CoDominium
Encyclopedia
The CoDominium series
- A Spaceship for the King (1973) (later expanded into King David's Spaceship)
- He Fell into a Dark HoleHe Fell into a Dark HoleHe Fell into a Dark Hole is a science fiction short story by Jerry Pournelle. The story is set in Pournelle's CoDominium future alternative history. It was originally published in Analog magazine in March 1973. The story was reprinted in Warrior: There will be War, Volume V, edited by Pournelle...
(1973, short story) - The Mote in God's EyeThe Mote in God's EyeThe Mote in God's Eye is a science fiction novel by American writers Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, first published in 1974. The story is set in the distant future of Pournelle's CoDominium universe, and charts the first contact between humanity and an alien species. The title of the novel is a...
(1975, written with Larry NivenLarry NivenLaurence van Cott Niven / ˈlæri ˈnɪvən/ is an American science fiction author. His best-known work is Ringworld , which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards. His work is primarily hard science fiction, using big science concepts and theoretical physics...
) - West of Honor (1976) (incorporated into Falkenberg's Legion)
- The Mercenary (1977) (incorporated into Falkenberg's Legion)
- King David's SpaceshipKing David's SpaceshipKing David's Spaceship is a novel by science fiction author Jerry Pournelle. It was originally published in 1980. Another version appeared as 3-part serial in Analog as "A Spaceship for the King" December 1971 through February 1972....
(1980) - Prince of Mercenaries (1989)
- Falkenberg's Legion (1990)
- Go Tell the Spartans (1991) (with S. M. StirlingS. M. StirlingStephen Michael Stirling is a French-born Canadian-American science fiction and fantasy author. Stirling is probably best known for his Draka series of alternate history novels and the more recent time travel/alternate history Nantucket series and Emberverse series.-Personal:Stirling was born on...
) - Prince of Sparta (1993) (with S. M. StirlingS. M. StirlingStephen Michael Stirling is a French-born Canadian-American science fiction and fantasy author. Stirling is probably best known for his Draka series of alternate history novels and the more recent time travel/alternate history Nantucket series and Emberverse series.-Personal:Stirling was born on...
) - The Gripping HandThe Gripping HandThe Gripping Hand is a 1993 novel by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. It is a sequel to their multi-award-nominated 1974 work The Mote in God's Eye. The Gripping Hand is, chronologically, the last novel of the CoDominium universe it is set in...
(1993, written with Larry NivenLarry NivenLaurence van Cott Niven / ˈlæri ˈnɪvən/ is an American science fiction author. His best-known work is Ringworld , which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards. His work is primarily hard science fiction, using big science concepts and theoretical physics...
) (also titled The Moat around Murcheson's Eye) - War WorldWar WorldWar World is a series of collaborative science fiction books set in the CoDominium universe of Jerry Pournelle, some novels being co-authored by Larry Niven and S. M. Stirling, as well as John F. Carr and Don Hawthorne. It consists of five short story collections by various authors and two novels...
series (1988–1994) - The PrinceThe Prince (Pournelle)The Prince is a science fiction compilation by Jerry Pournelle and S.M. Stirling. It is part of the CoDominium future history series. The Prince is a compilation of four previously published novels: Falkenberg's Legion, Prince of Mercenaries, Go Tell The Spartans, and Prince of Sparta...
(2002) (a compilation of Falkenberg's Legion, Prince of Mercenaries, Go Tell the Spartans, and Prince of Sparta)
History of the CoDominium universe
Formation of the CoDominium
The point of departure of Pournelle's history is the establishment of the CoDominium (CD), a political alliance and union between the United States of AmericaUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and a revitalized USSR
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. This union, achieved in the name of planetary stability, reigns over the Earth for over a hundred years. In that time, it achieves peace of a sort, as well as interstellar colonization, but at the price of a complete halt in both scientific and political evolution.
Forced Colonization
Corruption and social decay force the CoDominium's BuReloc (Bureau of Relocation) to forcibly transport people from Earth to offworld colonies. This mass expulsion is made possible by the Alderson DriveAlderson drive
The Alderson drive, named after Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientist Dan Alderson, is a fictional device that enables instantaneous interstellar transportation. It is featured in the CoDominium series of science fiction novels by Jerry Pournelle, including the Mote series by Larry Niven and Jerry...
, a device that allows instantaneous travel across distances of light-years. The starlanes are patrolled by the CoDominium Armed Forces, an elite fighting force created from the French Foreign Legion
French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion is a unique military service wing of the French Army established in 1831. The foreign legion was exclusively created for foreign nationals willing to serve in the French Armed Forces...
. The Navy, in particular, recognizes what the politicians and common people of Earth do not: that Earth is headed for disaster, and their primary mission is to remove as many people from Earth as possible before the holocaust.
Collapse
In due time, the CoDominium crumbles under mounting nationalismNationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
worldwide. The government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
s of both the United States and Soviet Union regain their thirst for world supremacy, while the lesser nations chafe from years of CD oppression. The CD begins to lose support and is forced to reduce the size of the Fleet again and again, despite the best efforts of loyalists like the Blaine family and Grand Admiral Lermontov. As a result, several underdeveloped colony worlds are given their independence, prepared or not. Civilization collapses on some of these newly freed planets and results in mass deaths.
Disbanded CD Marine units band together into mercenary
Mercenary
A mercenary, is a person who takes part in an armed conflict based on the promise of material compensation rather than having a direct interest in, or a legal obligation to, the conflict itself. A non-conscript professional member of a regular army is not considered to be a mercenary although he...
organizations (for example Falkenberg's Mercenary Legion) and hire themselves out to fight in the former colonies, much as the earlier 'condottieri
Condottieri
thumb|Depiction of [[Farinata degli Uberti]] by [[Andrea del Castagno]], showing a 15th century condottiero's typical attire.Condottieri were the mercenary soldier leaders of the professional, military free companies contracted by the Italian city-states and the Papacy, from the late Middle Ages...
' of Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. Later, major worlds begin hiring out their national armies, and mercenary work becomes an industry. Eventually, mercenaries become legal in warfare, thanks to the "Laws of War", and are a major factor in colony warfare.
On Earth, the inescapable result is the Great Patriotic Wars, the long-delayed Third World War
World War III
World War III denotes a successor to World War II that would be on a global scale, with common speculation that it would be likely nuclear and devastating in nature....
that begins and ends with massive nuclear exchanges
Nuclear warfare
Nuclear warfare, or atomic warfare, is a military conflict or political strategy in which nuclear weaponry is detonated on an opponent. Compared to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can be vastly more destructive in range and extent of damage...
. Much of Earth is devastated; civilization collapses and much of the surface is rendered temporarily uninhabitable.
Empire of Man
Before the end, the bulk of the CoDominium Fleet evacuates their families from Earth and resettle them on Sparta (for the Americans and Europeans) and St. Ekaterina (for the Russians and Asians). Within a few years, the Fleet swears allegiance to King Lysander I of Sparta. Sparta and the Fleet soon begin the Formation Wars, taking advantage of the political, economic, and technological vacuum caused by the collapse of Earth to reunify the human colonies under Sparta's leadership and form the Empire of Man.Decline
For several hundred years, the Empire is the sole government of humanity. Among its many worlds is Sauron, where the culture has grown militaristic and adheres to a literal interpretation of the philosophy of Nietzsche, namely that "man is something to be surpassed." In service of this aim, they engage in extensive genetic modification and eugenic breedingEugenics
Eugenics is the "applied science or the bio-social movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population", usually referring to human populations. The origins of the concept of eugenics began with certain interpretations of Mendelian inheritance,...
programs to turn themselves into supersoldiers known in the galaxy at large as the Sauron Supermen. Bristling under Imperial hegemony, in the 27th century they lead several worlds into open revolt.
Secession Wars
The Secession Wars are long and fierce, spanning decades. The Empire has a big edge in numbers, but it is almost matched by Sauron's military superiority. It is the Saurons' arrogance that leads to their downfall. For them, the war is to be waged free of any constraints or mercy and is run with the cold rationality of professionals. For the subjects of the Empire, it becomes a war of extermination, a life-or-death struggle for survival, and their passion is not accounted for in Sauron calculations. The war ends with Sauron being completely destroyed.The Empire's victory is Pyrrhic
Pyrrhic victory
A Pyrrhic victory is a victory with such a devastating cost to the victor that it carries the implication that another such victory will ultimately cause defeat.-Origin:...
though, as the Imperial forces have mostly been sacrificed to crush the Saurons. With the Empire weakened, new factions spring up, including claimants to the Imperial throne. It is reduced to a core of loyal planets, and marginal worlds are isolated. Many, their industries lost to orbital bombardment, descend into barbarism.
Second Empire of Man
In the thirtieth century, Lysander IV of Sparta proclaims the formation of the Second Empire of Man, and pledges to unite humanity by force if necessary, in order to prevent future wars of the magnitude of the one that ended the First Empire. Many worlds quickly accept; others, known as outies, continue to resist the Empire's hegemonyHegemony
Hegemony is an indirect form of imperial dominance in which the hegemon rules sub-ordinate states by the implied means of power rather than direct military force. In Ancient Greece , hegemony denoted the politico–military dominance of a city-state over other city-states...
. Against this backdrop of renewal and conflict, humanity makes its first contact with another intelligent, spacefaring species: the "Moties," who represent a far more grave threat than even the Sauron Supermen. The contact between the two species would have a dramatic impact on both civilizations.
Structure of the CoDominium
The CoDominium (CD) is a supranational allianceSupranational union
Supranationalism is a method of decision-making in multi-national political communities, wherein power is transferred or delegated to an authority by governments of member states. The concept of supranational union is sometimes used to describe the European Union, as a new type of political entity...
of the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. This alliance eventually becomes a de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
planetary government, and later, an interstellar empire. Despite this, no other nations on Earth are given representation or membership. Other major powers become mere client state
Client state
Client state is one of several terms used to describe the economic, political and/or military subordination of one state to a more powerful state in international affairs...
s. It is governed by a "Grand Senate", which is composed of Senators chosen from the two superpower
Superpower
A superpower is a state with a dominant position in the international system which has the ability to influence events and its own interests and project power on a worldwide scale to protect those interests...
s. A CoDominium Council exists and appears to function as a judicial branch. It should be noted that the CD did not unify the United States and the USSR, who appear to retain their separate identities and mutual distrust. The CD was only created for the shared benefit of the two member states. It does not govern either nation, and each state has been allowed to retain their government structures, nationalities, militaries, and to run their own internal affairs.
Government departments
- Bureau of Corrections (BuCorrect): Agency for criminal corrections of the justice system.
- Bureau of Personnel (BuPers): Responsible for the staff in all government departments.
- Bureau of Relocation (BuReloc): Responsible for off-planet transportation of colonists and deportees, voluntary or otherwise.
- Bureau of Technology: Restricts what studies people can learn.
- CD Intelligence Services (BuInt): Suppresses research and development.
- Colonial Bureau: Helps run colony worlds by providing planetary governors, law enforcement, and other specialists.
- CoDominium Space Navy and Marines: The Marines are divided into 3 branches: Fleet, Garrison and Line. (The Fleet): Armed forces of the CD, headed by a Grand Admiral. Edicts of the Grand Senate are enforced by the CD's armed forces. Other functions is keeping the peace on Earth and other worlds.
- Intercontinental Bureau of Investigations (IBI): Presumably the CD equivalent of the FBI.
The United States
The United States of the CoDominium Era is a welfare state divided into two classes: Citizens and Taxpayers. "Citizens" are welfare dependents who are required to live in walled sections of cities called "Welfare Islands." People are given whatever they need, including the drugs like Borloi to keep them pacified. There are no limits to how long they can stay on welfare, except that they must live in a Welfare Island. Although people are free to gain an education and work or become a colonist, many citizens did not, preferring to live their whole lives supported by the government. Generally citizens are uneducated and illiterate. Some BuReLoc involuntary colonists are Citizens. By the late CD era, the Welfare Islands were three generations old. "Taxpayers" are the working, educated, and privileged upper class. They carry identification cards to separate them from Citizens.Political parties
Political Parties
Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of Modern Democracy is a book by sociologist Robert Michels, published in 1911 , and first introducing the concept of iron law of oligarchy...
maintain influence in the government, with a multi-party system arising during the CoDominium era. The Unity Party is a combination of the Democratic and Republican parties, and supports the CD. Other major parties include the pro-CD Freedom Party; the radical Liberation Party; and the nationalistic, anti-CD and anti-Communist Patriot Party.
Structure of the Second Empire of Man
The Second Empire of Man is an interstellar empire encompassing over 200 planets. Centralized on the planet Sparta, its government is a constitutional monarchyConstitutional monarchy
Constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a monarch acts as head of state within the parameters of a constitution, whether it be a written, uncodified or blended constitution...
, with a hereditary emperor as head of state
Head of State
A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...
. A hereditary aristocracy also exists, and is referred to by Western nobility
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
titles. There are mentions of the Imperial Parliament, Senate, and Assembly, which serve as the legislative branch of the government.
The military arm of the Second Empire is the Imperial Space Navy. It enforces the will of the Crown and its representatives; it also protects worlds from pirates, conducts punitive actions, and suppresses revolts. The Navy consists of its fleets of starships and their crews, Marines, an Admiralty, Intelligence, and a Reserve component. Women are allowed to serve in the Navy, despite the Empire's discriminating attitude toward women. Like the CD Fleet, the Imperial forces are headed by a Grand Admiral.
Organization
The Empire is organized by sectors, ruled by a ViceroyViceroy
A viceroy is a royal official who runs a country, colony, or province in the name of and as representative of the monarch. The term derives from the Latin prefix vice-, meaning "in the place of" and the French word roi, meaning king. A viceroy's province or larger territory is called a viceroyalty...
who serves as a representative of the Crown. Each sector has its own Council, headed by a Lord President, and its own Parliament. The Imperial government is divided into several ministries, including External Affairs, War, and Science. Some planets are governed by an aristocracy
Aristocracy
Aristocracy , is a form of government in which a few elite citizens rule. The term derives from the Greek aristokratia, meaning "rule of the best". In origin in Ancient Greece, it was conceived of as rule by the best qualified citizens, and contrasted with monarchy...
, although at least one member world is a republic
Republic
A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of...
.
Inhabited planets within the Empire have varying degrees of power. After Sparta, "Member Kingdoms" are semi-autonomous. "Classified worlds" are member planets over which the Empire has considerable influence, though such worlds still have considerable self-governing powers. Class One worlds are governed by a governor-general
Governor-General
A Governor-General, is a vice-regal person of a monarch in an independent realm or a major colonial circonscription. Depending on the political arrangement of the territory, a Governor General can be a governor of high rank, or a principal governor ranking above "ordinary" governors.- Current uses...
, with a council and assembly elected by the planetary population, and are allowed to send representatives to the Parliament. The main requirement to become either a Classified World or a Class One world is the achievement of both spaceflight and unified planetary government. "Colonies" are worlds that have not achieved spaceflight and are also technologically backward. These worlds have no influence over their affairs; Viceroys, nobility, and Imperial colonists are appointed to govern over the native populace. There are also "Primitive" worlds within the Empire; it is unknown what this classification entails.
Civilian groups
Several civilian organizations within the Empire have some influence on government affairs. The Imperial Traders Association is a group of interstellar merchants that has influence over the government. The Church and the Humanity League are also mentioned. The Humanity League is mentioned during the CD era, and the Second Empire era "League" might be a continuation of that group. The Church, located in New Rome, is the official religion of the Empire. It uses a hierarchy and follows traditions similar to the Roman Catholic ChurchRoman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
. The Empire also tolerates other religions, as Jewish and Islamic worlds are also members.
Astrography
For the most part, the stars with inhabitable planets in the CoDominium are obscure and unnamed on current star charts. For instance, the world of New Washington and its sister planet Franklin orbit a red dwarf at some distance from the solar system. Such stars are very common in the galaxy but even the closest ones are too dim to observe without equipment, Proxima CentauriProxima Centauri
Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf star about 4.2 light-years distant in the constellation of Centaurus. It was discovered in 1915 by Robert Innes, the Director of the Union Observatory in South Africa, and is the nearest known star to the Sun, although it is too faint to be seen with the naked eye...
being the obvious example. Other habitable systems in the CoDominium have stars in the stellar classes
Stellar classification
In astronomy, stellar classification is a classification of stars based on their spectral characteristics. The spectral class of a star is a designated class of a star describing the ionization of its chromosphere, what atomic excitations are most prominent in the light, giving an objective measure...
F, G and K, which are common but dim compared to the named stars in the night sky. One of the few stars explicitly named in the CoDominium stories is 82 Eridani
82 Eridani
82 G. Eridani is a star about 20 light years away from Earth. It is in the constellation Eridanus. It is a main sequence star of spectral type G5.-Observation:...
, containing the Meiji colony. Viewed from Earth, 82 Eridani is a star of the fourth magnitude
Apparent magnitude
The apparent magnitude of a celestial body is a measure of its brightness as seen by an observer on Earth, adjusted to the value it would have in the absence of the atmosphere...
at 20 light-year
Light-year
A light-year, also light year or lightyear is a unit of length, equal to just under 10 trillion kilometres...
s distance. Beyond 50 light-years such stars are below sixth magnitude and therefore invisible to the naked eye, so they are unnamed and largely unrecorded, except in astronomical sky surveys. These are the stars likely to host colonies of the CoDominium. There is no mention in the canon of closer candidate systems such as Tau Ceti
Tau Ceti
Tau Ceti is a star in the constellation Cetus that is spectrally similar to the Sun, although it has only about 78% of the Sun's mass. At a distance of just under 12 light-years from the Solar System, it is a relatively close star. Tau Ceti is metal-deficient and so is thought to be less likely to...
and Epsilon Indi
Epsilon Indi
Epsilon Indi is a K-type main-sequence star approximately 12 light-years away in the constellation of Indus. Two brown dwarfs, found in 2003, orbit the star.- Observation :...
.
The Imperial planet of Sparta occupies a system containing an orange dwarf K0 primary with a red dwarf companion (described in The Gripping Hand
The Gripping Hand
The Gripping Hand is a 1993 novel by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. It is a sequel to their multi-award-nominated 1974 work The Mote in God's Eye. The Gripping Hand is, chronologically, the last novel of the CoDominium universe it is set in...
) which makes passes close enough to impact Sparta's climate. References to Acrux and Crucis Court in the novels probably do not indicate planets around Alpha Crucis
Alpha Crucis
Acrux is the brightest star in the constellation Crux, the Southern Cross, and, at a combined visual magnitude 0.77, is the twelfth brightest star in the night sky...
, since this system is composed of bright, short-lived stars. However it is certain that Sparta lies in the direction of the Coalsack Nebula
Coalsack Nebula
The Coalsack Dark Nebula is the most prominent dark nebula in the skies, easily visible to the naked eye as a dark patch silhouetted against the southern Milky Way. It was known pre-historically in the Southern Hemisphere and was observed by Vicente Yáñez Pinzón in 1499...
from Earth, with another part of the Empire, known as the Trans-coalsack Sector on the other side of that nebula, where most of the action of the two Motie novels takes place. The Coalsack is 600 light-years away and several of the named planets are mentioned as being variously 20, 60 etc. parsec
Parsec
The parsec is a unit of length used in astronomy. It is about 3.26 light-years, or just under 31 trillion kilometres ....
s away. At these distances stars with inhabitable systems would be dim and uncatalogued.
In the case of the New Washington/Franklin planetary system, the configuration of the planets addresses a problem with having a red-dwarf as a central sun. Any planet close enough to the sun to maintain an Earth-like climate would be tidally locked
Tidal locking
Tidal locking occurs when the gravitational gradient makes one side of an astronomical body always face another; for example, the same side of the Earth's Moon always faces the Earth. A tidally locked body takes just as long to rotate around its own axis as it does to revolve around its partner...
with its orbit so it would always keep the same face toward its sun. In order to restore a night-day cycle, Pournelle created a double planet. New Washington and Franklin are about the same size and orbit a common center with a period of 40 hours. They are tidally locked in this orbit, so they always present the same face to one another. Together they orbit their sun once every 52 days.
Technology
CoDominium policy is to restrict the development of technologies that can be used in warfare—in effect, almost all technologies. To this end, not only has almost all research and development been outlawed, but all public sources of information have been contaminated with false data. As a result, technology has not only stagnated, but in some cases been forced to recede.The CD's treatment of technology is the literary device Pournelle uses to restrict conflicts to trench warfare
Trench warfare
Trench warfare is a form of occupied fighting lines, consisting largely of trenches, in which troops are largely immune to the enemy's small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from artillery...
. Despite the presence of SSTO spacecraft and faster than light starships, soldiers still use chemically-propelled projectile weapons, in many cases bolt action rifles, as they are easier to maintain. Countermeasures have not been developed for rail guns, lasers, or anti-aircraft missiles, so aircraft have ceased being used in most combat situations. Most colony planets lack the infrastructure and supporting equipment to produce or even maintain high technology, making what little that is imported rare and valuable. On such worlds, warfare is largely fought by infantry, artillery is important, and a few tanks can decide the outcome of wars. Only the elite worlds (mainly those under the control of major Terran nation-states) can escape these restrictions, and have even developed their own space fleets. These resources are conserved as a deterrent against similar resources, however, so most conflicts are fought without them.
Despite these limitations, the CD still has some superior technologies. The Alderson and Fusion drives propel starships to other star systems. Fusion power plants supply energy, and medical research has developed regeneration technology. Soldiers are equipped with precise, cheap, and handheld anti-aircraft weaponry, light-amplification goggles, and the effective Nemourlon body armor. Anti-satellite rockets that can be used by a military force lacking advanced technology have been developed as well.
The spaceships of the CD use "photon drive," which apparently produces only light to propel the craft in normal space. This allows an estimate of the power capabilities of such a ship. Radiation pressure
Radiation pressure
Radiation pressure is the pressure exerted upon any surface exposed to electromagnetic radiation. If absorbed, the pressure is the power flux density divided by the speed of light...
can produce about 3.35 nanonewtons of force per watt of luminosity, so for a 1-gravity drive there would have to be about 3 gigawatts of luminosity per kilogram of ship mass. A typical ship might be 10,000 tonnes or 10 million kilograms, bringing the power level to 30 petawatts. For comparison, US electrical generating capacity is only in the terawatt range. 10 petawatts is about the equivalent of a megaton nuclear device exploding every second. Interstellar travel is accomplished by use of the Alderson drive
Alderson drive
The Alderson drive, named after Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientist Dan Alderson, is a fictional device that enables instantaneous interstellar transportation. It is featured in the CoDominium series of science fiction novels by Jerry Pournelle, including the Mote series by Larry Niven and Jerry...
which instantaneously warps ships along tramline paths between stars.
Planets of the CoDominium series
During the CoDominium era, instantaneous interstellar travel as a result of the Alderson Drive easily gave humanity the ability to explore, colonize, and exploit various star systems. As a result, many of the space settlements are on planets that are similar to Earth. At the very least, a colony world was barely inhabitable for human life without technological support. Many colonies were founded by ethnic minorities, religious groups, or political groups. Some are started by businesses, for commercial reasons. Most lack an industrial base, and have little advanced technology as a result. The elite, more technologically advanced colonies are ones settled and supported by the Earth countries. These elite worlds have their own fleets and enjoy some independence from the CD.Several of these planets were used as dumping grounds for involuntary colonists, ranging from violent criminals to exiled dissidents and intellectuals. Some worlds willingly accepted them to use as slave labor, others had to take the transportees in, whether they wanted to or not.
After the CoDominium and during the Empire of Man, new worlds were colonized and terraformed. After the collapse of the First Empire and birth of the Second Empire, however, no new planets have been settled. Many worlds were devastated during the Secession Wars, and their civilizations reverted back to primitive levels, while others eventually recovered from the wars.
Inhabited planets
- Arrarat — During the CD era, an Agricultural world settled by devout Christians, later used as a dumping ground for CD convicts and other involuntary transportees. Lots of desert, and jungles at the equator.
- Ceres — During the CD era, location of a Navy yard, constructed mostly below the surface.
- Churchill — English-ethnic world, one of the elite colony worlds.
- Covenant — Scottish-ethnic world. During the waning days of the CD, it was known for its mercenaries specializing in infantry.
- Dayan or Dyan or Dion — Israeli-ethnic world, one of the elite colony worlds.
- Danube — Planet that was operating its own independent fleet during the CD era; target of at least one CD punitive expedition.
- Earth — Homeworld of humanity, main world of the CoDominium. Also provided mercenaries in the late CD era, but they were not the best. During the Great Patriotic Wars, Earth receives heavy damage - although the Alps and JamaicaJamaicaJamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
survive - and ceases being the center of Human civilization. However, Earth is still inhabited by the Second Empire, if badly damaged, and used as an honorary capital. The Naval Academy is located on Earth, at New Annapolis, partly to remind cadets of why the Empire is vital to humanity's survival. - Luna — Earth's Moon. During the CD era, location of Luna Base where the Grand Senate meets, as well as the office of the Grand Admiral. Also provides housing for Navy personnel and their families.
- Fulson's World — A cold, infamous mining planet. During the CD era, it is known is that involuntary transportees are sent to this world unless they can bribe their way to a better one.
- Franklin / New Washington — A double planetDouble planetIn astronomy, double planet and binary planet are informal terms used to describe a binary system of two astronomical objects that each satisfy the definition of planet and that are near enough to each other to have a significant gravitational effect on each other compared with the effect of the...
orbiting a red dwarfRed dwarfAccording to the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, a red dwarf star is a small and relatively cool star, of the main sequence, either late K or M spectral type....
. Settled by Americans, Franklin by Southerners, New Washington (or simply Washington) by settlers from the U.S. state of Washington. - Friedland — German-ethnic world, one of the elite colony worlds. During the waning days of the CD, it was known for its mercenaries specializing in armored warfare. In one reference, the settlers of Friedland are identified as the New Democrats.
- Frystaat — AfrikanerAfrikanerAfrikaners are an ethnic group in Southern Africa descended from almost equal numbers of Dutch, French and German settlers whose native tongue is Afrikaans: a Germanic language which derives primarily from 17th century Dutch, and a variety of other languages.-Related ethno-linguistic groups:The...
-ethnic world with very high gravity and intense heat. CoDo convict-transportees later become a slave caste. Extreme conditions and aggressive native life result in a very low survival rate, producing extreme selective pressure that eventually result in an immensely strong, physically tough population. The elite Frystaat commandos known as Jarnsfeld's Jaegers are acknowledged as the best fighters in the Empire (other than Saurons). - Hadley — Earth-like world with a large city. Smaller than Earth, but has a heavier gravity due to being denser. Orbits a hotter Blue-White star, probably a blue giantBlue giantIn astronomy, a blue giant is a star with a spectral type of O or B and a luminosity class of III...
. Despite being further away, Hadley still gets as much heat as Earth does from its sun. The planet was controlled by the CD for its thorium mines, and was used as a dumping ground for transportees. Also appears to have many farms. - Haven — Marginally inhabitable Moon of the JovianJupiterJupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
planet Cat's Eye in the Beyers system, cold and dry with a thin but breatheable atmosphere. It is partially tide-lockedTidal lockingTidal locking occurs when the gravitational gradient makes one side of an astronomical body always face another; for example, the same side of the Earth's Moon always faces the Earth. A tidally locked body takes just as long to rotate around its own axis as it does to revolve around its partner...
, giving it a very long (87 hour) day-night cycle. During the CoDominium, it was settled by the Universal Church of New Harmony, and later by exiled miners and other involuntary groups such as nationalists and ethnic minorities of the U.S.A. and U.S.S.R. The main setting of the War WorldWar WorldWar World is a series of collaborative science fiction books set in the CoDominium universe of Jerry Pournelle, some novels being co-authored by Larry Niven and S. M. Stirling, as well as John F. Carr and Don Hawthorne. It consists of five short story collections by various authors and two novels...
series. - High Shanghai — Chinese-ethnic and Thai-ethnic world.
- Kennicott — wealthy Mining Planet.
- Levant — Arab-ethnic world with a shipbuilding industry.
- Makassar — Planet that is featured in King David's Spaceship, settled mostly by Malaysians, by the Second Empire it had a primitive culture.
- Maxroy's Purchase - A MormonMormonThe term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
world, mentioned in The Gripping HandThe Gripping HandThe Gripping Hand is a 1993 novel by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. It is a sequel to their multi-award-nominated 1974 work The Mote in God's Eye. The Gripping Hand is, chronologically, the last novel of the CoDominium universe it is set in...
. Home of the deadly and much hunted "Snow Ghost" beast. - Meiji — Japanese-ethnic world, one of the elite colony worlds. During the late CD era, known for covert operations and espionage mercenaries.
- Mote Prime — Located at The Mote in Murcheson's Eye, homeworld of the Motie race, non-symmetric semi-vertebrates who have been locked into cycles of growth and collapse for a million years, due to their enormous reproductive drives and being trapped in one star system. Appears in The Mote in God's EyeThe Mote in God's EyeThe Mote in God's Eye is a science fiction novel by American writers Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, first published in 1974. The story is set in the distant future of Pournelle's CoDominium universe, and charts the first contact between humanity and an alien species. The title of the novel is a...
, written with Larry Niven. - New Chicago — World in revolt from the Second Empire of Man at the beginning of The Mote in God's Eye. One moon, named EvanstonEvanston, IllinoisEvanston is a suburban municipality in Cook County, Illinois 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, bordering Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, and Wilmette to the north, with an estimated population of 74,360 as of 2003. It is one of the North Shore communities that adjoin Lake Michigan...
. Apparently the original Chicago was so thoroughly destroyed in the Great Patriotic Wars that no record of the original Evanston exists by the time of the Second Empire. - New Ireland — A partly terraformed world of the New Caledonia system. It sided with the rebels during the Secession Wars and fought loyalist New Scotland until both had lost nearly all their technology.
- New Scotland — Capital of the Trans-Coal Sack sector in New Caledonia. It is a terraformed world settled by New Scots.
- New Utah — In The Gripping HandThe Gripping HandThe Gripping Hand is a 1993 novel by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. It is a sequel to their multi-award-nominated 1974 work The Mote in God's Eye. The Gripping Hand is, chronologically, the last novel of the CoDominium universe it is set in...
, classed as an "outworld" subsidiary to Maxroy's Purchase. Originally settled by Mormon and Himmist factions, it is the central locus of Outies, by J.R. Pournelle. - Nuliajuk — Inuit/Eskimo-ethnic world, cold with ice caps covering much of the surface.
- Prince Samual's World — Important planet in King David's SpaceshipKing David's SpaceshipKing David's Spaceship is a novel by science fiction author Jerry Pournelle. It was originally published in 1980. Another version appeared as 3-part serial in Analog as "A Spaceship for the King" December 1971 through February 1972....
. During the Secession Wars, it was bombed back to a dark age, and has had to re-invent much of its technology. When the Second Empire reestablished contact, this world was in the early Industrial ageIndustrial AgeIndustrial Age may refer to:*Industrialisation*The Industrial Revolution...
. - Sauron — Homeworld of the Sauron Supermen. Known for high metal content, and its genetically modified denizens' belief that war was the ultimate expression of humankind. Started the Secession Wars that ended the First Empire of Man. Was depopulated by Imperial bombardment during the conflict. Sauron system also has a very dense asteroid belt; this seems to be the home of the inhabitants of the Second Empire era.
- Sparta — Capital world of the First and Second Empires of Man, originally called Botany Bay. Generally North American in population. Slightly higher than Earth gravity. Founded by political idealists, it turned from a semi-democratic meritocracyMeritocracyMeritocracy, in the first, most administrative sense, is a system of government or other administration wherein appointments and responsibilities are objectively assigned to individuals based upon their "merits", namely intelligence, credentials, and education, determined through evaluations or...
to a dynastic, hereditary aristocracy. - St. Ekaterina — Russian-ethnic world. The first planet attacked by the Sauron Supermen in the Secession Wars.
- Tanith — A jungle planet known for the drug borloi. During the CD era, it was another infamous dumping ground for transportees.
- Tabletop — American-ethnic colony. Appears to lack trees. According to Niven, a world of plains. A dry world, it is mentioned in Gripping Hand to have a vertebrate creature, the Crazylegs, with nine pairs of legs.
- Thurstone — Earth-like dry world, with three nations, one of which is Santiago (non-industrial Spanish Catholic-ethnic w/ involuntary colonists).
- Xanadu — Low gravity Chinese-ethnic world, one of the elite colony worlds. Known for its technicians and mercenaries.
Outies
These are apparently systems which retained enough technology after the Secession Wars to present a threat to the Second Empire, by resisting takeover and mounting raids against Empire systems. The presence or threat of Outies is mentioned in all the Second Empire stories as a reason for the Imperial Navy having to deal with events in the most expeditious way possible, rather than allowing time to achieve ideal solutions.In The Mote in God's Eye
The Mote in God's Eye
The Mote in God's Eye is a science fiction novel by American writers Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, first published in 1974. The story is set in the distant future of Pournelle's CoDominium universe, and charts the first contact between humanity and an alien species. The title of the novel is a...
, Rod Blaine successfully takes his company of Marines down to the surface of New Chicago to link up with a turncoat who lets them into the city. Far from being hailed as a hero, Blaine is disciplined for risking the only Marine force in the system. If his command had been destroyed, the Admiral in command maintains he would have had to "bomb New Chicago back to the Stone Age" to suppress the rebellion, to avoid detaining the Fleet in the system any longer than necessary.
For all this, there were no actual instances in Pournelle and Niven's work of actual encounters with "Outies." The closest was clandestine contact between merchants from the "Maxroy's Purchase" system and an outlying system which was settled by disgruntled colonists from Maxroy's Purchase. The nightmare scenario after the discovery of the Moties is that they will ally with Outies once they are no longer trapped in their own solar system.
Pournelle's daughter, J.R. Pournelle, has drawn on these themes, writing an eponymous authorized sequel
to King David's Spaceship
King David's Spaceship
King David's Spaceship is a novel by science fiction author Jerry Pournelle. It was originally published in 1980. Another version appeared as 3-part serial in Analog as "A Spaceship for the King" December 1971 through February 1972....
, The Mote in God's Eye
The Mote in God's Eye
The Mote in God's Eye is a science fiction novel by American writers Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, first published in 1974. The story is set in the distant future of Pournelle's CoDominium universe, and charts the first contact between humanity and an alien species. The title of the novel is a...
, and The Gripping Hand
The Gripping Hand
The Gripping Hand is a 1993 novel by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. It is a sequel to their multi-award-nominated 1974 work The Mote in God's Eye. The Gripping Hand is, chronologically, the last novel of the CoDominium universe it is set in...
, that attempts to marry hard science fiction
Hard science fiction
Hard science fiction is a category of science fiction characterized by an emphasis on scientific or technical detail, or on scientific accuracy, or on both. The term was first used in print in 1957 by P. Schuyler Miller in a review of John W. Campbell, Jr.'s Islands of Space in Astounding Science...
with social science fiction
Social science fiction
Social science fiction is a term used to describe a subgenre of science fiction concerned less with technology and space opera and more with sociological speculation about human society...
as it explores what it means to be an "alien" in this Empire, and to what degree biology is destiny. First published as an e-book
E-book
An electronic book is a book-length publication in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, and produced on, published through, and readable on computers or other electronic devices. Sometimes the equivalent of a conventional printed book, e-books can also be born digital...
in Q4 2010, it was then released in trade paperback in Q1, 2011.