I was dusting off some files from the early development of In the Shadow of Ares, and in a way it was like flipping through baby pictures. Included was a summary of themes we were aiming to include in the book, classified as “General” and “Exploration”, and I think we achieved our goals:
General:
- Positive future
- Technology is good
- Capitalism is good
- Realism
- Reason wins
- We need a frontier
Exploration:
- Exploration is not without risk
- Simpler is better
- Live off the land
- Exploration and settlement go together
- Settlement and the role of property rights
We’ve been asked if the sequels will share the “pioneer” theme of the first book, which I suppose is included in the above. The sequel picks up two years later, and will include more cosmopolitan settings than the first book, but it’ll still be a new, untamed world. Several of the other familiar themes will be present (though perhaps de-emphasized because they are less critical to the story), plus a few yet-to-be-revealed.