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Things about Governance - 2026

Updated: 1 day ago

by Lynda Williams


Things About Governance (2026) - 01

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"Things About Governance" is a thematic series of articles, sponsored by Reality Skimming Press. Pieces in the series run from Jan-June 2026. Query us about contributing for $25 CAD a post at https://facebook.com/relskim  or by email at info@realityskimming.com

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Author Lynda Williams.
Author Lynda Williams.

Early Ideas


I cared about leadership from a young age. Leadership, fairness and heroes. I was swept away by figures like Zorro, the powerful aristocrat who restores justice by the sword. I lapped up Greek mythology for its raw portrayal of human desires but couldn't admire selfish, squabbling gods. King Arthur was more my speed, and the empowering Merlin who guided him. It took an interest in history to make me face up to the real motives of most "great" men. And women. They were typically concerned, first, about staying in power (or acquiring it) at all costs. The best of them served their people's prosperity out of enlightened self-interest. I remain a fan of enlightened self-interest. In the Okal Rel Saga, what is worthy about Ev'rel's leadership is what she learned in this regard from Di Mon.


But overall, the romance of the just king who fights his way back from deposed heir, held a lot sway with me. As it has for generations of humans like me.


Amel's journey as the rightful heir who regains his birthright is as old as legend., and an undeniable theme in the Okal Rel Saga, although complicated by author Lynda Williams' increasing sophistication over the decades of the saga's development. Image credit: (Yamamoto, c. 2014)
Amel's journey as the rightful heir who regains his birthright is as old as legend., and an undeniable theme in the Okal Rel Saga, although complicated by author Lynda Williams' increasing sophistication over the decades of the saga's development. Image credit: (Yamamoto, c. 2014)

Benevolent Dictatorship


A strong case can be made for kings if we judge by the unexamined instinct of most humans across all of time. We seem to want to believe in messiahs, benevolent dictators and emperors with the mandate of heaven.


The challenge falls on the "benevolent" requirement. Ever Marcus Aurelius let his disastrous son Commodus succeed him (factsanddetails.com, n.d.), although that mistake aside I'd still count him an exception to the rule.


But if real kings and emperors are rarely "good", why do our oldest, most beloved stories make them so?


I think there's two reasons.


  1. Wishful thinking. It's a damn sight better to have a smooth transition from king to crown prince than to suffer the horrors of a civil war. Also, if you are a commoner oppressed by a baron, you have to place hope somewhere.

  2. Parents as our first government. Throughout most of our history, our parents (or kin-group) were our first experience of being governed. If we survived to adulthood, they must have been reasonably benevolent. We look for "little fathers" (Micallef, 2017) and "dear leaders" to assume the parental role.


Empire and Federation in Okal Rel Saga


My migration from myth and legend into scifi isn't hard to explain. There are so many similarities (Sanjukta Chakraborty, 2022).


In my own work, I strove to create utopia in the Reetion Confederacy, and evolved early ideas about a dreadful dystopia they fought against into the multiple cultures of Sevildom.


The Reetion system of government is a complex, interlocking set of working councils comprising 10% of the population, and administered by non-sentient AIs known as arbiters responsible for extensive monitoring and management of how much of each others' lives people are able to surveil in what manner in order to implement regulations and laws passed by voting councils.
The Reetion system of government is a complex, interlocking set of working councils comprising 10% of the population, and administered by non-sentient AIs known as arbiters responsible for extensive monitoring and management of how much of each others' lives people are able to surveil in what manner in order to implement regulations and laws passed by voting councils.

Perhaps it was inevitable my fascination with the "bad guys" would take over the majority of the words written in the ten-novel Okal Rel Saga, although this is balanced by the Reetion characters and Reetion-influenced Sevolites like Erien.


Some Demish-looking characters suggestive of sword law, by artist Richard Bartrop. Image credit: (Bartrop, n.d.)
Some Demish-looking characters suggestive of sword law, by artist Richard Bartrop. Image credit: (Bartrop, n.d.)

Also, although the Sevolites are neo-feudal, I have also pursued my interest in good governance through their various clashes and collaborations even with Reetions.


Your Turn


In this half of 2026, the Reality Skimming Blog invites authors and readers, publishers, gamers and other adventurers in the realms of the imagination, historical research, or contemporary concerns, to express their views on governance as they have mused or riffed on it, through their work or in their lives or thoughts as they seek to make sense of our ever changing, ever rhyming world.


Have an idea you'd like to workup for "Things About Governance"? Reach out to us on https://facebook/relskim or by email to info@realityskimming.com to pitch your offer and to book a slot.


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Lynda Williams has been many things in her life: daughter and sister, student, wife and mother, reporter, manager, instructor, librarian, researcher -- but foundationally author of the Okal Rel Saga, and these days publisher at Reality Skimming Press. The world of imagination was always her safe place from which to reflect on an unsafe world.



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References



Image Credits


  • Bartrop, R. (n.d.). Illustration suggestive of sword law among Sevolites.

  • Yamamoto, Y. (c. 2014). Cover art (draft) for the book ten of the 2nd edition of the Okal Rel Saga.



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Copyright © 2023-2025 Lynda Williams

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