: Re: Would a government care if my novel mentioned their controversial / questionable practices? I am writing a story about fictional events in several nations all over the world. Much of the plot

@Annie587

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That depends a great deal on the country you are writing about and the country you are living in. And on how famous you are or how successful your book is.

The United States has a pretty strong tradition of free speech, so you can criticize the government very freely without getting arrested or persecuted.

North Korea, no so much.

If you are living in country A and attack country B, and country B is an enemy of country A, there will likely be no repercussions.

Similarly, if you attack Christianity or Buddhism or Judaism, people may object, they may throw counter-criticisms, but that's likely to be the end of the story. But attack Islam and your life may be in danger. Make jokes about rednecks and people will laugh. Make jokes about homosexuals and you may be charged with a hate crime. Etc.

If you're famous, or if your book sells millions of copies, people you offend will take notice and maybe there will be some reprisals. If you're like most writers on this site and your book sells hundreds of copies, it's likely that no one will particularly care. It's pretty common for powerful people to say, "Nobody has read this book. If we make a big deal of it, then everybody will read it to find out why we're making such a big deal of it. Better to just ignore it."

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