“The time has come when the old world must make way for the new.”
The following is a comprehensive and spoiler-free guide on the setting of the novel SOVREV: The Faith Endeavor, with expanded information from the book detailing the geopolitical scenario of the story.
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A Brave New World
The world in the year 20*7 in SOVREV: The Faith Endeavor
The
story in SOVREV: The Faith Endeavor takes
place sometime in the 21st century in the year 20*6, in Loynne’s Island, an island nation in the North Atlantic Ocean. Loynne’s Island is an
ultra-luxurious touristic paradise with nearly no poverty or crime, the new
navel of the Western world. From a mysterious Soviet-styled communist nation somewhere in Eastern Europe, which finds itself torn by civil war and transitioning to capitalism, a teenager going by the alias of Sonny Zharostin arrives on Loynne's Island in order to safeguard a new life for his family. Sonny refers to his homeland only as The Motherland in order to protect the secrecy of his origins.
Trying to withstand the hardships of cultural differences with capitalist Western mentality, Sonny lives an unassuming life, finding himself alienated from Loynner society. Unexpectedly, with no explanations given, Sonny then receives a package containing a most bizarre object, one which shall change his life forever.
Trying to withstand the hardships of cultural differences with capitalist Western mentality, Sonny lives an unassuming life, finding himself alienated from Loynner society. Unexpectedly, with no explanations given, Sonny then receives a package containing a most bizarre object, one which shall change his life forever.
By
the time the story takes place, the world’s superpowers are highly suspicious
of one another, heavily isolated and establishing national Intranets in place
of the erstwhile World Wide Web. Highly-centralized regional blocs and
supranational organizations that resemble federations are on the rise, as are
left-wing and right-wing struggles, movements and terrorist groups which have
spread worldwide, creating polarization in most countries, not to mention
economic, political and social instability.
Paradise Itself
Map of Loynne's Island
Amidst this chaos, Loynne’s Island remains the safest place in the world to live in, as well as the place with the highest standards of living. A large island in the North Atlantic merely 3500 kilometers away from the US and 1400 kilometers from South America, Loynne’s used to be a Portuguese colony, then a British protectorate, only to be attacked by the US in an attempt to seize it from the British. Loynne’s was later made independent in a joint Treaty by the US and the UK. The Treaty also requires for the US and the UK to simultaneously defend the island from external attack. Both the US and the UK also have to refrain from expansionism into Loynne’s to safeguard its sovereignty. Loynne’s had no role in the Cold War, but thrived after the fall of Communism, with Russian and Eastern European investors capitalizing on new developments. The island is highly multicultural, and is greatly influenced by the US and the UK culturally. Poverty, crime and social inequality are extremely low. Loynne’s maintains a tourism industry that is unrivaled in the world, benefiting from the chaos in other countries and exploiting the people’s desires to run away from their realities, if only briefly. Living in Loynne’s is an extreme privilege, and not many manage to secure citizenship and most, if not all, illegal immigrants are deported. The Special Knowledge Assault Regiment (SKAR), a highly-centralized paramilitary police task force, maintains peace and security, and is globally renowned for being the best trained and most effective law enforcement agency. In conjunction with the Loynne’s Island Police Department (LIPD), the SKAR handles drug trafficking, human trafficking, weapons smuggling, urban pacification and border patrol and surveillance. Although Loynne’s doesn’t have an army, it is established in the Loynner Treaty of Independence that the SKAR would act as a military force to defend the island on an invasion.
US Second Civil War and the Rise of Superpowers
The Second US Civil War as depicted in SOVREV: The Faith Endeavor
The
United States has morphed into an authoritarian theocracy by the hand of the
highly-religious US President Johnny Marshall, who unified all of the
Protestant Churches of the US into the Church of Creatonology, garnering
unpopularity in the South. After many expensive and unsuccessful conflicts in
the Middle East and terrorist attacks at home, racism and xenophobia spread
enough for the majority of US citizens to want to deport or enjail Muslims and
illegal aliens. The US remains isolated, maintaining autarchy through a self-sufficiency
strategy known as the New Marshall Plan, mixing Church and State further, and
being economically and politically sanctioned by the world’s emerging
superpowers, such as China and Russia. This bolsters Confederate sentiment of
wanting to secede from the Union, due to political, religious and economic
disagreements with decisions coming from Washington. All US military forces are
called back home, and the US creates a stronghold of autarchy and
self-sufficiency. Many returning military personnel and veterans come back with
anti-Patriotic sentiments due to how the wars have been handled, furthering poverty
and instability in the world. Veterans from Southern states bolster
pro-Confederate sentiment in the South and resent the Church of Creatonology,
which they perceive as a distorted Northern invention. Furthermore, the great
amount of military forces called back home provide the South with an immense
offensive capability. In
May 20*7, a Confederacy of Southern states led by Texas initiates an armed
secession against the Theocratic States of the North, while westernmost states
such as California, Washington and Oregon remain neutral.
Shortly before this takes place, the failed European Union and the obsolete NATO restructure themselves into LEUNA (League of European Nations), a fascist supranational union born out of the same xenophobic sentiment that turned the US into a theocracy. After many terrorist attacks at home and fearing the rise of Russia and Eastern European countries, right-wing movements secure victory in most nations and revive the fascism of the 1930s, with flags bearing fascist and Nazi symbols such as swastikas and Odin crosses.
Russia and its allies, as a
response, form the Warsaw Pact-like EUSTRA (Eurasian Strategic Alliance), to
contain European fascism, which has begun to spread into their own territories.
Map of EUSTRA
The UK, meanwhile, maintains a peaceful and economically-stable – if inconsequential – supranational bloc in conjunction with territories under the British crown, such as Canada, New Zealand and Australia, and is allied with the US, if warily. Fearing Russian expansionism, however, the United States and the British Commonwealth decide to support LEUNA against EUSTRA.
EUSTRA and LEUNA
eventually clash militarily, first in small, localized conflicts in Eastern
Europe, then in a full-blown war. Countries in the middle of LEUNA and EUSTRA
territories are forced to pick sides, and are soon thrust into Civil War
between fascist/pro-European and communist/pro-Russian forces.
As these events take place, even Loynne's Island itself is not safe: aside from decreasing numbers of tourists due to the imperating chaos in the mainlands, mysterious political forces begin to concentrate on the island, all conspiring trying to secure the mysterious package Sonny Zharostin received. Sonny will have to make the hardest decision of his life: risk his family's chance at a life in Loynne's in order to protect it from the forces seeking to destroy it, while trying to enforce his communist ideals and not stray from them.
PARADISE LOST
As these events take place, even Loynne's Island itself is not safe: aside from decreasing numbers of tourists due to the imperating chaos in the mainlands, mysterious political forces begin to concentrate on the island, all conspiring trying to secure the mysterious package Sonny Zharostin received. Sonny will have to make the hardest decision of his life: risk his family's chance at a life in Loynne's in order to protect it from the forces seeking to destroy it, while trying to enforce his communist ideals and not stray from them.