Because nobody is perfect, the Maelstrom is not, either.

Like all the characters, the Maelstrom has limitations. I touched on one in the previous blog regarding the need for trust in their peace process, but I glanced over the fact this peace required buy-in from parties who were not apart of the original negotiation. But, they are still required to enforce it.

For some of my readers, this may seem a reasonable expectation, given the benefits of the effort. For some readers, this could represent an unusual requirement of a participant who likely wouldn’t know any alternative before being subject to these requirements. Often what influences how you would view the situation is a combination of experience and perspective.

If your parents gave you rules regarding a curfew that you liked and your parents liked, your experience with that will likely affect how you would view the curfew and living under it. If you didn’t like some aspect of your curfew and your parents found it an unpleasant issue to bring up (for them or you), everyone involved is not likely to have a great view of this curfew, or anything similar.

This ‘bias’ regarding the Maelstrom influences each of the groups subject to the conditions in place. For anyone who has read my first book, you may think you understand how Richard and others in the book likely feel about the requirements since Richard is one of the first to express his viewpoint on the matter:

My father, the King, however, found a condition of the treaty was our houses had to unite in marriage (of our own free will, I might add), in order for there no longer to be a division between us. Well, other than the free will aspect, my father, the King, feels this is an equitable solution. Good he did not ask me about it

Richard Tyberius

Richard appears to display a ‘bias’ regarding this condition of their peace. So, does his view reflect that of the Tyberian house or the people of Alexandria? I think that question is best left to the series since there are nuances that a simple answer can’t reflect accurately.

But, it is something that the Maelstrom presents as a challenge for assuring continuous peace for the three worlds. In the novel, an explanation for the identification of the Maelstrom is presented, in order for everyone to both know who the Maelstrom is, and be reasonably certain that the entity is indeed the Maelstrom. However, as seen by the comments given by the Maelstrom:

“Those in your future do not have the same appreciation for the arbitration of the Maelstrom as you do. In fact, the manner of verification is no longer practiced.” 

The Maelstrom

So, how do you fix this problem? I would like to tell you this book answers that question, but I can’t. I think it does show how an answer can present itself, and even the lengths the Maelstrom will take to ensure the peace.

In developing this series, I had developed a pretty vast history and future for the characters, and this series is an attempt to map out one of the more interesting epochs for these three houses. I’ve thought too about presenting some other periods of their history, to illustrate both the challenges for the Maelstrom, but even the challenges for others to not act when they think they can speed the process along.

This could make clear that for the Maelstrom, there may be potentially more to consider beyond just the three houses. Consider: there are other parties who deal with these three houses, and even their influence can affect their peace. The Maelstrom has already made clear there are limits to his influence, most notably, that everyone has to have buy-in for him to be effective. How do you counter this? As you read the books, you will see how the Maelstrom overcomes even this.

Next week, I am forced to speak about myself. Hopefully I can come up with something by then.

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