The United States of America in my writing is not like the one we live in now. It has many similarities of course, but it has been through three centuries of changes between our time and the time of my writing. It has collapsed and rebuilt. It has expanded. From Alaska to Panama, from Midway to the Virgin Islands, it includes former enemies like Cuba, former failed states like Mexico, and expanding states like the Indian Nations. It’s a far more diverse nation than our current one, but it has a power structure many would recognize now. Literally. Many of the people alive right now in our world are still alive in Jack’s time. And for all the changes in America, that brings an interesting core of stability that many readers recognize. The similarities are not always good ones. This is on purpose.