Calendars

[DoctorM]

I have a question that I'll throw out to the group as a whole.

As part of my Two Kingdoms stories, I want to take a side-step and do a piece (or two) that'll be about an interview with the show runner and the historical advisor for a modern-day streaming series (think in GoT, HOTD, or even "King and Conqueror" high-budget style)  about the Shadow Queen and the Gwynedd Wars. I seem to recall that I was once told that the Deryni novels were set in a world where in-universe technology and fashion were about 200 years ahead of the RW-- in other words, that 1120 in Rhemuth would be like 1320 in medieval London.

So...should a magazine (much like modern Vogue) be interviewing characters in a modern world that's numbered 1825, or should it just be in a 2025? What do you think? Any thoughts? Any guesses as to what the critics / reviewers might ask or think?

[tmcd]

"like 1320 in medieval London" except for the spyglasses used on the field of Llyndruth Meadows. And I think Alaric, at least, wears a doublet in the Original Trilogy.

[Evie]

I have a question that I'll throw out to the group as a whole.

As part of my Two Kingdoms stories, I want to take a side-step and do a piece (or two) that'll be about an interview with the show runner and the historical advisor for a modern-day streaming series (think in GoT, HOTD, or even "King and Conqueror" high-budget style)  about the Shadow Queen and the Gwynedd Wars. I seem to recall that I was once told that the Deryni novels were set in a world where in-universe technology and fashion were about 200 years ahead of the RW-- in other words, that 1120 in Rhemuth would be like 1320 in medieval London.

So...should a magazine (much like modern Vogue) be interviewing characters in a modern world that's numbered 1825, or should it just be in a 2025? What do you think? Any thoughts? Any guesses as to what the critics / reviewers might ask or think?

It's not even a consistent 200 year difference in tech or fashion level. Basically the Eleven Kingdoms of KK's stories seems to be a medieval hodgepodge of styles and tech that ranges from roughly the 1000s to the 1500s. Remember, her influences don't merely include her medieval history studies, they also include such things as her involvement in the Society for Creative Anachronism (which, while it has a great emphasis on historical research as well as just dressing up and having fun, is also quite all-across-the-board when it comes to any sort of timeline focus) and the medieval/Renaissance inspired films popular in the 1960s such as Camelot, El Cid, A Man for All Seasons, The Lion in Winter, and Becket. And those films, while very enjoyable, are not exactly bastions of historical accuracy. And to be fair, they're not meant to be.

So I think you could get away with even setting it in present modern-day Gwynedd or at least very recent past, but just having a few fashions or some sorts of tech being a little more advanced compared to our day. Or perhaps have a mid-20th Century Gwynedd with early 21st Century tech. I wouldn't overthink it. I also suspect that given how much change both fashion and tech have undergone just in my father's generation compared to what would have taken place in the same span of years in, say, the 1100s, it's possible that the Modern Eleven Kingdoms made similar leaps further on down their timeline as well. That's why in "Balance of Power," written around 2017 if I'm remembering correctly but with a story year of 2021, I just used what I imagined our own world's near future tech might look like in maybe another 40 or 50 years, but I didn't try to imagine what it would look like in 200 years or more.

[DoctorM]

Sounds like excellent advice!

I have a question that I'll throw out to the group as a whole.

As part of my Two Kingdoms stories, I want to take a side-step and do a piece (or two) that'll be about an interview with the show runner and the historical advisor for a modern-day streaming series (think in GoT, HOTD, or even "King and Conqueror" high-budget style)  about the Shadow Queen and the Gwynedd Wars. I seem to recall that I was once told that the Deryni novels were set in a world where in-universe technology and fashion were about 200 years ahead of the RW-- in other words, that 1120 in Rhemuth would be like 1320 in medieval London.

So...should a magazine (much like modern Vogue) be interviewing characters in a modern world that's numbered 1825, or should it just be in a 2025? What do you think? Any thoughts? Any guesses as to what the critics / reviewers might ask or think?

It's not even a consistent 200 year difference in tech or fashion level. Basically the Eleven Kingdoms of KK's stories seems to be a medieval hodgepodge of styles and tech that ranges from roughly the 1000s to the 1500s. Remember, her influences don't merely include her medieval history studies, they also include such things as her involvement in the Society for Creative Anachronism (which, while it has a great emphasis on historical research as well as just dressing up and having fun, is also quite all-across-the-board when it comes to any sort of timeline focus) and the medieval/Renaissance inspired films popular in the 1960s such as Camelot, El Cid, A Man for All Seasons, The Lion in Winter, and Becket. And those films, while very enjoyable, are not exactly bastions of historical accuracy. And to be fair, they're not meant to be.

So I think you could get away with even setting it in present modern-day Gwynedd or at least very recent past, but just having a few fashions or some sorts of tech being a little more advanced compared to our day. Or perhaps have a mid-20th Century Gwynedd with early 21st Century tech. I wouldn't overthink it. I also suspect that given how much change both fashion and tech have undergone just in my father's generation compared to what would have taken place in the same span of years in, say, the 1100s, it's possible that the Modern Eleven Kingdoms made similar leaps further on down their timeline as well. That's why in "Balance of Power," written around 2017 if I'm remembering correctly but with a story year of 2021, I just used what I imagined our own world's near future tech might look like in maybe another 40 or 50 years, but I didn't try to imagine what it would look like in 200 years or more.