History YMMV / Victoria

* SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome:
** After providing an heir to the throne, Victoria utters the following sentence: "Did you really think I'd let ''Cumberland'' be King?" Cumberland is her disgustingly horrible uncle who does, indeed, want the throne. He can't get it now.
** Sir Robert Peel getting the other Tories to agree to name Albert regent for his child in case Victoria dies in childbirth. Why? Because Robert Mother-courting Peel says so! Yeah!
** In the Series 3 finale, Abigail Turner gives Penge a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech over his constantly looking down on Brodie and believing him to be incapable of true feelings.

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[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: The Alternate History Novel]]
* AccidentalAesop:
** Like the book ''Literature/ChristianNation'', one could easily walk away convinced this book's message is that fundamentalist Christianity is a threat to contemporary American society.
** Both the hero's and antagonist's actions make a surprisingly good case that it's important to allow even intolerant extremists basic rights or they will become violent and you may be less prepared to handle that than you think.
* AlternateCharacterInterpretation:
** The Confederation can be seen as an incredibly hardline authoritarian regime rather than the paragon of libertarian, limited government and "Western values" the novel tries to present it as. The same applies to the individual characters, such as Kraft and Rumford himself. It is also common for some to believe they are actually a vassal state of Russia, given what a huge role it played in granting it independence.
** As mentioned elsewhere on this page, it's not hard to buy that the book is an in-universe PropagandaPiece being circulated by Victorian citizens. Their enemies are easily defeated, deserve what they get, and are falling apart through sheer incompetence in the face of manly Victorian patriots.
** The neo-pagan female Episcopalian bishop who is burned at the stake in the prologue, Cloaca Devlin, was given a choice by the Victorian government: admit she was not a Christian (and be exiled), admit she was not a bishop (and be free to go), or be executed. She chose to die. There are parallels between this and the early Christian tradition of martyrdom--Devlyn refused to renounce her faith and so went to her death willingly. Rumsford (and quite probably Lind) never seems to consider this interpretation.
* {{Anvilicious}}: The bad sides of extreme leftism, multiculturalism and political correctness are really played up (to the point of [[TheWarOnStraw Strawmanning]]) by the narrative, and there is no subtlety about it. The victory of the Christian Marines over the evil forces of feminism, homosexuality, political correctness, communism, etc., is [[AuthorTract basically the entire purpose of the story.]]
* AudienceAlienatingPremise: Neo-reactionary fundamentalists, who decide who's a "good Christian" and what kinds of thinking are "cultural Marxism," smash all the forces of "cultural Marxism" (liberalism, multiculturalism and progressivism) one-by-one, setting up a perfect agrarian-regressive state where everyone is a "good Christian," or else. It's not for everyone.
* BadassDecay: The Azanian feminists start out with high levels of competence, but rapidly become far less formidable when facing Rumford.
* CatharsisFactor: Presumably, at least part of the book's appeal in right-wing circles is due to this. Strands of thought they hate get villainized to hell and back, then smashed left, right and center, from global crusades against Islam to "cultural Marxist" professors being butchered and their ideas replaced with reactionary traditionalism, to silly feminists proved wrong and put in their place.
* CommonKnowledge: Some believe that the term "orcs" is used by the protagonists as a racial slur against blacks and Hispanics. In fact, it refers specifically to violent criminals and other persons of similarly worthless moral character; there's even a bit in one chapter that discusses in so many words how the local blacks are at war with the local orcs. In-story, Father Dmitri is the first to use the term and defines it as "soldiers of the Evil One." In practice, the term is exclusively used to refer to criminals belonging to ethnic minorities, since these generally play a larger role in the book than WhiteGangbangers who don't fit the narrative of racial chaos as well.
* CrossesTheLineTwice: Those of a left-wing or moderate mindset who aren't horrified by the book's many, ''many'' ethnic, sexist, and homophobic stereotypes might find them laughable. As a general rule, having the protagonists be a group of rural gun-loving fanatics waging open war against ''one'' particular interest group is offensive, almost terrifying... having the protagonists be a group of rural gun-loving fanatics waging war against ''every'' other interest group (and ''[[PlotArmor winning]]'') is hilariously absurd.
* DesignatedHero: The story runs on BlackAndGrayMorality, but the actions the Christian Marines, Rumford, and Kraft undertake would suffice to make them villains in many/most other works: condoning slavery and indentured servitude, evicting minorities, massacres of political opponents, tarring and feathering a judge, nuking downtown Atlanta (albeit to [[IDidWhatIHadToDo bring down a genocidal regime]]), racism and homophobia galore, to name a few examples.
* DesignatedVillain: As mentioned under AlternativeCharacterInterpretation, the neo-pagan Episcopalian bishop, Cloaca Devlin, whose burning at the stake by the Christian marines opens the book. She's given a chance to admit that she is not a Christian, abdicate her bishopric, or die, and she chooses the latter, with the resulting execution presented as a justified and righteous deed. While her strongly heretical theology surely gives her church the right to expel her (she does not believe in the Trinity or even God, while openly worshipping pagan goddesses) and she behaves generally obnoxiously throughout the courtroom negotiations and beyond, she does not really seem to have committed any real crime by real life, early 21st-century American legal standards; there are some hints that she was a fellow-traveler with the [[StrawFeminist Azanians]] earlier in the story, but even then only an ideological supporter, not a spy or any such thing.
* DoNotDoThisCoolThing: While ''Victoria'' is explicitly intended as a warning against the evils of liberalism by showing what it (supposedly) leads to when put into practice, this message is somewhat undermined by the fact that at least some of the "liberal" villain factions can easily come across looking better, or else just cooler, than the heroes.
* EpilepticTrees: Certain fans speculate that the book is really an in-universe PropagandaPiece told by an UnreliableNarrator.
** Really, much of the story that struggles makes perfect sense if you presume it to be in-universe propaganda. The foreign hordes invade, but are easily beaten back, the corrupt old empire falls to it's own hubris, and all the forces of liberalism and Cultural Marxism cannot stand before Real Victorian Men.
** How is the federal government so very efficient and powerful in stamping down on smokers, and raiding people's houses for loose jewelry and furniture without receipts, yet utterly helpless in the face of the Christian Marines and New Orleans Flu? Well, this just lends credence to the idea of the book as in-universe propaganda, the enemy Other, after all, must simultaneously be threatening enough to require all one's strength to defeat, and weak enough to collapse easily.
* EsotericHappyEnding: By the 2050s, Victoria has vanquished all of its foes, that means [[spoiler: rampant racism, sexism and homophobia are left to rule the day in Victoria. Non-Christians are actively persecuted, and the Christian world is planning a globe-spanning war with Islam as a whole. North America is now under a new Retroculture regime that resembles [[UsefulNotes/TheApartheidEra Apartheid-times South Africa]] more than anything, with a particular emphasis on "voluntary" exile of African-Americans to the countryside settlements (with the exception of a hand-picked few "useful professionals"), and other analogous movements do the same throughout most of the world. Huge sections of technological progress and art are rejected entirely because a cabal of societal elites find they clash with their ideological ideas about how a society ''should'' work rather than whether or not they actually bring benefits. Liberal America's values of equality, respect and acceptance are regarded as anathema by the new regime, ensuring that the last century of human progress was AllForNothing. William S. Lind believes all this would be a good thing, and he wants his readers to believe it as well.]]
* EvilIsCool:
** The Landwehr neo-Nazis follow Nietzsche-derived superman philosophies that at least sound cool ([[ObviouslyEvil if obviously villainous]]), and also use updated versions of the iconic, classical ''Waffen-SS'' [[PuttingOnTheReich ranks and uniforms]]. For a personal example, Captain Halsing is one of the most memorable characters in the book, and arguably the one who [[{{Determinator}} displays the most badassery]], even with Rumford and Kraft included in the comparison.
** The other cool evil faction is Azania, the Amazonian LadyLand with [[CoolPlane stealth fighters]] and the most high-tech aesthetic in general in the setting.
* EvilIsSexy: Male example: Captain Halsing is the very image of the strong, handsome young Nordic SS officer, straight out of the propaganda posters. Also polite and cultured.
* FanNickname:
** Some fans sometimes refer to Rumford as "Rumlind" (a portmanteau of his name and the author's), since they consider him an AuthorAvatar.
** Others refer to Governor Kraft as "Fuhrer Kraft", in apparent homage to [[PuttingOnTheReich Fuhrer Bradley]] in ''Manga/FullMetalAlchemist''. And at least one fan also calls him "Kaiser Billy."
* HarsherInHindsight:
** The Confederation shares [[TheHorseshoeEffect certain similarities]] with ISIL. Among other things: creating a right-wing government and ChurchMilitant, punishing [[ThePurge leftist intellectuals]] with death and making said murders a public spectacle, discriminating against racial minorities in various ways, and forcing women to live as second-class citizens while using DoubleThink to make themselves think that they'll be happier that way.
** As this page suggests, a lot of people laughed at the ridiculous idea of a movement of rural, reactionary, white and Christian nationalists trying to overthrow the United States government based on a bunch of conspiracy theories about it being subverted by "cultural Marxists," then killing everyone who disagrees with them. Then, on January 6th, 2021, a mob attempted to do just that at Capitol Hill, with right-wing media mainstreaming conspiracy theories about shadowy left-aligned boogeymen controlling American society to try to legitimize it. Relatedly, the idea that they'll eventually bloodily purge America of everyone who doesn't think like them to bring about a great national rejuvenation is a cornerstone of the "Q-Anon" movement. Both Retroculture and Q-Anon also claim that their leftist enemies are quite literally servants of the Devil.
* InferredHolocaust: Deprived of the support of the neocon lobby, Israel was destroyed by the Arabs in the global wars that followed the downfall of the corrupt United States. Nothing is said directly about the fate of the population, but given how things went elsewhere in the world (even without the historical baggage of this particularly bitter conflict), it is probably safe to assume that it was nothing nice that happened to them.
* MexicansLoveSpeedyGonzales: If you couldn't tell from this page already, there are a number of left-wing, independent-leaning, and minority/LGBTQA+ readers who appreciate this book because they find its politics [[SoBadItsGood hilarious.]]
* MoralEventHorizon: More or less every villain gets at least one event horizon-worthy event; often, the trouble is picking out ''which'' atrocity constitutes it.
** The Federal Government is already totalitarian and tyrannical well before, but the atrocity that viscerally rams home their evil is unleashing the Division Numero Uno (a small army of gangbangers, rapists and murderers) on upstate New York. This applies mostly to Secretary Mowukuu, who is the Division's main advocate, but to a lesser extent to the whole cabinet, who approve the decision.
** In the New South, the far-left Commune starts a real, Third World-style genocide in Atlanta, slaughtering whites and Asians throughout the city.
** For the Azteca hierarchy, the ''eating'' of US Ambassador Zimmerman immediately establishes them as beyond the pale.
** The Paleopitus turn Cascadia into a North Korean-style [[TheDictatorship dictatorship]] with mass famines, notionally to [[GaiasRevenge protect the environment]] -- and so, their true evil becomes apparent when they [[{{Hypocrite}} bring in Chinese corporations to strip-mine the state in order to line their own pockets.]]
** Azania's ruling junta ''do'' believe in their ideology, and are less sadistically bloodthirsty than many other enemies, but still commit atrocities in the pursuit of their utopia. If [[LoveIsACrime outlawing male-female relationships]] wasn't the event horizon, the [[TakingYouWithMe apocalyptic nuclear suicide strike]] they prepare once their defeat becomes obvious, is.
** The Nazis in Wisconsin cross it when they set up a concentration camp.
** If the [[DesignatedHero Northern Confederacy itself]] hadn't crossed the line with the mass murder of the so-called "Cultural Marxist" professors at Dartmouth on live television, they almost certainly had by the time of their response to the aforementioned Commune bloodshed with nuking downtown Atlanta to cinders.
* {{Narm}}:
** After its liberation, Rumford and his allies have New York State get rid of New York City, referred to as the Babylon on the Hudson, which should tell you why he wanted to get rid of it. What becomes of the city? They try to sell it to ''Puerto Rico''... But ''they'' don't want it. No, this isn't treated as comedy at all.
** Every time Lind tries to write a Maine accent, it can turn out incredibly jarring and ridiculous. This includes writing "well" as "waal", for one example.
** The sheer insanity of the caricatures of leftists is mind-bogglingly hard to take seriously. For example, the black Secretary of Defense makes a big speech about how only black men are warriors, at one point saying George Patton got his famous pistols from his black grandfather, who in turn stole them from Simon Legree. Yes, [[Literature/UncleTomsCabin that Simon Legree.]]
** The idea of Retroculture thinking technology invented after the 1930s is frivolous and overly complicated and that things before then were just as good in not better than modern equivalents. Ignoring the fact that the heroes frequently use weapons from well beyond that date, any engineer could tell you that there is a reason certain inventions become popular and that basically anything on the thirties could at best hope to have a small advantage over modern machines. And that's if and only if modern consumers don't consider that advantage to be important anyway.
** The book repeatedly mocks the Azanians for essentially being woman pilots and repeatedly asserts that men can fly so much better as to make up for the huge technology gap between the two groups. This is probably because women could only be pilots at the time the novel was written, but by then it had also been proven that women could serve effectively (and with few complications) as combat pilots. For those familiar with the modern US Air Force to any degree, the idea in the book is empirically outdated and laughably so.
** When explaining the difference between toleration of homosexuality (basically a sort of Don't-Ask-Don't-Tell) and approval of it (encouraging public homosexuality and advocacy), Rumford says that while he is willing to tolerate it, he would sooner give his approval to "an act involving three high yellow[[note]]light-skinned mulattoes, or people with predominantly white, but some black African ancestry[[/note]] whores, a wading pool full of green Jello, and Flipper." He's, ah, thought a lot about the limits of depravity, clearly, and miscegenation is apparently part of it. Though in the setting, this sort of thing is broadly representative of the villains; for example, in New Orleans, "Big Daddy" Tsombe has "high yellow beauties" cavorting in syrup as part of his Mardi Gras celebration.
** At one point the Nothern Confederates have a US Special Forces pinned by a creek. The Special forces are unable to retreat or maneuver because of the water. Basic research shows that the creek in real life, while wide and somewhat fast, is only ankle deep.
** When Victoria decides firmly on Retroculture, the last gasps of technological corporations are mentioned. Including men in long trenchcoats lurking outside schools to give children free video games.
** The main storyline begins when Rumford blows up his career in the Marines and becomes a far-right militant ''solely'' because he was outraged that [[FelonyMisdemeanor a female Marine said the words "Iwo Jima" in a memorial service for those who fell in that battle]] - he felt a woman giving such a speech was disrespectful because women did not then (and [[StayInTheKitchen should not now]] according to him) serve in the Marines, an objection he voiced by [[{{Hypocrite}} interrupting the memorial service]]. It comes off as a massive, incredibly disproportionate hissy fit over a minor dispute in which he was clearly in the wrong, making him look like a clown rather than a brave man standing up for his beliefs. The sheer weirdness of the whole thing led to a MemeticMutation on ''[[Website/SpacebattlesDotCom SpaceBattles.com]]'' about how Rumford believes that women are ''physically unable'' to say the words "Iwo Jima."
** The mayor of New Orleans is named Mr. Tsombe "Big Daddy" Toussaint L’Overture Othello Jones. It's like the author couldn't pick a [[GhettoName stereotypically Black name]] he wanted to use and just decided to [[OverlyLongName use them all]].
* OnlyTheAuthorCanSaveThemNow: In two major instances in particular:
** First, the Christian Marines and the embryonic Maine Free State manage to fight off the Federal Government and successfully establish their independence, with minimal resources against a military superpower. There are a lot of extenuating circumstances, from foreign assistance to the government being massively crippled by unpopular wars, economic depressions and ethnic strife, but even so the protagonists still get a lot of lucky breaks.
** Then more obviously showcased in the Azanian War. With the economic, technological and military capabilities Lind piles onto the Azanians (in some cases even surpassing the United States before its fall), the plucky underdog heroes are able to defeat them only due to interlocking plot contrivances and, of course, the fact that their enemies are just ''women'' in the end.
* RootingForTheEmpire: Those who don't fit into the author's ''very'' narrow [[WhiteAngloSaxonProtestant category]] of what a hero entails are likely to find themselves rooting for basically ''anyone'' but the Victorians to win. In addition, the atrocities committed by the protagonists (torture, hostage taking, mass executions, nuking a US city) in many cases ''[[HeWhoFightsMonsters exceed]]'' those committed by the many, many villainous factions. Plus, the Azanians have high-tech planes and technology which arguably makes them cooler than the protagonists (though they still [[PlotArmor lose]], of course) and unlike the protagonists, they actually put their prisoners in ''jail'' instead of openly torturing them to death.
* SoBadItsGood: While some readers take the book perfectly seriously and love it (and others do so and hate it), there are also those who enjoy it as a sort of semi-comedically exaggerated right-wing fantasy, a little like a less self-aware ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'', ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' or (the movie version!) ''Film/StarshipTroopers''. While ''Victoria'' incorporates themes that are serious enough, the delivery is sometimes so over-the-top that this becomes a valid interpretation.
* SpiritualAntithesis: It can be argued that it's one to ''Literature/TheHandmaidsTale''. A theocracy violently overthrows the US government and makes its version of Christianity law, women are stripped of their rights, people of color are expelled from the country, gays are forced into the closet or outright killed, and brutal punishments and executions become the norm. However it's seen as a utopia, while Gilead was very clearly the opposite.
* SpiritualSuccessor: Go read the parody version of the JustForFun/AtheistProfessorCopypasta. You would think the copypasta was a parody of ''Victoria'' itself had it not been for the fact that the copypasta was older.
* StrawmanHasAPoint: Somewhat surprisingly, the Nazis. After being treated to a CharacterFilibuster by Kraft on the matter of why not only Nazism, but any and all ideologies ever invented are always evil and dysfunctional and will cause the states that believe in them to fail, Hauptsturmfuehrer Halsing [[ArmorPiercingQuestion asks]] him whether this also applies to his own ideology of Retroculture. Kraft then essentially attempts to sidestep the issue by arguing that [[InsistentTerminology Retroculture of course is not an ideology, merely the practical application of basic common sense]], but proves unable to convince Halsing of this view. While the author evidently expects the audience to agree with Kraft, his argument can easily come across as the weaker one.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: The Azanians, for a nation of high-tech lesbians who reproduce by cloning, are surprisingly bland and dull and exist, like all the villains, to be near effortlessly smashed aside by the heroes. Notably, their resistance did amount to a little unlike most groups, and while most successor states to the US save the Nazis and the New Confederacy are mocked and their culture dissected, the only jokes here are about women fighting.
* ThisIsYourPremiseOnDrugs: Right-wing militia rebel separatists on meth.
* UnintentionallySympathetic: Various of the straw villain factions can come across this way, due to the heroes' [[UnscrupulousHero ruthlessness]] as well as general ValuesDissonance.
** Azania, the high-tech LadyLand, is painted by Rumford as a dystopian Communist tyranny, and furthermore as the embodiment of everything stupid and evil about [[StrawFeminist feminism]]. At the same time, they are essentially a progressive science-fiction power in an otherwise mostly tech-regressive and reactionary world, as well as the only major faction that still appears to believe in women's issues and LGBT rights. Between that, the ridiculous amount of plot fiat needed for their advanced near-future military to lose to plucky militiamen, and not least the rampant misogyny of the protagonists, it is not all that difficult to sympathize a little with the beleaguered Amazons. Plus, given the StrawmanBall every faction is given, many detractors are quick to assume that Azania's [[StrawFeminist less]] [[DoesNotLikeMen admirable]] qualities are [[PropagandaPiece entirely fabricated]].
* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Disrupting the remembrance of the dead is a big deal, and the incident does not reflect favorably on Rumford. To say nothing of everything that follows.
* VillainDecay: After ceasing bombing due to humanitarian concerns, and hostages, and lifting the blockade after a Russian sub sinks a ship, the Federal Government stews in ever increasing impotence until it is decapitated by an assassin unrelated to the heroes, and finally put out of its misery when the foreign funding dries up.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: The TV Series About Queen Victoria]]

* ShipToShipCombat: Vicbourne (the implied romantic feelings between Victoria and Lord Melbourne - acknowledged by the series' creator herself as intended) vs. Vicbert (Victoria and Albert). Though many fans accept how history plays out, some fans prefer Vicbourne over Vicbert, while others either have a romantic preference for Victoria and Albert, or object to the Vicbourne concept on the claim that history does not support it.

[[/folder]]

** As mentioned elsewhere on this page, it's not hard to buy that the book is an in-universe PropagandaPiece being circulated by Victorian citizens. The enemy are easily defeated, deserve what they get, and are falling apart through sheer incompetence in the face of manly Victorian patriots.

** The book repeatedly mocks the Azanians for essentially being woman pilots and repeatedly asserts that men can fly so much better as to make up for the huge technology gap between the two groups. This is probably because women could only be pilots at the time the novel was written, but by then it also been proven that women could serve effectively (and with few complications) as combat pilots. For those familiar with the modern US Air-force to any degree, the idea in the book is empirically outdated and laughably so.

** The book repeatedly mocks the Azanians for essentially being woman pilots and repeatedly asserts that men can fly so much better as to make up for the huge technology gap between the two groups. This is probably because women could only be pilots at the time the novel was written, but by then it also been proven that woman could serve effectively (and with few complications) as combat pilots. For those familiar with the modern US Air-force to any degree the idea in the book is empirically outdated and laughably so.

* EsotericHappyEnding: By the 2050s, Victoria has vanquished all of its foes, that means [[spoiler: rampant racism, sexism and homophobia are left to rule the day in Victoria. Non-Christians are actively persecuted, and the Christian world is planning a globe-spanning war with Islam as a whole. North America is now under a new Retroculture regime that resembles [[UsefulNotes/TheApartheidEra Apartheid-times South Africa]] more than anything, with a particular emphasis on "voluntary" exile of African-Americans to the countryside settlements (with the exception of a hand-picked few "useful professionals"), and other analogous movements do the same throughout most of the world. Huge sections of technological progress and art are rejected entirely because a cabal of societal elites find they clash with their ideological ideas about how a society ''should'' work rather than whether or not they actually bring benefits. Liberal America's values of equality, respect and acceptance are regarded as anathema by the new regime, ensuring that the last century of human progress was AllForNothing.]]

** The book repeatedly mocks the Azanians for essentially being woman pilots and repeatedly asserts that men can fly so much better as to make up for the huge technology gap between the two groups. This is probably because women could only be pilots at the time the novel was written, but by then it also been proven that woman could serve effectively (and with few complications) as combat pilots. For those familiar with the modern US Air-force to any degree the idea in the book empirically outdated and laughably so.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Azania, for a nation of high-tech lesbians who reproduce by cloning, are surprisingly bland and dull and exist, like all villains, to be near effortlessly smashed aside by the heroes. Notably, their resistance did amount to a little unlike most groups, and while most successor states to the US save the Nazis and the New Confederacy are mocked and their culture dissected, the only jokes here are about women fighting.

* {{Anvilicious}}: The bad sides of extreme leftism, multiculturalism and political correctness are really played up (to the point of [[TheWarOnStraw Strawmanning]]) by the narrative, and there is little subtlety about it. The victory of the Christian Marines over the evil forces of feminism, homosexuality, political correctness, communism, etc., can easily look like [[AuthorTract basically the entire purpose of the story.]]

* CommonKnowledge:
** It is commonly believed that Rumford [[NukeEm had Atlanta nuked]] in order to [[DisproportionateRetribution quell a riot]], just to [[TerrorHero demonstrate how hardcore he is]]. Actually, it's a bit more reasonable than that, though still brutal: a group of DirtyCommunists had taken over the city, wiped out the lawful authorities and launched a ''full-scale genocide'' on the innocent citizens. By quickly wiping out the inner city, where they had their headquarters, with a small nuke, Rumford tried to (and [[DestructiveSavior arguably did]]) ''save'' a lot of people out in the suburbs, who didn't get massacred because of this.
** Some also believe that the term "orcs" is used by the protagonists as a racial slur against blacks and Hispanics. In fact, it refers specifically to violent criminals and other persons of similarly worthless moral character; there's even a bit in one chapter that discusses in so many words how the local blacks are at war with the local orcs. In-story, Father Dmitri is the first to use the term and defines it as "soldiers of the Evil One." In practice, the term is usually used to refer to criminals belonging to ethnic minorities, since these generally play a larger role in the book than WhiteGangbangers (who make only occasional appearances).

* AccidentalAesop: Like the book ''Literature/ChristianNation'', one could easily walk away convinced this book's message is that fundamentalist Christianity is a threat to contemporary American society.

* HilariousInHindsight: Russian priest Father Dimitri refers to African-American criminals as "Orcs". Guess what would become a common nickname for the Russians during their invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

* HilariousInHindsight:
** This was published in 2014. A quote of the narrator: "the difference between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party was the difference between Madonna and ''UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump''".
** Russian priest Father Dimitri refers to African-American criminals as "Orcs". Guess what would become a common nickname for the Russians during their invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

* ValuesDissonance: Some readers have been known to take issue with POV character Rumford's political vision and the way he and his allies go about executing it. This applies both to the [[DayOfTheJackboot means]] [[ThePurge they]] [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain consider]] [[WouldBeRudeToSayGenocide justified]] in the struggle to rebuild America and implement Retroculture, as well as the general desirability of Retroculture itself.
* VillainDecay: After ceasing bombing due to humanitarian concerns, and hostages, and lifting the blockade after a Russian sub sinks a ship, the Federal Government stews in ever increasing impotence until it is decapitated by an assassin unrelated to the heroes, and finally put out of it;s misery when the foreign funding drys up.

** Then more obviously showcased in the Azanian War. With the economic, technological and military capabilities Lind piles onto the Azanians (in some cases even surpassing the United States before its fall), the plucky underdog heroes are able to defeat them only due to interlocking plot contrivances.

* CatharsisFactor: Presumably, at least part of the book's appeal in right-wing circles is due to this. "Cultural Marxist" villains get smashed left, right and center, from global crusades against Islam to silly feminists proved wrong and put in their place.

* EsotericHappyEnding: By the 2050s, Victoria has vanquished all of its foes, that means [[spoiler: rampant racism, sexism and homophobia are left to rule the day in Victoria. Non-Christians are actively persecuted, and the Christian world is planning a globe-spanning war with Islam as a whole. North America is now under a new Retroculture regime that resembles [[UsefulNotes/TheApartheidEra Apartheid-times South Africa]] more than anything, with a particular emphasis on "voluntary" exile of African-Americans to the countryside settlements (with the exception of a hand-picked few "useful professionals"), and other analogous movements do the same throughout most of the world. Liberal America's values of equality, respect and acceptance are regarded as anathema by the new regime, ensuring that the last century of human progress was AllForNothing.]]

** As this page suggests, a lot of people laughed at the ridiculous idea of a movement of rural, reactionary, white and Christian nationalists trying to overthrow the United States government based on a bunch of conspiracy theories about it being subverted by "cultural Marxists," then killing everyone who disagrees with them. Then, on January 6th, 2021, a mob attempted to do just that at Capitol Hill, with right-wing media mainstreaming conspiracy theories about shadowy left-aligned boogeymen controlling American society to try to legitimize it. Relatedly, the idea that they'll eventually bloodily purge America of everyone who doesn't think like them to bring about a great national rejuvenation is a cornerstone of the "Q-Anon" movement. Both Retroculture and Q-Anon also claim that their leftist enemies are quite literally servants of the Devil, something Rumford says word for word before leading a massacre of several intellectuals he considers "cultural Marxists."

** As this page suggests, a lot of people laughed at the ridiculous idea of a movement of rural, reactionary, white and Christian nationalists trying to overthrow the United States government based on a bunch of conspiracy theories about it being subverted by "cultural Marxists," then killing everyone who disagrees with them. Then, on January 6th, 2021, a mob attempted to do just that at Capitol Hill, with right-wing media mainstreaming conspiracy theories about shadowy left-aligned boogeymen controlling American society to try to legitimize it. Relatedly, the idea that they'll eventually bloodily purge America of everyone who doesn't think like them to bring about a great national rejuvenation is a cornerstone of the "Q-Anon" movement. Both Retroculture and Q-Anon also claim that their leftist enemies are quite literally servants of the Devil.

** As this page suggests, a lot of people laughed at the ridiculous idea of a movement of rural, reactionary, white and Christian nationalists trying to overthrow the United States government based on a bunch of conspiracy theories about it being subverted by "cultural Marxists," then killing everyone who disagrees with them. Then, on January 6th, a mob attempted to do just that at Capitol Hill, with right-wing media mainstreaming conspiracy theories about shadowy left-aligned boogeymen controlling American society to try to legitimize it. Relatedly, the idea that they'll eventually bloodily purge America of everyone who doesn't think like them to bring about a great national rejuvenation is a cornerstone of the "Q-Anon" movement. Both Retroculture and Q-Anon also claim that their leftist enemies are quite literally servants of the Devil.

** As this page suggests, a lot of people laughed at the ridiculous idea of a movement of rural, reactionary, white and Christian nationalists trying to overthrow the United States government based on a bunch of conspiracy theories about it being subverted by "cultural Marxists," then killing everyone who disagrees with them. Then, on January 6th, a reactionary mob attempted to do just that, with right-wing media mainstreaming conspiracy theories about shadowy left-aligned boogeymen controlling American society to try to legitimize it. Relatedly, the idea that they'll eventually bloodily purge America of everyone who doesn't think like them to bring about a great national rejuvenation is a cornerstone of the "Q-Anon" fascist movement. Both Retroculture and Q-Anon also literally claim that their leftist enemies are (potentially non-metaphorical) servants of the Devil.

* HilariousInHindsight: This was published in 2014. A quote of the narrator: "the difference between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party was the difference between Madonna and ''UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump''".

** As this page suggests, a lot of people laughed at the ridiculous idea of a movement of rural, reactionary, white and Christian nationalists trying to overthrow the United States government based on a bunch of conspiracy theories about it being subverted by "cultural Marxists," then killing everyone who disagrees with them. Then, on January 6th, a reactionary mob attempted to do just that, with right-wing media mainstreaming conspiracy theories about shadowy left-aligned boogeymen controlling American society, and the idea that they'll eventually launch a bloodily purge America of everyone who doesn't think like them to bring about a great national rejuvenation a cornerstone of the "Q-Anon" fascist movement. Both Retroculture and Q-Anon literally claim that their leftist enemies are (potentially non-metaphorical) servants of the Devil.

** As this page suggests, a lot of people laughed at the ridiculous idea of a movement of rural, reactionary, white and Christian nationalists trying to overthrow the United States government based on a bunch of conspiracy theories about it being subverted by "cultural Marxists," then killing everyone who disagrees with them. Then, on January 6th, a reactionary mob attempted to do just that, with right-wing media mainstreaming conspiracy theories about shadowy left-aligned boogeymen controlling American society, and the idea that they'll eventually launch a bloodily purge America of everyone who doesn't think like them to bring about a great national rejuvenation a cornerstone of the "Q-Anon" fascist movement.

** As this page suggests, a lot of people laughed at the ridiculous idea of a movement of rural, reactionary, white and Christian nationalists trying to overthrow the United States government based on a bunch of conspiracy theories about it being subverted by "cultural Marxists," then killing everyone who disagrees with them. Then, on January 6th, a reactionary mob attempted to do just that, with right-wing media mainstreaming conspiracy theories about shadowy left-aligned boogeymen controlling American society, with the idea that they'll eventually launch a bloodily purge America of everyone who doesn't think like them to bring about a great national rejuvenation a cornerstone of the "Q-Anon" fascist movement.

** As this page suggests, a lot of people laughed at the ridiculous idea of a movement of rural, reactionary, white and Christian nationalists trying to overthrow the United States government based on a bunch of conspiracy theories about it being subverted by "cultural Marxists," then killing everyone who disagrees with them. Then, on January 6th, a reactionary mob attempted to do just that, with right-wing media mainstreaming conspiracy theories about shadowy left-aligned boogeymen controlling American society, with the idea that they'll eventually bloodily purge America of everyone who doesn't think like them a cornerstone of the "Q-Anon" fascist movement.

** As this page suggests, a lot of people laughed at the ridiculous idea of a movement of rural, reactionary, white and Christian nationalists trying to overthrow the United States government based on a bunch of conspiracy theories about it being subverted by "cultural Marxists." Then, on January 6th, a reactionary mob attempted to do just that, with right-wing media mainstreaming conspiracy theories about shadowy left-aligned boogeymen controlling American society.

* HarsherInHindsight: The Confederation shares [[TheHorseshoeEffect certain similarities]] with ISIL. Among other things: creating a right-wing government and ChurchMilitant, punishing [[ThePurge leftist intellectuals]] with death and making said murders a public spectacle, discriminating against racial minorities in various ways, and forcing women to live as second-class citizens while using DoubleThink to make themselves think that they'll be happier that way.

** Russian priest Father Dimitri refers to African-Americans as "Orcs". Guess what would become a common nickname for the Russians during their invasion of Ukraine in 2022.