The Worlds of John Van Stry

About the Series Title:
First of all, the series has absolutely nothing to do with the comic based movie of similar name. I didn't even know that existed at the time I published, or I might have gone with a different name. Why are the names almost identical? Because we both got it from the same source, obviously.

Originally the names of the books were going to be different, reflecting the sections of the Moody Blues Album from the sixties that inspired the title and some of the book. Internally each of the books would have been broken up into sections based on the names of each of the songs on the album. All of that was changed, for reasons of plot and such. Also for reasons of being worried about being sued. I decided not to change the title, because I liked it. Yes, I've been accused of ripping off the comic book. Which is funny, because I have no idea what it's about, and because THEY ripped it off as well.

Criticisms and Questions:
I've received some interesting criticisms on the story, over things that Paul, the protagonist, has either said, done, or taken part in. Also some about the behavior of others in the story. I find a lot of them to be pretty funny, as almost everything in the story (okay, excepting some of the fantasy elements, those I mostly made up), comes from things I've either researched, seen, or done.

Horses. No, the horses do not do more than twenty miles a day, except in a rare exception that's mentioned. All of the distances have been measured out. However horses can and sometimes do travel a lot further than that. There's even a race that a friend of mine's mother used to compete in that takes two days and goes over a hundred miles. Through the mountains of northern California.

Riggs being a right bastard. Yeah, I knew this guy when I was in the service. Yeah, he knew his shit, but he was still a right bastard. Would he have killed someone who got in his way? Probably. I've known of others who did it, and got away with it too. The military is a very different world. It's about breaking things and killing people. And no, justice isn't all that important. It's what the CO thinks is important that matters (And sometimes the IG, if you can get them involved, but that will always come back to haunt you eventually.)

Why didn't we learn more about the World? A lot of that is because we're seeing all of this through Paul's eyes; it is a first person singular narration. Yes, Havsue does appear to be something of a libertarian paradise to many people. But Paul was mostly focusing on what he had to do, and still getting over what had been done to him and coming to terms with all of it.

Is Riggs a champion? (i.e. from the POI series) - No. Riggs is a hero to his people, but he's not a champion. This is not a POI (Portals of Infinity) story.