Ventus by Karl Schroeder

Karl Schroeder / Ventus / Page 116
"Really." She sat at the writing desk, and looked out
over the grounds. "I’ve never been anywhere quite like this."
"It’s positively medieval," said Axel with a nod. "But
then, look at their history. Six hundred years ago these people
were still scrabbling in the muck, living in mud huts. Only a
few warlords had any kind of power. It’s actually pretty
amazing how far they’ve come as a society, considering the
ancestors of people like the Boros."
He waved at the grounds. "All this is very European in
style. I’m pretty sure people must have raided manse libraries
here and there over the centuries. How much would it take, do
you think, to build a nation? One book of economics?
Another about gardening? They saved very little from the
initial disaster, so they must have supplemented it from the
manses, but it was obviously hard-won knowledge, or there’d
be more of it."
Calandria pictured a group of soldiers armed with pikes
trying to face down several of the golden creatures she and
Jordan had seen--battling their way to a manse library,
grabbing a few books at random, then bolting with crystalline
things at their heels.
That was interesting, but not what she had come here to
talk about. "What's the occasion for this reunion?" she asked.
"Yuri called it--the patriarch, you met his wife. Marice.
Good name. There's some kind of power struggle within the
clan, and he wants to resolve it. The Boros are old money in
three nations: Memnonis, Ravenon, and Iapysia. The revolt of
the parliament in Iapysia has tipped the balance of power
somehow, and Yuri wants to make sure it trickles through the
family correctly. The Iapysians don't mind--they get to call in
favors to consolidate their position back home. Problem is,
there's two factions represented there--the parliamentarians,