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Patricia C Wrede has just published a new novel, an alt-fantasy YA in which humans never came across the Bering Land Bridge, never founded any pre-Columbian civilizations in the Americas, and, also, in which pleisticine megafauna existed in the Americas up until modern times. And then her story takes place in the Americas with European settlement during the Westward Expansion.
Now, that COULD be an interesting world to write in, but a lot of people are upset because of WHY she was trying to do this -- largely because she didn't want to deal with the ethical and moral issues of genocide -- so she pre-genocided all pre-Columbian people. A lot of people are feeling that "preventing people from existing in the first place" isn't really that much more emotionally comfortable than "killing them all off".
And this discussion has all sorts of tentacles.
But the part which interests me, right this second, is the question of, "So, is there anything worthwhile in the Americas if you don't have Americans?" I mean, as far as I can tell, every single thing which made Europeans WANT to settle the New World was created by pre-Columbian humans. If there weren't any people in the Americas, Columbus would have shown up in the West Indes and . . . what? Found nothing at all worth going back for. He would have found giant ground sloths and wooly mammoths and stuff, in Wrede's world, but that's just not economically valuable enough to set up trading colonies.
Other people have been pointing this out: Wrede's world doesn't have maize, potatoes, tobacco, or peppers -- all developed by humans. So why would anyone go there in the first place?
But Lis and I have started to try to play the more DIFFICULT version of "The Thirteenth Child Doesn't Have . . . "
No corn, tobacco, tomatoes, potatoes, or chiles -- that's the LOW-hanging fruit.
Let's go for some more fun ones -- what are some other effects of not having pre-Columbian Americans?
The Thirteenth child has no treatment for malaria.
Oh -- how about this one? The bird that we know as a "cardinal" isn't called that.
Why? Because cardinals in the Thirteenth Child's world don't wear red. Because until the 19th century, all red dyes were based on cochaneal, an insect-based dye which was developed by the Aztecs.
Any others? What are some good unexpected effects of never having pre-Columbian humans?
Edited to Add: It has been pointed out by several people that I'm just plain wrong about the red dye thing -- that cardinals DID wear robes dyed with madder long before cochaneal dyes -- and that cochaneal itself ALSO existed in Poland. So. Um. Ooops.
Now, that COULD be an interesting world to write in, but a lot of people are upset because of WHY she was trying to do this -- largely because she didn't want to deal with the ethical and moral issues of genocide -- so she pre-genocided all pre-Columbian people. A lot of people are feeling that "preventing people from existing in the first place" isn't really that much more emotionally comfortable than "killing them all off".
And this discussion has all sorts of tentacles.
But the part which interests me, right this second, is the question of, "So, is there anything worthwhile in the Americas if you don't have Americans?" I mean, as far as I can tell, every single thing which made Europeans WANT to settle the New World was created by pre-Columbian humans. If there weren't any people in the Americas, Columbus would have shown up in the West Indes and . . . what? Found nothing at all worth going back for. He would have found giant ground sloths and wooly mammoths and stuff, in Wrede's world, but that's just not economically valuable enough to set up trading colonies.
Other people have been pointing this out: Wrede's world doesn't have maize, potatoes, tobacco, or peppers -- all developed by humans. So why would anyone go there in the first place?
But Lis and I have started to try to play the more DIFFICULT version of "The Thirteenth Child Doesn't Have . . . "
No corn, tobacco, tomatoes, potatoes, or chiles -- that's the LOW-hanging fruit.
Let's go for some more fun ones -- what are some other effects of not having pre-Columbian Americans?
The Thirteenth child has no treatment for malaria.
Oh -- how about this one? The bird that we know as a "cardinal" isn't called that.
Why? Because cardinals in the Thirteenth Child's world don't wear red. Because until the 19th century, all red dyes were based on cochaneal, an insect-based dye which was developed by the Aztecs.
Any others? What are some good unexpected effects of never having pre-Columbian humans?
Edited to Add: It has been pointed out by several people that I'm just plain wrong about the red dye thing -- that cardinals DID wear robes dyed with madder long before cochaneal dyes -- and that cochaneal itself ALSO existed in Poland. So. Um. Ooops.