BY HERESIES DISTRESSED – snippet 17:
.III.
Parliament Hall,
City of Cherayth,
Kingdom of Chisholm
It’s a good thing Sharleyan warned me, Cayleb thought wryly as he and his mounted bodyguard arrived outside Parliament Hall.
Chisholm’s Parliament had a much more magnificent home than its Charisian equivalent. Unfortunately, that owed rather more to the Chisholmian nobility’s delusions of grandeur (and appetite for power) than it did to any reverence for popular participation in the kingdom’s government.
The sprawling building’s windows flashed back the cold northern sunlight, and its white marble gleamed like chilled alabaster under a sky of palest blue, burnished with a few high puffs of cloud. The kingdom’s banner snapped and popped from two of the flagstaffs above it, flanking the tallest, central staff, which bore the banner of the new Charisian Empire: the traditional black field and golden kraken of Charis, quartered with the blue and white checkerboard of Chisholm. An icon of the Archangel Langhorne in his role as Lawgiver crowned the roof above the Hall’s portico, scepter raised in stern benediction and admonition; gold leaf glittered; and deep, detailed bas relief sculptures decorated the Hall’s enormous bronze doors. Doors whose sculptures, by the strangest turn of fate, seemed oddly dominated by heroically posed nobles on their prancing chargers, with precious few peasants, merchants, sailors, mechanics, or manufactory owners anywhere to be seen.
The more I see, the more impressed I am that she managed to survive, much less retain her throne, Cayleb thought much more soberly as he took in the monument to the aristocracy’s traditional domination of political power here in Chisholm.
He’d always known the political equation in Chisholm was fundamentally different from the one in Charis. He hadn’t realized before becoming privy to the Brethren of Saint Zherneau’s hidden influence just why Charis was so different from so many other kingdoms and principalities, but he’d always realized that commonly born Charisians had far more say than commoners in other lands when it came to the way in which they were ruled.
Chisholm had been one of those “other lands,” at least until Sharleyan’s father had taken the throne. The Chisholmian aristocracy had secured a firm grip on the levers of power when a not-quite-rebellious alliance of his most powerful nobles forced Sharleyan’s great-grandfather, Irwain II, to “graciously grant” the Charter of Terayth. According to Merlin, the terms imposed upon the Crown at Terayth had been similar to those of something called the “Magna Carta” back on Old Earth, except that they’d been substantially more restrictive of the Crown’s prerogatives.
The situation probably still wouldn’t have been irretrievable except for the unhappy (from the Crown’s perspective, at least) fact that her grandfather, Irwain III, had been a well-meaning but weak monarch. Sharleyan had once told Cayleb that her grandfather would have made a truly excellent minor baron back in the hills somewhere, but he’d been a disaster as a reigning king. Instead of regaining the ground his father had lost, Irwain III had sought compromise rather than conflict. He’d dreaded the thought of what open warfare would have cost his subjects and refused to inflict it upon them in defense of royal prerogtives . . . and so he’d seen the nobility make even more inroads into the king’s authority. By the time he died, the great nobles had reduced him to little more than a figurehead.
Unfortunately (from the great magnates’ point of view, at least), however, they hadn’t quite completed the process at the time of his death . . . and Sharleyan’s father, King Sailys, had been made of sterner stuff. The fact that he’d grown to young manhood watching his own father’s humiliation as he kept steadily losing ground had probably had something to do with it, but he’d also been aware that factionalism among “his” nobles threatened to split Chisholm into warring fragments. That civil war would soon inflict all the bloodshed and horrors his father had bartered away the Crown’s authority trying desperately to avoid . . . unless he made it his business to prevent it. He did, and he’d found the two men whose support he needed to accomplish his seemingly hopeless task. Mahrak Sahndyrs had been Sailys’ chief adviser and confidant, but the king had been ably assisted by his future brother-in-law, the Duke of Halbrook Hollow, as well.
Irwain III had been stripped of everything the nobility recognized as a source of power, but he’d retained his status as the head of state . . . and the Crown had retained the power to summon — and dissolve — Parliament. When the old king died, and Crown Prince Sailys assumed the throne, the law of the kingdom required that Parliament be summoned to confirm the new monarch and to swear fealty to him.
Everyone had known it was a mere formality, of course, but they’d been wrong. What none of Irwain III’s aristocratic masters realized was that Sailys and his friend Mahrak Sahndyrs had spent the last ten years of King Irwain’s life planning for the day that summons would be issued. Along with a few very carefully chosen and recruited members of the House of Lords, they had steered the new Parliament in directions no one else had anticipated, and they’d done it so quietly, so skillfully, that their intended victims had never even seen it coming.
That first Parliament of King Sailys was referred to now as the “Parliament of Love” in most of Chisholm’s histories. Ostensibly, that was because everyone had been so carried away with their enthusiasm for their charismatic new king that they’d gladly acquiesced in the “modest changes” he’d requested. Foremost among those “modest changes,” although Sailys and Green Mountain had been careful to bury it as deep in the underbrush as they could, had been the formation of the core of a small standing army. That particular proposal was justified on the basis of the growing threat from Corisande, and — according to those same official histories — Parliament had gladly supported such a farsighted request. In fact, the Lords had seen the miniscule authorized strength of the new “Royal Army” as little more than giving their youthful monarch a shiny new toy with which he could amuse himself rather than interfering in the serious business of running the kingdom.
ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.
I just gotta say it… :)
And yes, this is all going to be on the exam.
You know, I’m starting to wonder if these snippets aren’t really a marketing tool after all, as they are claimed to be.
Maybe instead they are an attempt to drive us nuts enough to pay the outrageous prices for the ARCs. :)
Probably not, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was…
RH
Nice seeing a different government system described. I really liked the bit about what Merlin has been teaching Caleb about Earth history. I wonder if I were Merlin how much would I reveal about how nasty religious wars mixed with political power wars can get – or how long they can last. From what it appears in our history, it looks like it never really goes away completely.
My bet is that lord hollowbrook will lead nobility plus temple loyalits in a rebellion as the nobility will have the most to lose form this new empire by the empire giving some of there power to the commoners.
He’d always known the political equation in Chisholm was fundamentally different from the one in Charis. He hadn’t realized before becoming privy to the Brethren of Saint Zherneau’s hidden influence just why Charis was so different from so many other kingdoms and principalities, but he’d always realized that commonly born Charisians had far more say than commoners in other lands when it came to the way in which they were ruled.
Does this lend/add evidence to previous discussion relating siddarmark being influenced by a secret Shanwei cell?
I think it almost has to be true. It’s the only “republic” on the planet. A Charis/Siddarmark alliance has got to be down the road somewhere – particularly how they secretly let the Charisians know about the attempt on their ships by the church.
Wouldn’t that be a nice surprise for the Go4? A large army right in their backyard all of the sudden getting superior arms… :)
I’d kind of assumed Siddermark is the “Germany” analogue with Charis being England in the reformation.
God I hope the exam for this is multiple choice.
Hmm Alistair et al, I guess it could be seen as more evidence as a cell in Siddarmark. And I definitely believe they will end up allies eventually. When? No idea. But eventually, I figure it has to.
But I would say that the “Magna Carta” bit might lend credence to the idea of a cell in Chisholm too. There’s no reason to assume that all cells would have agreed on the proper means of setting up the toppling of the church. In fact, most likely they wouldn’t, and Shan-Wei wouldn’t have minded that. Democracy’s ideals are based on the idea of lots of people having lots of ideas and then arguing it out (hopefully politely) until they come up with one they can all live with. So perhaps Jere Knowles thought that tackling the Inquisition was his key point of attack, while Sam Bowles (or whatever) thought instead that trying to stimulate democracy was more important. Probably if so his cell failed and faded away after a few initial “pernicious” leaks that got the ball rolling towards the eventual “Magna Carta” clone.
Likely? Maybe not. But it’s still possible.
RH
Finally, something of substance. After a week of drivel, a bit of, admittedly truncated, narative is welcome. Dialogue is always the slowest way to move plot, and very little character developments was given to compensate. It makes me yearn for the Encyclopedia Galactica. Here, at least, we get some factual information to serve as base for whatever conversations are forthcoming.
J
RH, I don’t think that “Magna Carta” lends credence to the idea of a cell in Chisholm since MC favored the nobles only. Maybe I’m wrong, who knows…
I’m seeing Sailys as being more of an Edward III repeat. Kind of getting the feel that Chisholm might be another England clone, just in a different stage of development. Or Scotland! Anybody see similarities between Scotland and Chisholm (including a disastrous past queen)??
@12 While it’s true that Magna Carta made no provision for the ‘common man’ it is never-the-less important to democracy because it was a first formal step away from the idea of absolute power in a king.
rh: What arc’s? These books don’t have them or so I’ve found. I’d pay it. I wish whoever complained about the prior book’s snippets being too long would’ve kept their opinion to themself. Now, not only are these snippers too short, they’re too infrequent. I think we’d get more out of it if the length were the same but they were every day. Less likely to end the week midchapter like this. I’m starting to lose heart. :) I don’t buy “dead tree” books anymore. Anyone know where and when the eBook can be purchased?
Alejo, the problem is the eArc is not available. The paper ARC is on Ebay, but you’re looking at paying some lucky bastard who got their hands on it at a publishing convention $150 to $300 or so for it. Or possibly Tor themselves, Jim Baen did that before he started doing eARCs. Since I’m so pissed at Tor that I won’t even give them $25 for this book (I’ll be reading it in store at B&N and buying something else from Weber to send HIM the money instead of those bastards) I’m not willing to risk that it’s really Tor behind the ARC sale (not like I’d pay that price anyway, but even more so since I’m so pissed at them).
RH
Alejo & RH: I was just informed by Amazon that the July ship date has been moved to November, even tho’ the web page for the book still shows July. So maybe things are not so far along and revisions are being made as we comment. Maybe even revisions based on these comments? Nah.
If any ebooks/eARCs are available for this or any of the Safehold books, they must be deeply buried in the TOR website. They ain’t at Baen.
P.S. These driblets are also available, along with ones from the next book in Stirling’s Change series (The Sword of the Lady) at
http://jiltanith.thefifthimperium.com/
RH,
What’s your issue with Tor?
Paul, what is there NOT to be pissed at them for? No eARCs. Outrageous prices on eBooks. BSRA still not available as an eBook. No discount on OAR even after the book has been in paperback for a year or so. No eBooks on the CDs later on. And plenty more, but that’s enough to get started.
RH
Did some research. The audio and ebooks are from McMillian publishers.
http://us.macmillan.com
and do a search.
Their regular ebook (Mobipocket) price is, as you said, the same as the hardcover price ($25.95). But the Kindle price (from Amazon) is $9.99. Both OAR and BSRA are available. I’d rather buy a used hardcover from Amazon for 5 or 6 bucks plus shipping.
Amazon has OAR for $4.99 ( http://www.amazon.com/Off-Armageddon-Reef-David-Weber/dp/B00132Q10M/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240602535&sr=8-1)
As for the electronic books, I’ve not looked for those.
Nice catch Paul. $4.99 + $3.95 shipping is about 9 bucks (looks like OAR hardcover will soon be on the B&N Remainder shelf). With the paperback at 7.99 that is a good buy.
@7: Lance, I agree that Siddarmark will eventually come in on Charis’s side, but I don’t think it will be very soon. The text evidence suggests that the population of Siddarmark is rather evenly divided between the Temple Loyalists and the Pro-Charisian faction. It seems to me that Greyghor Stohnar has tried to stride both sides. He’s publicly sided with the Mainland Church and obeyed them, while privately helping the Charisians and negating the effectiveness of the church’s orders. As an elected official Greyghor is first foremost and always a politician. He’s not going to willingly and publicly offend some large section of the electorate, unless it’s a sector that he hasn’t ever and never will carry. Even then it’s not something he’s going to do gratuitously. It’s going to take a while for the Mainland Church to grieviously offend enough of the Siddarmarkians that Greyghor can safely wade in on the Charisian’s side. Based on past history, however, I’m confident that Clyntahn can do it.
John Driver
RE: TOR
Another issue with TOR is that the hard covers do not seem to be nearly as sturdy as the hard covers from BAEN. Of course, if we only wanted to read a book once we would have bought the paperback or an electronic version. Hard covers are for people who want to keep the book. No CD is, a previously noted another TOR nasty. When travelling (some of us have to work, alas…) dragging a bunch of books along is not an option – CD’s are.
Baen is one of the few outfits in the publishing business that really seems to have a grasp on the new reality of information.
Up until recently, if one controlled the production and distribution of the physical medium for information, it was good enough to retain control over the information itself. They were not really one and the same, but they were for practical purposes.
So the business was built up with the assumption that you didn’t have to have an income stream for the actual information, you only had to have one for the physical distribution of the information.
But look at the motion picture people, the recording industry, the newspaper industry, and the book publishing industry today. Now they are all in serious trouble, because their business model of selling physical copies of information is not really compatible with the way information is now snaking around the world without a physical body. What’s happening to the newspaper industry is going to happen to the others — if they can’t shift to actually charging for the creation of the information, rather than the distribution of it, they are going to go out of business.
The book publishing business is going to shift to being a niche industry where people are not really paying for the words inside the book — they are only paying for the form and physical nature of the book. Baen understands that, and allows the words of the books to be distributed for free (except for trying to skim some extra profit off the folks who MUST have the book AS SOON AS POSSIBLE).
Most other publishers are still locked into the idea that if the words of the novel get out there openly, then their property has been “pirated”. It’s like bailing out the ocean — it’s not going to survive as a business model in the long run.
My addition to the comments on book formats – for me I think I’ll always prefer a hardcopy to an e-book. It’s just harder for me to ‘curl up’ with an e-book. And somehow it’s harder to ‘lose myself’ in the e-book format. It’s great though for saving space on my overflowing bookshelves so I’ve gotten a few from Baen where I’m not sure If I want to take up the space. Then I spend the $ for the hardback that I can’t wait to read and which I’m sure I’ll keep. My local libraries are good for when I want to save $.
It sounds to me that if there were “second stringers” trying to promote Democracy outside of Siddarmark, the Irwain restrictions would be the kind of thing they’d come up with in the hopes that the monarchy would get itself dissolved in time. Obviously that didn’t happen, but it would be interesting to see if this is just one of many disruptions over time caused by second stringers. Given Charis’ differences with the rest of the world’s monarchies, it is clear that Cayleb’s going to have to get rid of serfdom in whatever form it’s in in Emerald and Chisholm. Likewise, Charis’ new anti-child labor and free speech modus operandi are going to seem soft-hearted to any people new to the concepts. Looking at America it’s clear that freedom of speech has for the most part allowed many diffusions of cultural problems without much violence and bloodshed (Civil war excluded) especially in the last century after WWII. Seeing as the focus on the standing army was placed right at the end of this history lesson, I’d say Cayleb’s going to be saying something along the lines of “We’re in this together, isn’t that nice? Now I’m going to borrow your army and navy and conquer our neighbor so we can be one bigger happy family because if I don’t we’re going to get it from the Church. Kapish.”
e-Books are great. I’ll still buy print when there’s a book I absolutely must have in my collection, but for trying out new authors it’s the best short of loitering in B&N and getting clerks that look at me funny.
BTW the way B&N works (thank you, SEC) you can read a book and return it within a week for full price if you keep the reciept.
I spend alot of time on the road and listen to Audible .com thru my ipod.Price is quite reasonable with membership with most of Webers titles
E. If your going to buy a book and then return it for a refund, perhaps you should try the library. Not only does it seem unethical to me, eventually they’ll catch on and refuse your returns or they’ll change their return policy and make it harder for the few times I accidentally purchase a book I already have or when I get two of the same thing as a gift. Or the couple of times I’ve found something pysically wrong with a book.
It’s not ethics, it’s economics. If I wanted to make it an issue of ethics, I’d chew on the pages.
Besides, you can find out a lot if you read the back of receipts.
@E I’m a manager at a B&N and the return policy is indeed intended for the reasons Karina stated. And it is something that impacts the company negativly when people abuse the policy. We are happy to help you find anything you need but please do not use us as a library. It is our livelyhood and we also face economics (No BN manager is getting a raise this year btw, no matter how well we did). And to Karina’s point about changing of policies, that is in fact what happened back in September and if enough people continue to try to “game” the system it will most likely change again.
Thanks Mike for the comment on publishing. You are quite right. As for me, I want permanent books (like Webers) in BOTH “e” and hard formats. They serve different missions in accessing the data.
P.
Paperbacks are OK for books that are under 400 pages or so. Has anyone tried to read one of Weber’s 800 – 1000 page monsters in paperback? It is really not fun! Even Flint’s & Weber’s 1634: The Baltic War is tough to handle in mass market sized paperback. So the question is: Do you buy the hardcover for $25 or $26 bucks (or the reduced price at Amazon), or buy a used hardcover from one of Amazon’s vendors for $5 or $6 plus shipping, or wait for it to appear on the Bargain Books shelf at B&N or get eye strain and mouse-arm-strain and get the Kindle or e-book?
Meanwhile, these snippets are making continuity very hard for me.
OH SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is sounding just like the situation in England when the Puritans and the Stuarts were feuding.