I'm just finishing up Ken MacLeod's _The Sky Road_. One of
the viewpoint characters is some kind of ambassador for
Kazakhstan.

Just over two month ago, I read Charlie Stross' _Rule 34_, in
which Kazakhstan also plays a prominent role.

To the best of my recollection, I've never encountered it in
any other SF. Is this some big trend that I'm missing? Is
there some significance to Kazakhstan other than it being an
impoverished country that was once part of the USSR?

--
Michael F. Stemper
Isaiah 58:6-7

In article <t954ck$i5b$1@dont-email.me>,
Michael F. Stemper <michael.stemper@gmail.com> wrote:
>I'm just finishing up Ken MacLeod's _The Sky Road_. One of
>the viewpoint characters is some kind of ambassador for
>Kazakhstan.
>
>Just over two month ago, I read Charlie Stross' _Rule 34_, in
>which Kazakhstan also plays a prominent role.
>
>To the best of my recollection, I've never encountered it in
>any other SF. Is this some big trend that I'm missing? Is
>there some significance to Kazakhstan other than it being an
>impoverished country that was once part of the USSR?
>
It turns up in All the Horses of Iceland as well or rather the
Khazar Empire does. It was an important regional power until it
wasn't.
--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

begin fnord
"Michael F. Stemper" <michael.stemper@gmail.com> writes:

> Is there some significance to Kazakhstan other than it being an
> impoverished country that was once part of the USSR?

Relevant for SF writers, it's where Baikonur is.

--
Steve Coltrin spcoltri@omcl.org Google Groups killfiled here
"A group known as the League of Human Dignity helped arrange for Deuel
to be driven to a local livestock scale, where he could be weighed."
- Associated Press

On Friday, June 24, 2022 at 3:47:36 PM UTC-4, Michael F. Stemper wrote:
> I'm just finishing up Ken MacLeod's _The Sky Road_. One of
> the viewpoint characters is some kind of ambassador for
> Kazakhstan.
>
> Just over two month ago, I read Charlie Stross' _Rule 34_, in
> which Kazakhstan also plays a prominent role.
>
> To the best of my recollection, I've never encountered it in
> any other SF. Is this some big trend that I'm missing? Is
> there some significance to Kazakhstan other than it being an
> impoverished country that was once part of the USSR?

Kazakhstan was indeed a poor country when _The Sky Road_
was first published (1999). With its GDP per capita hovering
around $10,000/year, it's no longer exactly poor -- see
https://www.ceicdata.com/en/indicator/kazakhstan/gdp-per-capita
or
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?locations=KZ

In article <t954ck$i5b$1@dont-email.me>,
Michael F. Stemper <michael.stemper@gmail.com> wrote:
>I'm just finishing up Ken MacLeod's _The Sky Road_. One of
>the viewpoint characters is some kind of ambassador for
>Kazakhstan.
>
>Just over two month ago, I read Charlie Stross' _Rule 34_, in
>which Kazakhstan also plays a prominent role.
>
>To the best of my recollection, I've never encountered it in
>any other SF. Is this some big trend that I'm missing? Is
>there some significance to Kazakhstan other than it being an
>impoverished country that was once part of the USSR?

Almaty[1] was one of the important localities in Julian May's
INTERVENTION (1987), as one of the major centers of parapsychological
research (along with Dartmouth and Edinburgh). Of course May did not
anticipate the end of the Soviet Union in 1991, never mind its
aftermath, so the story (largely set between 1970 and 2012) quickly
diverges from the actual events more than she likely intended.

-GAWollman

[1] Written "Alma-Ata", as it was called in Soviet days.
--
Garrett A. Wollman | "Act to avoid constraining the future; if you can,
wollman@bimajority.org| act to remove constraint from the future. This is
Opinions not shared by| a thing you can do, are able to do, to do together."
my employers. | - Graydon Saunders, _A Succession of Bad Days_ (2015)

On 24/06/2022 15.16, Ahasuerus wrote:
> On Friday, June 24, 2022 at 3:47:36 PM UTC-4, Michael F. Stemper wrote:

>> Just over two month ago, I read Charlie Stross' _Rule 34_, in
>> which Kazakhstan also plays a prominent role.
>>
>> To the best of my recollection, I've never encountered it in
>> any other SF. Is this some big trend that I'm missing? Is
>> there some significance to Kazakhstan other than it being an
>> impoverished country that was once part of the USSR?
>
> Kazakhstan was indeed a poor country when _The Sky Road_
> was first published (1999). With its GDP per capita hovering
> around $10,000/year, it's no longer exactly poor

To be clear, that was my description, not MacLeod's.

--
Michael F. Stemper
Deuteronomy 10:18-19

On 6/24/2022 2:47 PM, Michael F. Stemper wrote:
> I'm just finishing up Ken MacLeod's _The Sky Road_. One of
> the viewpoint characters is some kind of ambassador for
> Kazakhstan.
>
> Just over two month ago, I read Charlie Stross' _Rule 34_, in
> which Kazakhstan also plays a prominent role.
>
> To the best of my recollection, I've never encountered it in
> any other SF. Is this some big trend that I'm missing? Is
> there some significance to Kazakhstan other than it being an
> impoverished country that was once part of the USSR?

I believe that Kazakhstan is in "Marching Through Georgia" by S. M.
Stirling as the Drakas take out the Soviet Union piece by piece.
https://www.amazon.com/Marching-Through-Georgia-Draka-Novels/dp/0671654071/

Lynn

On Friday, June 24, 2022 at 12:47:36 PM UTC-7, Michael F. Stemper wrote:
> I'm just finishing up Ken MacLeod's _The Sky Road_. One of
> the viewpoint characters is some kind of ambassador for
> Kazakhstan.
>
> Just over two month ago, I read Charlie Stross' _Rule 34_, in
> which Kazakhstan also plays a prominent role.
>
> To the best of my recollection, I've never encountered it in
> any other SF. Is this some big trend that I'm missing? Is
> there some significance to Kazakhstan other than it being an
> impoverished country that was once part of the USSR?
>
> --
> Michael F. Stemper
> Isaiah 58:6-7
I've long been interested in Kazakhstan and the possibilities for fiction. My most comparatively developed idea has been a WW2 alternate history story where aliens invade the USSR through the Kazakh republic. Most of my further ideas were on a biomechanoid based civilization.

In article <t9cva3$ma91$1@dont-email.me>,
Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:

> On 6/24/2022 2:47 PM, Michael F. Stemper wrote:
> > I'm just finishing up Ken MacLeod's _The Sky Road_. One of
> > the viewpoint characters is some kind of ambassador for
> > Kazakhstan.
> >
> > Just over two month ago, I read Charlie Stross' _Rule 34_, in
> > which Kazakhstan also plays a prominent role.
> >
> > To the best of my recollection, I've never encountered it in
> > any other SF. Is this some big trend that I'm missing? Is
> > there some significance to Kazakhstan other than it being an
> > impoverished country that was once part of the USSR?
>
> I believe that Kazakhstan is in "Marching Through Georgia" by S. M.
> Stirling as the Drakas take out the Soviet Union piece by piece.
>
> https://www.amazon.com/Marching-Through-Georgia-Draka-Novels/dp/0671654071/
>

The novel is set in the occupied (by Nazi Germany) Soviet Republic of
Georgia (Kazakhstan is on the other side of the Caspian Sea). IIRC, at
the time, there wasn't much unoccupied USSR west of the Ural Mountains.
IIRC, there is an overview of the Draka conquest of much of the Eurasia
continent, but I don't remember details.

--
"We have advanced to new and surprising levels of bafflement."
Imperial Auditor Miles Vorkosigan describes progress in _Komarr_.
—-----------------------------------------------------
Robert Woodward robertaw@drizzle.com

On Mon, 27 Jun 2022 14:09:56 -0500, Lynn McGuire
<lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:

>On 6/24/2022 2:47 PM, Michael F. Stemper wrote:
>> I'm just finishing up Ken MacLeod's _The Sky Road_. One of
>> the viewpoint characters is some kind of ambassador for
>> Kazakhstan.
>>
>> Just over two month ago, I read Charlie Stross' _Rule 34_, in
>> which Kazakhstan also plays a prominent role.
>>
>> To the best of my recollection, I've never encountered it in
>> any other SF. Is this some big trend that I'm missing? Is
>> there some significance to Kazakhstan other than it being an
>> impoverished country that was once part of the USSR?
>
>I believe that Kazakhstan is in "Marching Through Georgia" by S. M.
>Stirling as the Drakas take out the Soviet Union piece by piece.
>
>https://www.amazon.com/Marching-Through-Georgia-Draka-Novels/dp/0671654071/

While that's true (though IIRC the Draka in 1942 came up through the
Caucasus and hooked WEST of Moscow not east but in my books the fact
that Baikonur is in Kazakhstan is the likeliest explanation.

Of course it COULD be Sascha Baron Cohen but I would doubt it...

On Mon, 27 Jun 2022 22:01:02 -0700, Robert Woodward
<robertaw@drizzle.com> wrote:

>> https://www.amazon.com/Marching-Through-Georgia-Draka-Novels/dp/0671654071/
>>
>
>The novel is set in the occupied (by Nazi Germany) Soviet Republic of
>Georgia (Kazakhstan is on the other side of the Caspian Sea). IIRC, at
>the time, there wasn't much unoccupied USSR west of the Ural Mountains.
>IIRC, there is an overview of the Draka conquest of much of the Eurasia
>continent, but I don't remember details.

From the limited description of Drakan weaponry it would seem the
Draka had tanks roughly equal to the 1955-65 era - e.g. pretty much
unchanged in a typical 1939-45 tank drive train but much more heavily
gunned.

Plus the fact that if I remember the book correctly the Draka had
seized Kazakhstan during the Russian Civil War some 20 years earlier
(and completed their conquest of Africa and the Middle East during
WW1)

Alternate history is one of my strongest genres :)