I'm likely to be on a panel at a local con in March, and we're doing the Ender books *Ender's Game, Ender in Exile and Speaker for the Dead.* I note, since I'm doing political aspects, that every nation is mentioned as part of the Hegemony, except for the US. I picked this up from the Jack Black *Encyclopedia of the Ender Universe.* (I've read EG, am reading EE, and plan to end with SD.)
I'd like to know, perhaps from OSC, or fans who know the books better than I, if any mention is made of events in the US, or if the US figures at all in any of the books. If not, what's happening in the US, when all the other nations are united by the Formic War as part of the Hegemony? That seems to be a major gap in the series!
Posted by Rodger Brown (Member # 11476) on :
From Giant
"Big sleepy do-nothing America. Burned out from trying to police the world back in the twenty-first century, disgusted at the way their efforts earned them nothing but hatred and resentment, they declared victory and went home. They kept the strongest military in the world and closed their doors to immigration.
And when the Buggers came, it was American military might that finally blew up those first exploratory ships that scoured the surface of some the best agricultural land in China, killing millions. It was America that mostly funded and directed the construction of interplanetary warships that resisted the Second Invasion long enough for New Zealander Mazer Rackham to find the Hive Queen's vulnerability and destroy the enemy.
From Page 59 of the first edition.
It goes on so I don't know if that helps but there you go.
Posted by Diajoi (Member # 12505) on :
quote:Originally posted by Rodger Brown: From Giant
"Big sleepy do-nothing America. Burned out from trying to police the world back in the twenty-first century, disgusted at the way their efforts earned them nothing but hatred and resentment, they declared victory and went home. They kept the strongest military in the world and closed their doors to immigration.
And when the Buggers came, it was American military might that finally blew up those first exploratory ships that scoured the surface of some the best agricultural land in China, killing millions. It was America that mostly funded and directed the construction of interplanetary warships that resisted the Second Invasion long enough for New Zealander Mazer Rackham to find the Hive Queen's vulnerability and destroy the enemy.
From Page 59 of the first edition.
It goes on so I don't know if that helps but there you go.
Posted by talsmitde (Member # 9780) on :
Spoilers for all of the Enderverse:
There's a fair amount about the politics and history of the United States during and after the Formic Wars--
Material in Polish Boy and Teacher's Pest about Compliant/Non-Compliant Nations, and the work of American strategists (like Ender's maternal GF) in planning for the next invasion.
In Ender's Game, Ender is American and contrasts his experience with freedom with Dink's experiences growing up in the Netherlands, which was apparently under Russian influence. America is home of at least one base for launching shuttles, and leads the Western forces in the League War. And Peter/Locke and Valentine/Demosthenes point out that no other country would want Ender to be available to the American military, nor would the US allow Ender to work for any other country. Its implied that most of Demosthenes' audience is based in the U.S.
Finally, while the U.S. is very supportive of China (due to trade issues), it provides a temporary home for Peter when he has to flee Brazil, it basically ends up funding all of the IF for a while (as I think Bean figures out), and then still hasn't joined the Free People of Earth when Ender writes the Hegemon.
Hope this helps.
Posted by AchillesHeel (Member # 11736) on :
I dont have the source material on hand, but I remember there being alot of unconfirmed speculation that the U.S. was the silent hand behind the I.F. and most importantly funded the weakened I.F. after the events of Ender's Game. When Graff and Rackham went around offering spots on the ships to the former jeesh/Achilles prisoners they acted snotty and started dissecting why and how they were being offered a very expensive and exclusive thing, and America seemed to be the overall answer.
Posted by DDDaysh (Member # 9499) on :
It also specifically says somewhere (probably Giant)that the U.S. is the only nation on the planet that did NOT join the Hegemony. The reasons behind why the U.S. was a hold out were totally speculative and I don't think anything was ever totally confirmed. There was some information to suggest that the U.S. was creating a balance of power with the Hegemony by maintaining control of the I.F. so that a single tyrant couldn't suddenly get control of the whole world, but I don't think it was ever "proven", so to speak.
Also, I don't think anywhere in the much "later" books (Speaker, Xeno, & Children) it actually mentions the U.S. at all. Does that mean the U.S. eventually folded itself fully into the Hegemony?
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
To: ValentineWiggin%historian@BookWeb.com/AuthorsService
Re: Congratulations
Dear Valentine,
I read your seventh volume and you're not just a brilliant writer (which we always knew) but also a thorough researcher and a perceptive and honest analyst. I knew Hyrum Graff and Mazer Rackham very well before they died, and you treated them with absolute fairness. I doubt they would dispute a word of your book, even where they did not come off as perfect; they were always honest men, even when they lied their zhopas off.
The work of the Hegemon's office is pretty slight these days. The last actual military ventures that were needed took place more than a decade ago-the last gasp of tribalism, which we managed to mostly put down with a show of force. Since then I've tried to retire half a dozen times-no, wait, I'm talking to a historian-twice, but they don't believe I mean it and they keep me in office. They even ask my advice sometimes, and to return the favor I try not to reminisce about how we did things in the early days of the FPE. Only the good old USA refuses to join the FPE and I have hopes they'll get off their "don't tread on me" kick and do the right thing. Polls keep saying that Americans are sick of being the only people in the world who don't get a chance to vote in the world elections. I may see the whole world formally united before I die. And even if I don't, we've got peace on earth.
Petra says hi. Wish you could have known her, but that's star travel. Tell Ender that Petra is more beautiful than ever, he should eat his heart out, and our grandchildren are so adorable that people applaud when we take them out for walks.
Speaking of Ender. I read The Hive Queen. I heard about it before, but never read it till you included it at the end of your last volume-but before the index, or I would never have seen it.
I know who wrote it. If he can speak for the buggers, surely he can speak for me.
Peter
Posted by Fremen (Member # 11984) on :
quote: *Ender's Game, Ender in Exile and Speaker for the Dead.* I note, since I'm doing political aspects,
It sounds like you'll get pretty much everything form EiE. EG and SD don't go too much into the politics, unless you read some events as metaphors for today's world, and even then, that would get a lot easier as you go into Xenocide and CotM.
I only read EiE once, so I can't really help you there, but I think that if you want to do political aspects of the three books you mentioned, you'll have a really hard time. It's a lot easier to analyze the social aspects of battle school, and since the world is temporarily unified with the IF during the events of EG and SD, you can't really analyze too much.
The only other option I see is looking at Peter and Valentine's Locke and Demosthenes relationship/adventures and try to see how those work in the book.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
Are the Empireverse and the Enderverse the same? Or rather, can they be the same, or is there anything ruling that out?
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
quote:Originally posted by Lisa: Are the Empireverse and the Enderverse the same? Or rather, can they be the same, or is there anything ruling that out?
Darn it Lisa! That was going to be the big reveal at the end of one of the Ender books coming down the pipe!
![[Wink]](wink.gif)