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
Laura
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
(I keep bumping into the character limit!) After finishing The Hallowed Hunt, which I thoroughly enjoyed, I couldn't help but wonder how Ingrey and Ijada got along. Wencel had, at one point, offered to teach Ingrey if he'd but come visit him at his home, where he kept his library. Novel events went quite differently, of course. Is that knowledge something Ingrey and Ijada will ever find?
Catherine Nemeth
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
In one of Barbara Hambly’s fantasy series wizards/magic use had been outlawed/severely curtailed because the world was entering an Industrial Revolution and it's so easy for a wizard to wreck machinery for paid industrial sabotage or personal animus. Given how demons shed chaos (Otta/Atto in weaving room, sorcerers on boats), do you have any thoughts as to what may happen to sorcerers if/when the Wot5G has an IR?
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