* What is the narrative purpose behind Lauren and Bankole, other than the resources he has?
** She's more mature than most people around her regardless of age
** Father issues?
* What do you think of Acorn?
** Constant learning is good
** Technically primitive but socially/culturally advanced
** Has traditional family roles, as opposed to some communes
*** Sort of opposite to a commune, trying to get away from craziness and be more conventional, rather than establish a radical alternative to the mainstream
** Was Acorn a mistake?
*** Easy to destroy
*** But the story of its destruction, and the survival of Lauren and others in spite of it, is powerful and could help build the religion of Earthseed
**** Also, the survivors (not just Lauren) might become missionaries
* Dan saving his sisters (Ben doesn't remember this)
** Simple self-sacrifice vs. more complex heroism?
* Planned third book would have been about the challenges of settling an alien world
** Similar issues as first two books? (coping with a "desolate world" here on Earth)
*** In space travel, social, economic, and political issues will always be more complex than the technical challenges
*** Can we get positive philosophies or religions like Earthseed to prevent misuse of space ex. by pushing asteroids toward Earth? Or will space just be dominated by corporations and/or the military?
*** Could company towns and debt slavery recur in space?
** Common theme in other SF: However well-chosen the crew is, they will end up acting like average people
* Power and corruption
** Christian America people abusing slave collars are corrupt partly because their ethical "powers" are less advanced than they need to be, since CA deliberately goes backward in ethical history