word is bandied about, has some odd effects.
E.g, such slogans as "Speaking Truth to...The Flow Of Will in Human Activities". Hmmm.
(Leaving aside the definition of "Truth.")
Ta, L.
The Barrayaran imperial succession, like successions in real history, are pretty much a matter of the moment. Precedents may break or be broken, or hold, depending on what the people with power around the events want to have happen at the time.
"Power" by the way, is a trickily undefined term that usually sneaks by unexamined. I'd define it most broadly as "the flow of will in human activities", which, if you back-translate it into most of the places the word is bandied about, has some odd effects.
E.g, such slogans as "Speaking Truth to...The Flow Of Will in Human Activities". Hmmm.
(Leaving aside the definition of "Truth.")
Ta, L.
More Answered Questions
Richard
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
Give that Gentleman Jole takes palace more than 5 years after Vorpatril’s Alliance when the Barrayar government came into an unexpected influx of billions of marks, why is Sergyer still scrambling to build a second planetary base / spaceport? Did fatherhood turn Gregor stingy?
Denise O'hare
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
Not a question, just a Thankyou. I am really enjoying the Penric novellas, not just for the content (which is excellent) but also for the Serial Form, it takes me back to being a kid when serial instalments where all the go and, even though we would be hanging out for the "next instalment" we didn't have to wait ages for another exciting adventure. Love having a really good read more frequently. Thanks Lois!?
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more