"The Tradesmen"

"The Tradesmen" is an ironic title for David Drake's Draka story. Drake shows us the horror of life - or should I say death - in a Draka War Zone. When the enemy have been driven back, irregulars are paid with gold coins to kill civilians so that the land can be cleared for Draka settlement. One Draka woman, with no estate back home, has already moved her family into the Zone and is hunting and killing noncombatant men, women and children to hasten the process. She has staked her claim to some of the land and is enriching herself at the same time.

A colonel tells her:

"'Good Christ, woman!...We have to do this; we don't have to like it!'" (Drakas!, p. 132)

They have to do it?

A neat story focusing not on military action but mainly on heated exchanges when it is disclosed that the Powers That Be have reduced the bounty for each left ear (proof of killing) from one hundred to sixty aurics.

The Draka lady's response is:

"'The hell you say, lardbelly!...The hell you say.'" (p. 134)

An irregular is even less ladylike:

"'No fucking way I let you Draka bastards cheat me!...No fucking way.'" (p. 137)

However, the moral of the story is that economic realism wins the day. This is quite a good story, although I do not fully understand the joke at the end.

What Next For The Draka?

From reading my posts, Ketlan has become impressed with Gwendolyn Ingolfsson. Thus, he might borrow the Draka books and discuss them here.

Sean M Brooks informs me that The Domination not only collects the first three Draka novels but also includes, as a framing device, a dialogue occurring some time after the events of the fourth novel. Thus, I need to get a copy of The Domination for the most recent information from Earth/2.

Drakas! is an excellent themed anthology. Both Harry Turtledove and David Drake know how to write about war and I will have more to say about their contributions. I must also finish reading John Barnes' fascinating story. All that is lacking, of course, is a Draka story by Poul Anderson.

However, since I am about to walk up the hill to attend a Holocaust Memorial event in Lancaster Castle, the current post must be cut short.

Further Reading

Our timeline had World Wars I and II and so far has avoided III. The Domination timeline had the Great War, the Eurasian War and the Final War.

In Drakas!, I have read:

"A Walk In The Park" by Anne Marie Talbott, set in another timeline;

"The Last Word" by Harry Turtledove, set during the aftermath of the Final War -

- and have begun to read "The Tradesman" by David Drake, apparently set during the Eurasian War.

According to BAEN BOOKS by S.M. Stirling on p. ii of Drakas!, SM Stirling has cowritten:

three books with James Doohan;
seven with David Drake;
two with Jerry Pournelle;
one (?) with Anne McCaffrey;
one with Shirley Meier -

- and I know that he has written a lot more besides this. I expect to continue reading but do not know what will come next.

Alternative History Fiction: Its Origins And A Culmination

My eyes have been opened by reading the Wiki article on Alternative Histories. Alternative history fiction itself has a long history - its earliest origins were historical, even Roman - although HG Wells may have been the first writer to describe travel between alternative histories.

The article rightly states that it is impossible to discuss separately from each other alternative history fiction and time travel fiction in which history is changed. Thus, the article appropriately refers both to Poul Anderson's Time Patrol series (time travelers changing history) and to his Old Phoenix stories (travelers between alternative histories).

However, here is at least one culmination of this sub-genre:

SM Stirling's Draka series recounts an alternative history from 1779 to 2445 and also describes travel between histories;

the series comprises four novels by Stirling and one anthology of twelve stories by other authors, edited by Stirling;

Poul Anderson is quoted on the back cover of the anthology as commenting "...an exciting, evocative [and] horrifying read."

The twelve contributors to the anthology, Drakas! are:

William Sanders, writer of fantasy and sf, including alternative histories;
John Miller, author of graphic novels and of stories set in George RR Martin's Wild Cards alternative history series;
Roland Green who has continued H Beam Piper's Great King's War alternative history;
David Drake, author of the Hammer's Slammers future war series;
Jane Lindskold, a former professor of English;
Lee Allred, author of alternative history fiction;
William Barton, author of When We Were Real;
Harry Turtledove, often called the master of alternative history;
Anne Marie Talbott, published here for the first time;
Markus Baur, a high tech sector worker resident in Vienna;
John Barnes, who introduces his crosstime-travel hero, Mark Strang, to the Draka; 
Severna Park, sf novelist.

Stirling explains the reasoning behind the series:

What were the good and bad consequences of European colonialism?
What if its worst consequence, slavery, had grown until it was unstoppable?

Thus, as I suspected, Draka world domination is part of the premise and has to be accepted as such.