Whats the deal with Draka

Tyr · Jul 16, 2006

I think this is pretty simple stuff, Stirling not needed

So I was at a market today and came across a second hand book stall, among the books I picked up was 'Drakon'.
I've started reading through it and a few 'huh?'s pop up in my head.
So I get they are evil super nazi South Africans who conquered the world. They genetically engineered themselves to be super human and genetically engineered their serfs to be power-human willing slaves.

However what's with the centaurs and goblins?
Is the creation of these wacky beasties in the proper draka series or is it just something mentioned so as to point out how evil they are (twisting people into such critters)?

joatsimeon@aol.com · Jul 16, 2006

Leej said:
I think this is pretty simple stuff, Stirling not needed
However what's with the centaurs and goblins?

-- the drakensis motivation was roughly: "Hey, this would be cool. Let's do it!"

Aldroud · Jul 17, 2006

joatsimeon@aol.com said:
"Hey, this would be cool. Let's do it!"

And general wackiness ensued.

God, I love that phrase. Whoever I stole that from, thank you!

Nekromans · Jul 17, 2006

Oh, those wacky, slave-owning, bisexual maniacs...

Wait. Wacky?

Glen · Jul 17, 2006

Leej said:
I think this is pretty simple stuff, Stirling not needed

So I was at a market today and came across a second hand book stall, among the books I picked up was 'Drakon'.
I've started reading through it and a few 'huh?'s pop up in my head.
So I get they are evil super nazi South Africans who conquered the world. They genetically engineered themselves to be super human and genetically engineered their serfs to be power-human willing slaves.

However what's with the centaurs and goblins?
Is the creation of these wacky beasties in the proper draka series or is it just something mentioned so as to point out how evil they are (twisting people into such critters)?

It wasn't in the original IIRC, but wouldn't surprise me.

Superdude · Jul 17, 2006

If I could that, I would.

Doeth · Jul 17, 2006

The entire series is ASB, its crap

Nekromans · Jul 17, 2006

Oh, joatsimeon will LOVE you for saying that...

(He happens to go by the name of S.M. Stirling)

joatsimeon@aol.com · Jul 18, 2006

Doeth said:
The entire series is ASB, its crap

-- well, hundreds of thousands of readers seem to disagree...

. And people keep talking about it.

Adam · Jul 18, 2006

Doeth said:
The entire series is ASB, its crap

You mean the plausibility of a Nazi Super Race emerging from South Africa and dominating the whole world within a century?

Aldroud · Jul 18, 2006

On a side note, I just finished reading Marching Through Georgia and Under the Yoke. Really enjoyed both.

As much as we might question the possibility of the Draka, are they any more improbable than Islamofascist regimes in Iran or the bizzare communist regime in North Korea.

Hell, the North Koreans are almost Draka-like already. There's the ruling party, the military, then the serfs. The Draka describe their political system as oligarchal collectivism, sounds alot like North Korea these days.

HueyLong · Jul 18, 2006

Yeah, but NK is a backwater. It will never, and can never dominate the world. Iran would be if not for oil and their liberalization.

Diamond · Jul 18, 2006

Doeth said:
The entire series is ASB, its crap

Are you saying it's crap because it's ASB (in your opinion), or that it's ASB AND it's crap?

That's a pretty narrow way of looking at things if you think it sucks because of ASB elements... Personally, I happened to enjoy the trilogy and the anthology. Drakon, meh, not so much.

RealityBYTES · Jul 18, 2006

FWIW, I, too, enjoyed the original trilogy, the followup anthology and Drakon. I wouldn't mind seeing further developments of this particular branch of alternate history or, if you prefer, alternate, so-far-out-it-can-never-happen, history.

I'm just glad what came to pass on the Draka timeline was NIMTL — Not In My Time Line.

RealityBYTES

Tyr · Jul 18, 2006

I hope Doeth was trolling.
People who think ASB is a byword for crap are on my list of 'those to put against the wall when the revolution comes'

Burton K Wheeler · Jul 18, 2006

Leej said:
I hope Doeth was trolling.
People who think ASB is a byword for crap are on my list of 'those to put against the wall when the revolution comes'

While I don't necessarily care for ASB when discussing scenarios on this forum, nearly all published alternate history fits into that category, which should tell us something, right?

Midgard · Jul 18, 2006

Well, I haven't read any of the Draka books (although, judging by their apparent popularity and my inclination to enjoy dystopias, I might be interested in checking one out - any recommendations?), but to me, some of my favorite fiction works possess an ASB premise. To think about it, anything that involves technology significantly more advanced than ours using the concepts that had not been proven possible yet (i.e. FTL, time-travel, etc) is, technically speaking, "ASB", and therefore, ASB is not limited to "magic works", or to implausible PODs or series of events.

And then, for all intents and purposes, some of the most popular works on the Writers Forum here do possess an ASB premise, under my definition above. So, who cares if they are ASB, as long as they are a good read?

BGMan · Jul 20, 2006

Leej said:
I hope Doeth was trolling.
People who think ASB is a byword for crap are on my list of 'those to put against the wall when the revolution comes'

Agreed. Christianity becoming dominant after the Roman Empire was pretty ASB, if you ask me.

Nicole · Jul 20, 2006

Drakon was probably my favorite Draka book, I thought it was fascinating how the Draka react to our world.

Aldroud · Jul 21, 2006

My first introduction was a book of short stories called 'Drakas!'

My favorite story was a disgraced Custer migrating to south Africa, then leading a security directorate force on a punitive expedition only to be ambushed by bushmen and wiped out to a man.