The Far Side of the Stars David Drake
The Far Side of the Stars David Drake
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.
Baen Books by David Drake
The RCN Series
With the Lightnings
Lt. Leary, Commanding
The Far Side of the Stars
The General Series
Warlord with S.M. Stirling (omnibus)
Conqueror with S.M.Stirling (omnibus)
The Chosen with S.M. Stirling
The Reformer with S.M. Stirling
The Tyrant with Eric Flint
Hammer’s Slammers
The Tank Lords
Caught in the Crossfire
The Butcher’s Bill
The Sharp End
Paying the Piper
The Belisarius Series
with Eric Flint
An Oblique Approach
In the Heart of Darkness
Destiny’s Shield
Fortune’s Stroke
The Tide of Victory
Independent Novels and Collections
Seas of Venus
Foriegn Legions, edited by David Drake
Ranks of Bronze
Cross the Stars
The Dragon Lord
Birds of Prey
Northworld Trilogy
Redliners
Starliner
All the Way to the Gallows
Grimmer Than Hell
The Undesired Princess and The Enchanted Bunny
(with L. Sprague de Camp)
Lest Darkness Fall and To Bring the Light
(with L. Sprague de Camp)
Armageddon
(edited with Billie Sue Mosiman)
Killer
(with Karl Edward Wagner)
DEDICATION
For Tristan David Drake
The previous four generations of the family have
read voraciously, so I hope he’ll carry on the tradition.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Dan Breen continues as my first reader, making my prose better than it would be without him.
Dorothy Day and Evan Ladouceur have been addressing specialized continuity problems in this one, and my webmaster Karen Zimmerman not only helpfully read my drafts but also archived them. (After you’ve killed as many computers in the middle of projects as I have, you learn not to take chances.)
Speaking of which, my son Jonathan got me going again when I did kill a computer. I can’t claim to have consciously raised my own techie, but it seems to work very well if you have the time. I’m reminded of the Neolithic hunters who set their axeheads in split living branches, so that when the wood regrew it gripped the stone perfectly.
Clyde Howard helped research bits of information that I knew I had but couldn’t put my finger on till he’d provided them.
My friend Mark Van Name made an observation that allowed me to write this book (and I expect future books) in a greater state of contentment than ever before. I don’t think it makes the prose better, but it’s certainly an improvement for me.
Writers aren’t easy to live with, and I may be more difficult than most. My wife Jo manages, and she feeds me very well besides.
My thanks to all of you.
Dave Drake
AUTHOR’S NOTE
One of the problems when you’re writing of either the past or the future is “How much should I translate?” I don’t mean simply language: there’s a whole complex of things that people within any society take for granted but which vary between societies. (But language too: I had somebody complain that the Arthurian soldiers in The Dragon Lord talked like modern soldiers. My reaction to this was that I could write the soldiers’ dialogue in Latin, but the complainant couldn’t read it; and if I’m going to translate into English, why on Earth wouldn’t I translate into the type of English the same sort of men speak today?)
Weights and measures are a particular problem. I don’t assume that the world of the far future will use the weights and measures of today, but I’m quite certain that my inventing new systems will do nothing desirable for my story. (There are people who’re really happier for a glossary of made-up or foreign words. I’m not, though I’ll admit I still occasionally murmur to myself, “Tarzan bundolo!”)
In the RCN series Cinnabar is on the English system and the Alliance uses Metric, simply to suggest the enormous complexity I expect will exist after Mankind spreads among the stars. (Well, I certainly hope we’ll spread among the stars, but I won’t pretend I’m sanguine about our chances at the moment.)
Communications protocols are very roughly based on those of the 2nd Squadron, 11th ACR, during the period it was—I was—under the command of LTC Grayle Brookshier. There were a lot of stories about squadron and regimental commanding officers. The stories about Battle Six were all positive.