I'm really close to the end of Abhorsen now, where Lirael and her dog have just performed a little .. shall I say ... pruning?
SOUTHERLINGS AND AUSTRALIAN DETENTION CENTRES
For any readers of the Old Kingdom trilogy who are not knowledgeable of Australian current affairs/politics ... the whole Southerlings refugees and camps, especially the way they were described in the 2nd book, "Lirael", seem to have been inspired by the political hotpot of boat people and detention centres. The manner, length, and in fact the existence of detention centres in Australia to 'process' 'illegal' immigrants (a lot of these terms are arguable depending upon which side of the coin you're betting on) are subject to voracious debate.
Basically, if you try to escape a shocking regime somewhere by hitching I ride on a junk bound for some wild coastline of northern Australia, chances are we'll find you, stick you in a 'detention centre' (a camp which is kind of a lock-up, some even are surrounded by barbed wire and are located in deserts!). This is place to contain whatever threat a 'boat person' might present .. most will be on the level but there may be undesirables amongst them ... we're are on Al Quaida's hitlist, ya know.
Eventually you'll either be handed some cash and let into the country, or put on a plane and sent back to from whence you came (if we believe you when you said you came from there, else you might be sent back to where we think you came from).
Being careful about who is let in, maintaining a fair process that doesn't put boat people ahead of form-filler-outers, well, no-one disputes that. But the treatment of folks during the processing stage is subject to debate. Some feel that they've 'queue-jumped', floating in on a ship instead of applying for refugee status via official channels. They also fear the danger that a lack of paperwork may represent. Others feel that to lock folks in a wire cage and keep them sometimes for years while unwinding red tape, is purely inhumane.
While this is a hotbed of anger and verbal jousting (and some protesters have on occasion broken into the centres and actually freed the residents - yes just like from the Clave's dungeon!), it definitely provides interesting food for thought, and I reckon Nix had the issue in mind when he mentioned encampments of southerlings close to the wall where Ancelstierran bureacracy worked out what to do with them.
... AND A BLUE DOG ON THE BACK
Just as Rodney Rude himself reckons, every ute needs a blue dog attached. Note the description of the dog as being a basic cross/mongrel, bit of a blue dog. This is an Australian icon. Nix may never have seen one (though I'm sure he did), its as common a terminology as is 'Dennys' in the USA.
HOW ABOUT THE SEABOUND SIDES OF THE LAND IN QUESTION?
What real-life locales may have inspired the geography of the Old Kingdom and Ancelstiere? The first time I looked at the map, I thought, wow, its England and Scotland! Just purely by the layout. But now I'm not so sure. He's definitely enjoying adding Aussie influences (many of which come from the UK), including terminology like 'reckon', for instance (in the USA, they say 'guess' more than 'reckon' - so the missus tells me (she's a yank). There's no real relevance to Australia as we don't have major boundaries, none at all with other nations that are on land! I keep coming back to England and Scotland but mayhap its just wasted guesswork. Waterbound left and right, umm no chance of it being the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea, though? Ooh Pacific and Caribbean - *cough*.
Anyways, they's just some thoughts.
