Hello all,

Welcome back! Let’s dive right in.

(OBLIGATORY SPOILER ALERT HERE:)

“Hey,
I’m a pretty big history buff and noticed that in An Empire of Ashes, the Empire’s ships have names like the Akagi, Kongo, and Nagato, but then they also have Kali, Colossus, and Agincourt. Those names span a lot of different modern countries. Why do they all fall under the Eastern Empire while ships like the Churchill would be under another faction?
Thanks,
Mike”

Hi Mike,

Good eye for details there, my man! So personally, I wanted to use ships that modern military and history buffs would recognize. I chose the Nagato as my hero ship because… well, she’s one of the most recognizable (or should be) names in the old Japanese Navy. She served with distinction throughout the entire war and was the ONLY Japanese capital ship to survive past Japan’s surrender. I still think it was a shame that she was used in the atomic testing instead of being preserved, but then again, a lot of really historic ships were lost that way. Oh well.

To answer your question about why the Empire’s naming conventions seem to span multiple cultures, it’s because the Empire does. Keep in mind, the Eastern Empire has spent two hundred years expanding it’s territory. Where the Eastern Coalition didn’t have the power or the jurisdiction to stop them, they either broke off and became their own nations or merged together to form another one. Much of the India/Pakistani region declared their independence and became their own nation. Meanwhile, the several territories broke off from the Eastern Coalition and embraced more radical, anti-dragon, ideologies and formed the Eastern Empire. The largest of these territories to join almost immediately was Southern Russia, Mongolia, and Northern China. Eventually, Southern China, Australia, Indonesia, Japan, parts of India that had remained with the Eastern Coalition, as well as the rest of Russia would fall to the Eastern Empire. By the time of the Empire of Ashes, the Eastern Empire spanned the entirety of Russia, East Asia, and most of Northern Europe including the Britain, the Nordic nations, Northern France, Germany, and the Balkan Regions. The Eastern Coalition held the region that once belonged to the Persian Empire, Southern Europe (though it was quickly losing territory there, and most of Africa.

Meanwhile, the United Provinces of the West (UPW) held North America in totality, most of the Pacific Islands once held by the United States, and most of South America with a few small provinces opting to remain independent for a brief time.

So given the layout of the globe, naming conventions spanning that far makes sense. I already explained why I named my hero the ship the Nagato, but then you’re probably wondering why I went with Colossus for the villain ship. Well… I didn’t want to go with Yamato. I thought that was a bit too on the nose. The Colossus was one of Britain’s most powerful battleships going into World War 1, and a design I was quite fond of. So I went with that.

As for the Kali… I just thought that made sense for a ship that was going to be able to match the power of the Colossus, which is one of the most feared battleships in the world in this universe. As to why the Eastern Coalition still maintained ships that bore names like ‘Churchill’ well, it could be seen as an act of defiance. The Eastern Coalition never recognized the Eastern Empire as a legitimate nation state, much to their detriment and the fall of Europe would have been fresh in many of their minds.

Readers, if you liked the book, please take a moment and leave me a quick review or if you’re pressed for time, some simple stars will suffice!! I wouldn’t ask, but the more exposure my book gets, the more copies it sells. Word of mouth is everything in this business! Thanks so much, all! I greatly appreciate it!

https://a.co/d/fvwmK1H

Thanks, friends! I’ll catch you on the flipside!

-Jim

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.

jhwriting@proton.me

I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.

Please note, I only do one of these a day and will do my best to respond to everyone, but it may take some time.

Also, feel free to check out my works of Fantasy and Historical Fiction, Available on Amazon and where ever books are sold. See the link below:

http://www.amazon.com/James-Harrington/e/B00P7FBXTU

Note:
If you have read my books, PLEASE log into Amazon and post a review. I really love to hear everyone’s thoughts and constructive criticisms. Reviews help get my book attention and word of mouth is everything in this business!

Thanks friends!

Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim