Janissaries series

Last updated
Janissaries
  • Janissaries
  • Janissaries II: Clan and Crown
  • Janissaries III: Storms of Victory
  • Tran
  • Lord of the Janissaries
  • Mamelukes: A Janissaries Novel
Author
Illustrator
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Genre
Published
  • 1979–1996
  • 2015
  • 2020
Media typePrint
No. of books6

The Janissaries series of military and political-based science fiction novels are set in an interstellar confederation of races, in which humans are a slave race entrusted with military affairs and law enforcement. They were written by Jerry Pournelle, with Roland J. Green co-authoring the second two books.

Contents

Works

TitleDate of PublicationISBNAuthorsNotes
Janissaries July 1, 1979 ISBN   0-671-87709-7 Jerry Pournelle
Janissaries: Clan and Crown November 1, 1982 ISBN   0-441-38294-0 Jerry Pournelle and Roland J. Green
Janissaries III: Storms of Victory April 1, 1987 ISBN   0-441-38297-5 Jerry Pournelle and Roland J. Green
TranAugust 1, 1996 ISBN   0-671-87741-0 Jerry Pournelle and Roland J. GreenOmnibus edition of Janissaries: Clan and Crown and Janissaries III: Storms of Victory.
Lord of the JanissariesAugust 16, 2015 ISBN   1-476-78079-X Jerry Pournelle and Roland J. GreenOmnibus edition of Janissaries and Tran.
Mamelukes: A Janissaries NovelJune 2, 2020 ISBN   1-982-12462-8 Jerry Pournelle, Phillip Pournelle, and David Weber

Overall story arc of the series

A small force of mostly American troops, mercenaries under a secret CIA contract in Africa during the Cold War about to be annihilated by a Cuban military force, is "rescued" by the Shalnuksis, extraterrestrial beings part of an interstellar Confederation who offer them their lives in exchange for service on a primitive planet raising surinomaz ("madweed"), a plant used to produce a recreational drug. The primitive planet, called Tran, is populated by other humans of terrestrial origin, who have been secretly brought there at 600 year intervals over the past several thousand years of Earth history for the same purpose. In the Confederation, humans are a slave soldier and administrator class vaguely similar to the Janissary soldiers of the Ottoman Turkish Empire, hence the name of the first novel and the series.

The series of novels describe how these 20th-century soldiers proceed to both integrate with the existing cultures on Tran and use them to establish a base of operations for growing and harvesting of the surinomaz plant, which only becomes sufficiently potent for use as a recreational drug for a couple of decades out of every 600 Earth years. The first book shows how the soldiers use a combination of modern weaponry, knowledge of technology, and advanced military tactics to carve out a political enclave that will enable them to fulfill the rest of their mission, to raise the madweed they are expected to provide to the extraterrestrials who brought them to Tran. The subsequent books illustrate the further adventures of the human soldiers as they perform their mission, but also begin to raise the standard of civilization and the level of technology among the disparate cultures of the humans on Tran.

As the mercenaries learn more of the history of Tran, it also becomes clear that they will eventually be betrayed by their benefactors, as this has been the fate of each generation of imported soldiers in turn. Their leader, Rick Galloway, begins to plan how they, and more important, the knowledge they have brought to Tran, will survive that betrayal, which involves the Shalnukskis using atomic bombs to destroy the areas of the planet controlled by the mercenaries. There are local legends of sky gods who bring gifts, but always take them back again; dragons melting a city with skyfire (a tapestry in the Great Hall of a castle prominently features this); and taboo places, including a lake with a glass bottom. Galloway, his native wife Tylara (the Eqetassa of Chelm), and Gwen Tremaine, the "wife" of the human pilot who brought the Terrans to Tran, are determined that the knowledge that will allow Tran to climb beyond the late Roman Empire level will survive the inevitable bombings. Once the Shalnukskis have gone, they will not return for 600 years; and as Galloway points out, in 100 years Earth went from the steam engine to landing on the Moon.

At the same time, forces beyond their control and of which they have no knowledge begin to plan for what appears to be a possible revolt of all humans in the Confederation, which would have drastic consequences for Earth.

The Confederation

The immediate saviors of the doomed human soldiers are representatives of a race of beings called the Shalnuksis. The Shalnuksis are traders looking to continue to profit from the trafficking of a recreational drug that is obtained only from the planet Tran. The planet is generally unknown amongst the other races of the Confederation, a secret the Shalnuksis are intent upon maintaining. While their drug trafficking is not illegal per se, the use of "wild" humans (humans taken from Earth, not descended from the slaves of the Confederation) to produce the drug is something that would be stopped if it were known, thus the need for secrecy.

Confederation technology

Confederation technology includes the all-important "phase drive", a type of faster-than-light travel. Pournelle never explains what the drive is, or suggests how it works. Ships using it, however, vanish from normal space while under way. While Confederation technology appears quite advanced, curiously enough it doesn't seem quite as advanced as one might expect from a civilization that had had space travel for over 5,000 years. Pournelle has Gwen Tremaine talk about how the Confederation has become stagnant in its stability, however, so this might be a deliberate technological decision. One reason an independent space-going humanity might be a threat could be the unregulated and destabilizing effect ever-advancing and evolving technology such as exists on Earth could pose.

Confederation culture

The Confederation is an interstellar and multi-species civilization that is rank with politics, intrigue, and corruption. The enslaved humans, bred for loyalty and obedience, comprise the primary armed force of the Confederation. They keep the peace between the various species. Earth is left untouched primarily as a source of "wild" human genes for the Confederation masters to use to breed initiative into their "tame" humans to keep them capable of performing their important functions.

However, with Earth civilization becoming more and more capable of the beginnings of space travel, there is debate within the Confederation about what to do about Earth. Leave the "wild" humans alone? Bomb them back to the Stone Age to prevent them from upsetting the status quo? Or bring them forcibly into the Confederation and stifle their progress? Fortunately for Earth, the various alien species are splintered into many factions. Their tendency to "not kick over the apple cart" barring a drastic change in circumstances is working in humanity's favor.

The Shalnuksis' use of humans on Tran to raise surinomaz is not known to the Confederation, though selected human janissaries know of it. It is also illegal. Some of the humans who are aware of Tran's existence also want to keep it secret so that if the Confederation decides to bomb Earth or bring it into the Confederation, there would at least still be a place where there are free humans.

Continuation of the series

Pournelle made several statements on his blog that he was working on a fourth book in the series, the working title being Janissaries IV: Mamelukes. He was not collaborating with anyone. [1]

His Works in Progress web page, dated April 2007, stated that Mamelukes was then 75,000 words into an ultimate length of 80,000. [2] In December 2011, Pournelle stated that Mamelukes stood at 140,000 words, with 10,000 until completion. [3] In July, 2014 that had risen to 151,000 with the final battle and ending remaining. [4]

Pournelle posted the first three chapters of Mamelukes on his website. [5]

With Pournelle's death in September 2017 the future of the series seemed to be very much in doubt. But it was reported in December 2018 that Jerry's son Phillip was in the second draft of Mamelukes working with best selling science-fiction and fantasy author David Weber as editor. On 15 November 2019 Jerry's View from Chaos Manor was updated with the news that Mamelukes (Janissaries 4) was finished, and it was published in hard cover on 2 June 2020. [6]


Related Research Articles

The Fermi paradox is the discrepancy between the lack of conclusive evidence of advanced extraterrestrial life and the apparently high likelihood of its existence. As a 2015 article put it, "If life is so easy, someone from somewhere must have come calling by now."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Pournelle</span> American science fiction writer, journalist, and scientist (1933-2017)

Jerry Eugene Pournelle was an American scientist in the area of operations research and human factors research, a science fiction writer, essayist, journalist, and one of the first bloggers. In the 1960s and early 1970s, he worked in the aerospace industry, but eventually focused on his writing career. In an obituary in Gizmodo, he is described as "a tireless ambassador for the future."

Galactic empires are a common trope used in science fantasy and science fiction, particularly in works known as 'space operas'. Many authors have either used a galaxy-spanning empire as background or written about the growth and/or decline of such an empire. The capital of a galactic empire is frequently a core world, such as a planet relatively close to a galaxy's supermassive black hole, which has advanced considerably in science and technology compared to current human civilization. Characterizations can vary wildly from malevolent forces attacking sympathetic victims to apathetic bureaucracies to more reasonable entities focused on social progress and anywhere in between.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Military science fiction</span> Military subgenre of science fiction

Military science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction that depicts the use of science fiction technology, including spaceships and weapons, for military purposes and usually principal characters who are members of a military organization, usually during a war; occurring sometimes in outer space or on a different planet or planets. It exists in a range of media, including literature, comics, film, television and video games.

CoDominium is a series of future history novels written by American writer Jerry Pournelle, along with several co-authors, primarily Larry Niven.

<i>The Mote in Gods Eye</i> 1974 novel by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle

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 reference to the Biblical "The Mote and the Beam" parable and is the nickname of a star. The Mote in God's Eye was nominated for the Hugo, Nebula and Locus Awards in 1975.

<i>The Gripping Hand</i> 1993 novel by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle

The Gripping Hand is a science fiction novel by American writers Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, published in 1993. A sequel to their 1974 work The Mote in God's Eye, The Gripping Hand is, chronologically, the last novel to be set in the CoDominium universe. In the United Kingdom, it was released as The Moat around Murcheson's Eye.

<i>Footfall</i> 1985 science fiction novel by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle

Footfall is a 1985 science fiction novel by American writers Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. The book depicts the arrival of members of an alien species called the Fithp that have traveled to the Solar System from Alpha Centauri in a large spacecraft driven by a Bussard ramjet. Their intent is conquest of the planet Earth.

<i>The Reality Dysfunction</i> 1996 SF novel by Peter F. Hamilton

The Reality Dysfunction is a science fiction novel by British writer Peter F. Hamilton, the first book in The Night's Dawn Trilogy. It is followed by The Neutronium Alchemist and The Naked God. It was first published in the United Kingdom by Macmillan Publishers on 26 January 1996. The first US edition, which was broken into two volumes, Emergence and Expansion, followed in July and August 1997 from Time Warner Books. The second US edition, published by Orbit Books in October 2008, is published in a single volume.

<i>Anacreon: Reconstruction 4021</i> 1987 video game

Anacreon: Reconstruction 4021 is a video game written by George Moromisato for MS-DOS and published by Thinking Machine Associates in 1987. Anacreon is a turn-based game in which human and computer players explore the galaxy, conquering worlds and putting them to use to fuel their war machines. it resembles Stellar Conquest and Hamurabi. It was inspired by Isaac Asimov's Foundation series of novels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First contact (science fiction)</span> Science fiction theme about the first meeting between humans and extraterrestrial life

First contact is a common science fiction theme about the first meeting between humans and extraterrestrial life, or of any sentient species' first encounter with another one, given they are from different planets or natural satellites. The theme allows writers to explore such topics such as xenophobia, transcendentalism, and basic linguistics by adapting the anthropological topic of first contact to extraterrestrial cultures.

<i>The Prince</i> (anthology) 2002 novel by Jerry 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. Of the original novels, the first two were written by Pournelle alone; the last two were cowritten with Stirling. Pages 174–176 of the printed edition are new to the compilation. The Prince was published by Baen Books in hardcover (ISBN 0-7434-3556-7) in September 2002.

A kinetic bombardment or a kinetic orbital strike is the hypothetical act of attacking a planetary surface with an inert kinetic projectile from orbit, where the destructive power comes from the kinetic energy of the projectile impacting at very high speeds. The concept originated during the Cold War.

<i>High Justice</i> 1974 collection of science fiction short stories by Jerry Pournelle

High Justice is a 1974 collection of science fiction short stories by American writer Jerry Pournelle. It was republished in an omnibus edition with Exiles to Glory in 2009 as Exile—and Glory.

<i>Janissaries</i> (novel) 1979 novel by Jerry Pournelle

Janissaries is a science fiction novel by American author Jerry Pournelle. Originally published in 1979, and illustrated by comic artist Luis Bermejo, it is the first book of Pournelle's Janissaries series. The following books are Janissaries: Clan and Crown, Janissaries III: Storms of Victory and Janissaries IV: Mamelukes.

<i>Janissaries II: Clan and Crown</i> 1982 novel by Roland J. Green

Janissaries: Clan and Crown is a science fiction novel by American writers Jerry Pournelle and Roland J. Green, the second book of Pournelle's Janissaries series. It was originally published in 1982 and, like the first book in the series, was illustrated, this time by Josep M. Martin Sauri. In 1996 Janissaries: Clan and Crown appeared in a double novel with the third book in the Janissaries series, Janissaries III: Storms of Victory as Tran.

<i>Janissaries III: Storms of Victory</i> 1987 novel by Jerry Pournelle and Roland J. Green

Janissaries III: Storms of Victory is a science fiction novel by American writers Jerry Pournelle and Roland J. Green, the third book of Pournelle's Janissaries series. It was originally published in 1987 and, unlike the first two books in the series, was not illustrated. In 1996 Janissaries III: Storms of Victory appeared in a double novel with the second book in the Janissaries series, Janissaries: Clan and Crown as Tran.

<i>The Line of Polity</i> 2003 science fiction novel by Neal Asher

The Line of Polity is a 2003 science fiction novel by Neal Asher. It is the second novel in the Gridlinked sequence. In this novel, Earth Central Security (ECS) agent Ian Cormac is placed at the center of a civil war on the planet Masada, where an elite Theocracy lives in cylindric habitats in orbit and violently rules over commoners enslaved to laborious agriculture jobs on the planet's surface. To complicate matters, someone has attacked a low-grav Outlinker habitat with a nanomycelium which bears a striking resemblance to that used by Dragon on Samarkand in the previous novel Gridlinked. Meanwhile, a brilliant Separatist biophysicist has apparently reactivated an extremely ancient relic of technology created by the Jain, an alien species that dropped out of the universe millions of years ago, and commanded forms of technology that the brightest AI minds of the Polity have difficulty comprehending.

This is the complete list of works by American science fiction author S. M. Stirling.

References

  1. ↑ "Re: Starswarm". Chaos Manor . January 13, 1999.
  2. ↑ "Chaos Manor Reports". Chaos Manor. April 5, 2007.
  3. ↑ "Dancing as fast as I can". Chaos Manor. December 9, 2011. Archived from the original on January 27, 2013.
  4. ↑ "TWIT, Rule of Law, and Democracy; Working on Mamelukes". Chaos Manor. July 29, 2014. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Chaos Manor Special Reports: The Mamelukes". Chaos Manor. October 7, 2006.
  6. ↑ "Announcing New Books from Jerry Pournelle". Chaos Manor. November 15, 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.