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Excellent questions, John.  The Middles Ages was a term invented in the 17th century to describe the period from the Fall of Rome to the Age of Discovery.  Asimov was using it to describe a period between the ancient world (undefined) and the period in which the Earth ceased to be the only planet inhabited by humans.  My guess is from the dropping of the atomic bomb (seminal for a lot of '50's SF writers) to the first independent space colony (sometime in the next 6,000 years.)  I'm using it from the (second) Industrial Revolution (1840's) to the World State, with its artificial intelligence, global government and economy, warp drive and space colonies.  We are developing  AI, have international law that affects the use of your refrigerators, sanctions for rogue nations,and a global economy, with interlocking nation states and treaties governing it. The US has plans for a Martian colony; the Chinese for a lunar one.  Despite Brixet and Trump, I think this will continue.  We have warp drive but at the micro-cosmic level.  Right now, if present trends continue in nano-technology, the first deep space explorers will probably be robots too small for the naked eye to see.  The World State of my stories is not far off.

Lincoln would definitely be Middle Ages. Would Skakespeare be Dark Ages?  Perhaps.  I can see historians thinking anything pre-steampunk being the Dark Ages.  Or maybe The First Middle Ages, like the First Industrial Revolution.  Some might reject the distinction altogether--depending on how free the universities are under Unification. (Most historians reject the term 'Dark Ages' now.) The fairies claim Shakespeare as one of their own, so from their perspective, the 15th century is in late Arthurian times.  In fact, the portal is still on Earth (around the Mounds of Sidhu) and some people can still escape to freedom from the witch burnings and persecutions, if they are lucky enough to remember that the portal exists and how to get to it.

By the time of the story, there is warp drive for meso-cosmic ships, although I describe them as cramped, like submarines.  There are freighters, described as being like the starships in Independence Day, (They tend to suck whole water tables into their storage tanks) but they use EM Drive, and depend on the wormhole/portal to get to Dareau and back.  Far too big for a warp bubble, as of yet.  But the discovery of unlimited firestones and dark energy might change all of that.  ("We could colonize the galaxy, my boy!  Think of it."--paraphrased from the General)  The portal has been thrown by Myrddin between the orbits of Jupiter and Mars for safe keeping--he not being aware that the humans will someday be able to get to the orbit between Jupiter and Mars.  (He probably thought they'd destroy each other if they developed that capacity.  Fermi's Paradox as applied to humans.)

Thanks for stimulating my thoughts on this.

Hugs, Rhia

Norm:  I appreciate your concern about setting interfering with the plot.  As a fantasy writer, I have to have a lot of setting description, and the way I make sure it doesn't interfere with plot is by having it emerge out of the action.  Like the forest in Rhiannon's sensory sight when she runs to it, the description of the chase and the disaster she wrought with her magic.  It's different, of course, with a real world setting, but I advised Wordsmith, who used to be a member of tNBW, when she was trying to denature her stories set in Jamaica that people, especially those who can't afford to travel to Jamaica, would want to be immersed in that setting while they read.  It's a matter of style, and in our world of every person having her own printing press (the Internet), its all in who you want to share your adventure and world.  The publishing conglomerate that controls best sellers is doing to mainstream books what you describe the radio conglomerate as doing.  We can ignore them, but I wanted to follow their rule in the opening-- adrenalin pumping action.  She rests, and we get the more gentle introduction.  When there is a pause in her life or death struggle, we can calmly see the plesiosaur playfully splashing in the moat  There it was like a postcard. 

You can toss in brief description with action.  As Danny walks to his car, he passes a famous landmark, that sort of thing.  But as long as we enjoy and appreciate each other's style, that's the important thing for writing buddies.

I also am like Harlan Ellison who never read a book of his again after he published.  YOu can alway have the response--"I can't believe I did that," and as a publisher of mind says:  "Ars longa, vita breva," which literally means, "Life is short, art is long," but he translates to "Proofreading never ends."

Hugs, Rhea.

'Best seller,' the way the New York Times uses it means (a) at least 100,000 sold (b) politically correct or at least not incorrect.  (b) trumps (a), as the only book that met their stated criterion--(a)--which wasn't included on their list was The Turner Diaries.  (I, of course, had to read that because of that attempt at censorship.  My advice--don't.)

I've tentatively named the books in the epic of Rhiannon so far:  "The Loves of Rhiannon."  "The Sword of Rhiannon."  "The Wife of Rhiannon."  "The Justice of Rhiannon."  "The Reality of Rhiannon."  All but the last are in rough draft form, but as the earlier books change, so do the later books--and vice-versa.

Thanks CJ.  Now I just have to keep the symmetry up for book 3, 4, and 5.  lol

John:  Portfolio is still full, but I've been concentrating on reviews, building up points, and the 5th book in the series.  Not to mention earning a living, taking care of my spouse.  Never fear, Trump has assured me that he will only call me up in case of alien invasion.

Hi Norm.  Interesting perspective, as usual.  A shadow plot is one written from an alternative POV--usually where there is an antagonist.  A typical example would be a detective story which, when published, is written from the detective's POV.  The shadow plot would be the same story, written from the murderer's POV--and the intersection in POV's would be what would be presented in the final work.  I did some shadow plotting in CtN, to be clear as to what Jeb Hardwick was up to--what's presented to the reader was what Rhiannon knew--and it seems to have worked, as several readers think he might be coming back with an army.  What he's really up to--and I'm not saying as that might spoil things--is written separately.  A shadow plot needn't have as many details as an actual plot, you don't have to go into descriptions of settings, unless they're important to the shadow plot (where the villain hid the murder weapon, for instance).

Yeah, suspense and mystery is part of my consideration for having the 3rd character at the end of the story.  There were odd occurrences that made the characters stop and wonder, and the reader too.  Might end that too soon.  Right before the final chapter, it creates, presently, an 'ohhhh.' as well as "Who the heck is she?"  I might lose that if it's put through the story.

goolgeplex

The "Native Americans" originated in Asia.  Everyone born here is a native American.  Oh, wait.  Your statements are still true.  Never mind.  (lol)