The world of the Company

[littlemissattitude]

I am fascinated by the world Kage Baker has created in her novels of the Company. I think it is richly textured and wonderfully realized. I'm especially intrigued by how she treats our future. I think that basically what she did was postulate a future in which political correctness has taken over; her take on it is actually a nice social commentary on our own times.

What I'm interested in hearing comments on is, how do those of you who have read some or all of her books feel about how she treats our present and future? Do you think she has exaggerated too much, or do think she might be close to on target as to how society will progress into the future?

[nyx_lily]

I don't follow the political situations in the present time, but some of the things she presented in The Graveyard Game certainly sound possible.. but some of the things do sound a bit far-fetched to me. Examples: ban on sugar, coffee, stimulants of any kind etc (I just don't see it.) Mandatory vegan law? Prohibition against touching a child unless you have a license (well, with how the world is going, that might seem logical, but I don't think it can be that extreme). Laws aside, my personal favorite: abductee barbie Can't see it happening, but who knows.. weren't they trying to seel pregnant barbie dolls a few years back but never made it?

[littlemissattitude]

Well...they've already sort of had "abductee Barbie" - I saw a "Scully" Barbie and "Mulder" Ken a while back. And Scully was supposedly an abductee at at least one point in "The X-Files".

And as far as food prohibitions, I just saw a story in the local paper here a few days ago about a school district in Santa Cruz, California (where, admittedly, the sixties are still alive and well all these years later) that has apparently sent home a list of approved foods, along with a warning that if a child brings a non-approved food in their lunch, that food will be confiscated. So, there are places where the food police are already having their way. Maybe you have to live in California to appreciate how fanatical some folks are about things like health foods.

Obviously, I think, Baker is exaggerating for effect, but I don't know if some of the things she extrapolates are as far-fetched as we wish they were.