Last modified: 2011-11-19 by antónio martins
Keywords: finity | john barnes | american reich | swstika | free republic of diego garcia |
Links: FOTW homepage |
search |
disclaimer and copyright |
write us |
mirrors
See also:
Finity is a 1999 alternate-history science fiction novel by the
American writer John Barnes. The plot involves a third-generation American
expatriate living in a 2063 New Zealand where the Axis powers won WWII, who
discovers that people from alternate timelines are beginning to imperceptibly
swap places with their counterparts. The problem is escalating, to the point
that people cannot agree on historical events and a new social norm of not
discussing the past is emerging. The novel eventually goes on breakneck tour of
dozens of other parallel worlds, but only the starting one's setting is really
fleshed out; it is dominated by the Twelve Reichs and Two Empires (Japan and
Italy), with New Zealand one of a small number of small and harmless
“Aryan” countries left alone on the condition of presenting no
threat.
Eugene Ipavec, 19 Nov 2010
The American Reich is one of the twelve; at one point a character mentions seeing news coverage of the 100th anniversary of the surrender ceremonies in 2046, with the “swastika and stripes” being raised.
«Swastika and stripes» admits a variety of interpretations:
 literal |
 literal but in the correct color |
 an ensign-type flag suitable for a client state |
 and a different kind of literal |
Several different alternate worlds later feature versions of a Free Republic
of Diego Garcia, another expatriate American entity resulting from mass
immigration after a different US loses a war with the USSR and is partitioned,
with the rump falling under a fundamentalist-Christian regime. Its flag is
mentioned but not described.
Eugene Ipavec, 19 Nov 2010
Anything below this line was not added by the editor of this page.