The Republic Table of Contents
The Republic
K. J. Pedersen
* * *
An Affirmation of Free Speech
I hate disclaimers, so I won’t make one, but shall instead reaffirm my right to state my opinions as I see fit.
This is a work of fiction. Any similarity of characters to living persons is entirely coincidental.
If you are offended by human sexuality generally, and by depictions of homoerotic love specifically, don’t bother reading any further. Even though sex is not the primary focus of this story, it is nevertheless essential to it.
Comments and constructive criticisms are welcome; flames are not.
* * *
Preface
I was without any real access to the internet for almost a year and have been unable to update The Republic until now.
In that time I have rewritten The Republic. I have returned to many of my original ideas and outline. At first, I was going to alternate chapters between the Kirkagárd brothers point of view only. I was going to “formally” introduce Toby Beorcleah in the first act of Book II but got sidetracked because I felt Toby’s story was too compelling to abridge. And there was also the little matter that he was begging to tell his story in the first person. Anyway, juggling three P.O.V.s proved only to frustrate matters and I lost focus. So, the rewrite is narrated by Mattæus and Johannes Kirkagárd alone. Toby will be introduced when and where I first thought he should, in Book II.
I would like to thank everyone for the e-mails they sent and for their comments and questions. Undoubtably there were e-mails I missed while I was away from the Net, so I’d like to apologize to anyone who wrote but never received a reply.
The most frequently received questions were about the names used in this story, and particularly place names. They seemed to confuse a lot of people. Sorry, but I chose the names I did deliberately to make clear that this is an alternate history which only partially parallels our own. First, most given names are either from the New Testament, and are rendered in their Latin form (or a variation of the Latin form), or are of Old English and Scandinavian origins, and rendered as such. Second, last names — surnames — are very often patronymic (examples being Lukas Grundtvigsson, literally ‘Lukas, Grundtvig’s son,’ and Shane mac Cormac, or, ‘Shane, son of Cormac’). Third, I use/d the Latin names of many historical places, particularly countries — Anglia = England; Alemannia = Germany; Francia = France; Ruthenia = Russia; etc. — but generally use/d Old English place names for the towns, cities, shires (counties) of the Anglian Federative Republic. So, if anybody wants .JPG format maps to correlate/approximate the places of the Terran Republic with those of the real world, send me an e-mail (at KJPedersenManga@aol.com).
Chapters will be added to this story only after the whole part they are contained within is completed.
Book I Part I remains, by and large, the same. Part II has been almost wholly rewritten and bears little resemblance to its former self.
I hope to finish the entire series in the following year. After I finish posting the completed story to Nifty, I hope then to illustrate it and publish it in either the .PDF format or directly to a website as an online illustrated novel. Anyone who would like to contribute illustrations, please contact me. It would be fun, I think, to start a collaborative community with other authors who want their GBLT sci-fi/fantasy/horror stories illustrated and published in either the .PDF format or to a website directly. Anyone interest in that idea, again, please contact me.
Thanks for reading.
— K. J. Pedersen
* * *
Introduction
The Republic is the story of a parallel world, an alternative history.
It is the story of two brothers and their friends entering adulthood in a time of great social and political upheaval. It is the story of their hopes and struggles. It is a story also of loyalty, solidarity, and love.
Terra, the world they inhabit, is an Earth very much like our own, with the same continents, oceans, mountains and valleys, with civilizations and cultures familiar to us, but one in which history unfolded very differently.
Anglia and the Anglian Federative Republic
Imagine an England that never knew an invading William, duke of Normandy, in 1066; an England whose ties with France remained weak, but whose ties with Denmark remained strong; an England where the language remained little changed from the time the Angles left Angeln for Britain to the day the Bard took up his pen, and finally into the late 21st Century.
Imagine the English-speaking states of North America united on the Atlantic, but divided by the French from those on the Pacific for one hundred years. Imagine a North American republic finally united only in the 1950s, and then only after a world war.
Imagine in 2001, England and its numerous colonies, outposts, and conquests in the British Isles, the Americas, Australasia, and Africa, united under a single government, with its capital in North America_._
Francia and the Francians
Imagine the French establishing free and democratic workers’ republics both in the Old World and in the New, only to see them overrun, conquered, and in North America even annexed following the great world war in 1957.
Ruthenia and the Rus
Imagine a Russia that threw off the Tsar early in the 19th Century as a great republican revolution spread across the globe from the Americas. Imagine a Russian people who never toiled under the Bolshevik oligarchy of the 20th Century, but who toiled nevertheless.
Sinæ
Imagine a Chinese empire, in the form of a federal republic, that stretches from Kamchatka to Malay, allies of the North Americans, and the guarded neighbors of the Russians.
The Terran Republic
Imagine global capitalism achieving its final and absolute form in 2035: A global superstate, a worldwide union.
Imagine the year 2074 — The “end of history” is just a new beginning, for once more the call is heard:
Liberty! Equality! Fraternity!
* * *
Table of Contents
The Republic
Book I — Hegemony
Part I — Strike Action
Chapters 1-10
Interlude
Part II — Rumors of War
Chapters 1-10
Interlude
Part III — A House Divided
Chapters 1-10
Book II — Civil War
Part I — Vox Populi
Chapters 1-10
Interlude
Part II — Fire Storm
Chapters 1-10
Interlude
Part III — Direct Action and the General Strike
Chapters 1-10
Book III — Revolution
Part I — A New Republic
Chapters 1-10
Interlude
Part II — The Reaction and Terror
Chapters 1-10
Interlude
Part III — Anarchy
Chapters 1-10
Epilogue — The Cooperative Commonwealth
Appendix A — Characters
Appendix B — Places
Appendix C — Chronology
Appendix D — Glossary
Appendix E — Further Notes and Documents