In a series of novels between 1997 and 2001 that prolific Scots novelist Paul Johnston described an independent Scotland.
Paul Johnston
It is a grim picture he painted. The government in Edinburgh Castle has little influence over the hinterland. The highlands have become a wild and woolly place where few others dare to venture. The Hebrides have not been heard from in years. Whatever oil income there might be there is staying there. The European Union stopped admitting dole-seeking micro-states.
The result is a Scotland that lives off sex tourism for Arabs, Japanese, and Nigerians. Prostitution in a nationalized industry. And on it goes.
Edinburgh Castle is run by intellectuals who follow Plato’s concept of philosopher-kings.
They argue among themselves about the Divided Line and the metaphor of the Sun, leaving the nationalized industry to auxiliaries.
I have taken a few liberties in the summary above to apply it to current circumstances. The books are narrated by an auxiliary who got demoted. The first was:
‘The Body Politic’ (1997)
The others are:
‘The Bone Yard’ (1998)
‘The Water of Death’ (1999)
‘The Blood Tree’ (2000)
‘The House of Dust’ (2001)
I found them very amusing and they are recommended as krimies and as dystopias.
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