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Review: The Trigon Disunity by Michael P. Kube-McDowell

Review: The Trigon Disunity by Michael P. Kube-McDowell

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The Trigon Disunity by Michael P. Kube-McDowell

Overall Rating: ***** (5 stars)

The Trigon Disunity is a science-fiction trilogy, composed of Michael P. Kube-McDowell’s first three novels, originally published in the mid-1980s. The trilogy has recently been republished by Phoenix Pick, in new editions that also collect some of the short fiction Mr. Kube-McDowell wrote in the same setting. The result is a very readable collection of stories, depicting humanity’s first expansion to the stars. However, there’s more than meets the eye. These stories are not just about exploration, they’re about the consequences of human folly, and about our ability to transcend that folly.

The Trigon Disunity is centered around three novels.

Emprise, the first novel, begins on Earth after an almost-total collapse of high-technology civilization in the late twentieth century.

Allen Chandliss was once a radio astronomer, before civilization fell and scientists became hunted outcasts across much of the world. Now he lives alone in the Idaho outback, raising his own food and going into the nearest town once in a while to trade. Yet he hasn’t given up on science, still listening to the radio noise from the sky with cobbled-together equipment. Ironically, it’s Chandliss who first detects unambiguous evidence of a signal from extra-terrestrial intelligence.

What follows turns out badly for Chandliss, but it gives a few of the shattered world’s leaders the motivation they need to improve human fortunes. The story of this “emprise” sets the tone for the entire trilogy. It’s a story of human resilience and achievement, but at every step it’s also a story of flawed human individuals, forced to make critical decisions with no assurance of a good outcome.

The second novel, Enigma, is set several centuries later, while human beings explore the stars of the solar neighborhood. In the process, they uncover several mysteries, calling into question everything they think they know about human origins and the place of intelligent life in the universe.

The third novel, Empery, is set a few centuries later yet, at a time when humans respond to their discoveries with fear and paranoia. The human worlds are faced with a decision: whether to continue exploring the galaxy in peace, or whether to set up an “empery” (empire) that meets its challenges with force.

It may be somewhat misleading to call this series of novels a trilogy. With one prominent exception, no major characters appear in more than one story. Each novel (and each attached short story) carries a different theme. These are largely disconnected narratives, a three-part or “trigon disunity” that nevertheless lays out a coherent and well-developed future history.

One attractive feature of this series is its careful attention to real-world astronomy and astrophysics. This is reasonably hard SF, part of the “one big lie” school that assumes faster-than-light travel is possible but is careful to set restrictive rules for its use. Mr. Kube-McDowell makes good use of what was known at the time about the nearby stars, and he keeps the sheer scale of interstellar space in mind as well.

Mr. Kube-McDowell also exhibits deep insight into the flaws of human character, and of human bureaucracies and political systems. None of his characters, not even his protagonists, are heroes or saints. They behave irrationally, they succumb to delusions, they indulge their ambitions at the expense of others, they abuse their authority. They make horrible mistakes (and pay for them). Yet the overall arc of the trilogy is upward, a proposal that even imperfect human beings can accomplish great things.

I first read The Trigon Disunity over thirty years ago, on its initial publication. Time and experience have led me to appreciate this new edition all the more. It’s a collection well worth reading, raising questions that are well worth considering long after each book is finished. Highly recommended.

Short Story Now Available: “A Prince of Tanȗr”

Short Story Now Available: “A Prince of Tanȗr”

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I’ve posted a new short story, “A Prince of Tanȗr,” to the Free Articles and Fiction section of this blog.

“A Prince of Tanȗr” is the first story I’ve written in the setting described in my article, “Building a Better Barsoom.” It may be my first attempt at writing a bit of planetary romance, but it probably won’t be the last.

“A Prince of Tanȗr” will also be released to my patrons, free of charge.

A Character Sheet

A Character Sheet

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Making good progress on the proposed Cortex Prime sourcebook for the Human Destiny universe. The character rules, in particular, are pretty much done in a rough draft. To test them out, I worked up a character sheet for my usual protagonist in those stories: Aminata Ndoye, the young woman from Senegal who is destined to be the first human starship captain.

What follows is pretty crude – Cortex Prime normally emphasizes the use of well-designed “character files” and this is just text – but it should get the idea across.

A bit of notation: anywhere I have a number in parentheses, that indicates a character trait that contributes one die of that size to the player’s dice pool. So, for example, “(6)” means that trait contributes a 6-sided die. Cortex Prime builds dice pools out of 4-sided, 6-sided, 8-sided, 10-sided, and 12-sided dice, and the bigger the die the more likely it is to produce a good result.

Aminata Ndoye

Student at the École supérieure de l’astronautique in Toulouse, province of Midi de la France.

Stands 168 centimeters tall, masses about 60 kilograms, age 17 Earth years. Her skin tone is deep brown, her eyes are such a dark brown as to be almost black, and her hair is black and cut very short.

Aminata is invariably cool, collected, and rational. She has already demonstrated courage and decisiveness, even under pressure. It is rare for her to lose her temper or otherwise display uncontrolled emotion, and she deals with others with calm, unshakeable courtesy. Strangers often find it difficult to get to know her, as she is something of a workaholic and appears to have little sense of fun or humor.

Distinctions

(8) Devoted Sunni Muslim

Islam is just as important to me as science when I try to make sense of the world around me.

  • Gain a PP when you switch out this distinction’s (8) for a (4).
  • Spend a PP to step up a Value when you reconnect with your core identity.

(8) Going to the Stars Someday

Nothing and no one will keep me tied down to the Earth.

  • Gain a PP when you switch out this distinction’s (8) for a (4).
  • Spend a PP to reroll your dice when the test or contest is in direct pursuit of your core ambition.

(8) Life is an Equation to be Solved

It’s all about figuring out the unknown variables.

  • Gain a PP when you switch out this distinction’s (8) for a (4).
  • Spend a PP to double your Skill die when you embrace your personal style.

Values

  • (8) Sympátheia
  • (10) Logismós
  • (6) Prónoia
  • (6) Prokopé
  • (6) Andreía
  • (4) Evexía

Relationships

  • (10) The Hegemony (Gold card)
  • (6) Valérie Chauvin
  • (6) Nguyen Thi Mai

Skills

  • (6) Influence
  • (8) Know
    • (6) Astronomy
  • (6) Move
  • (6) Notice
  • (6) Operate
  • (6) Play
  • (6) Survive

Resources

                None

Some commentary, for the Cortex-unaware among my readers:

Distinctions are core pieces of a character’s identity. It’s expected that just about any test or contest the character gets into will involve one of their Distinctions.

Values are kind of like “attributes,” but they measure the character’s commitment to certain ethical or philosophical principles. I’m taking a small risk here by defining six Values for characters and naming them in a language most players won’t know (Classical Greek). I’m hoping to convey the alien-ness of the values system that people in this universe are trying to live under.

In this case, Aminata’s higher Values indicate that she’s good at understanding other sentient beings, empathizing with them, and persuading them. She’s very good at rational thinking and taking an objective viewpoint. On the other hand, her main weakness is evexía, which means something like “hygiene,” “self-awareness,” or “self-care” – she’s a bit of a workaholic, and tends to throw herself into problems without taking proper care of her own needs.

Relationships are ties the character has to other people or institutions. In this case, Aminata has a very strong Relationship with the Hegemony, the alien empire humans live under in this universe. She has an unusual level of privilege under Hegemony law. She also has Relationships with two other students at the “space academy” where she is currently studying.

Skills should be fairly straightforward. Cortex Prime encourages creators to name Skills with simple action verbs, to help make it clear when one of them comes into play. I’ve drawn up a list of Skills that’s a little longer than the default one in the core book, but for a space-opera setting that should work well.

Here, Aminata is just starting out at said “space academy,” where she and her fellow students are going to spend several years going through a grueling schedule of academic study and physical training. It occurs to me that Cortex Prime would have no trouble supporting a series of game sessions based on that situation . . .

A Vignette

A Vignette

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Another piece of the Introduction for the Human Destiny sourcebook I’m writing. I intended to include a short fictional vignette, but rather than write a new piece I decided to just grab the first page or so of “Pilgrimage,” a novelette I’ve already published in that universe. Hey, it’s my copyrighted material, I can use it if I want to.

“Pilgrimage” is available at this link on Amazon.

Aminata Ndoye emerged from a taxi outside the front gate of her home, in the arondissement of Mermoz-Sacré-Cœur, on a quiet street not far from the sea. As the taxi chirped and drove itself away, she looked carefully up and down the street. Sure enough, she spotted the first of her admirers, in a little park across the street and about half a block away. Three men, standing in the shade of an acacia tree, doing their best not to be too obvious about watching her.

She turned a cold shoulder to the men, waved a hand at the gate to unlock it, and hurried inside.

“Hello, little bird.”

Aminata glanced up, surprised.

A man sat at ease in the shade of the front porch, a cup of coffee in his hand. He was big, not tall but powerfully built, still resembling the wrestler he had been in his youth. His face was long, narrow, and very dark, with close-cropped black hair and a neatly trimmed beard that had just started to show a little silver. He wore a kaftan in deep blue, and a white kufi cap. He rose when he saw Aminata, setting his coffee down on a side table.

“Father!” Aminata hurried forward to greet him. “We weren’t expecting you home for weeks. Is everything all right?”

“Fine, fine,” said Ibrahim Ndoye. He returned Aminata’s embrace and gave her a warm smile. “Everything is in place for the rainy season, and Dr. Guèye has the reserve well in hand. I decided to give myself a few days off, and Supervisor Veshati agreed, so here I am.”

“I’m glad.” Aminata sobered. “Something has happened. I only learned about it an hour ago. I wasn’t looking forward to dealing with it with only Mother’s help.”

“Oh?”

Aminata hesitated. “It’s not something that we should discuss outdoors, Father.”

Ibrahim cocked an eyebrow at his daughter. “Very mysterious. Let’s go inside, then.”

They stepped up and through the door of their house, into the cool peace of the front hallway, where Ibrahim took off his kufi and set it on a side table. Aminata found words had abandoned her. She simply opened her tablet, called up the pertinent message, and handed the device to her father. Ibrahim read it with grave attention, giving no sign of surprise except for a sudden leap of his eyebrows.

“Truly?” he murmured when he had finished, handing the tablet back to Aminata. “A gold card?”

She only nodded, overwhelmed for a moment.

Immediately after Aminata’s sixteenth birthday, her primary education finished, she had undergone a week-long battery of assessments. A genetic assay. A rather invasive medical examination. Trials of her strength, speed, and coordination. Tests of cognitive ability and academic achievement. Extensive psychological evaluations, some of them under stress.

Every human on Earth went through the same process, as he or she approached adulthood. The stakes were very high. Nine out of ten humans spent their entire lives subsisting on the austere comforts of the Citizen’s Allowance. Nine out of ten of the rest might find work, but only under the direct supervision of foreigners. Only one in a thousand would ever earn gold-card citizenship: the elite of conquered humanity.

The process had other implications as well, which Aminata took very personally.

“A gold card,” she said at last. “Our benevolent lords and masters have decreed that I may have as many as five children. Now I’ll have men following me everywhere. I think there are some outside even now, watching the house. Not to mention that I’ve already gotten dozens of messages from complete strangers.”

“Some of them will be men of good family,” Ibrahim pointed out. “Men with worthwhile jobs and real status. You’ll get the chance to pick and choose.”

“That’s not at the top of my priority list, Father.”

Ibrahim cocked a skeptical eyebrow at her. “You don’t want a family of your own? Children?”

“Of course I do,” she said. “Someday. After I’ve seen and done something that will be worth passing on to them.”

He nodded gravely, pleased. “That’s very sensible, little bird. Perhaps it’s one reason why the Hegemony assigned you gold-card status to begin with.”

“Who knows what the khedai value in humans?”

“We can make a few guesses, based on the content of the examinations. Sound genes and healthy bodies. Intelligence. Sanity. The ability to live and work with beings who look different, have different customs, even think differently.” Ibrahim smiled. “All of which you have. Your mother and I never doubted you would do well.”

“They’re breeding us to be good subjects for their empire,” said Aminata, a trace of bitterness in her voice. “Like cattle, who never get to leave the field and see anything of the real world.”

For the first time, Ibrahim gave his daughter a look of disapproval. “They aren’t bad rulers. We saw much worse before the Conquest.”

“At least then, our rulers were human.”

The Elevator Pitch

The Elevator Pitch

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Here’s a chunk of the growing draft for the Human Destiny Sourcebook. This is a piece of the Introduction, an “elevator pitch” for the book and the setting it will describe.

In the middle of the Twenty-First Century, the age-old question of “are we alone in the universe?” got a sudden and very emphatic answer.

Earth was in bad shape at the time. Global depression, ecological collapse, runaway climate change, and half a dozen regional wars – one of them nuclear – had thrown the world into chaos. Civilization seemed to be on the brink of total failure, and many wondered whether the human species itself would survive.

Then the khedai came.

The khedai were the overlords of a vast interstellar empire, the Hegemony: tens of thousands of worlds, trillions of sentient beings, all living in relative peace and prosperity. They first became aware of Earth just after the turn of the century. At once, they began planning to intervene before we humans could finish rendering our home world uninhabitable. They sent a fleet to Sol and began building the infrastructure they would need.

Thirty years later, just as a few humans were becoming aware that something strange was happening in the outer solar system, the Hegemony finally made its move. The invasion of Earth began in September of 2044, and it was over in less than six months. The khedai called it the Fifth Rimward Intervention, and they considered it a minor skirmish on the frontiers of their empire. Humans called it simply the Conquest.

The khedai were certainly imperialists, but they turned out to be surprisingly benevolent overlords. The resources of Earth and the solar system were not plundered. In fact, the Hegemony worked to rebuild shattered ecosystems, restoring much of Earth’s natural beauty and health. Humans were not enslaved. In fact, most humans found themselves enjoying a higher standard of living than ever before, without having to work for any of it. The Hegemony enforced a system of laws that most humans found reasonable, and they did so with majestic impartiality.

The khedai have always claimed that they came to Earth only to save humanity from its self-destructive nature. They claim to mean us no harm, and they express a wish to see us someday become mature citizens of the galaxy.

Even so, for two hundred years many humans have resented the Hegemony. They feel that the human species has been forced to give up its freedom and its ambitions in exchange for a false security – the life of animals on exhibit in a zoo. Dissent and passive resistance continue to the present day.

In recent years, however, there are signs that the Hegemony’s policy toward humans may be about to change. More humans have been elevated to positions of authority in the cities of Earth. More humans have been encouraged to move to the colonies on Luna, on Mars, and elsewhere in the solar system. More humans have been permitted to travel to other stars. A few humans have been selected to serve aboard Hegemony starships, as crewmen and even as officers.

It is the middle of the Twenty-Third Century on Conquered Earth, and you are one of those exceptional humans. You stand out in a crowd. You have dreams and aspirations that can’t be denied. Whether it’s a quest for a meaningful life on Earth, a career of hard work in the colonies, or a vision of exploring the stars, you have only to step up to the challenge.

The galaxy doesn’t belong to humans, but that doesn’t mean you can’t earn a place in it.

Star System Generation: A Neat Automated Tool

Star System Generation: A Neat Automated Tool

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Today I came across a neat example of automated star-system generation, based on the design sequence I wrote for GURPS Space, Fourth Edition back in the day.

It looks like a robust code base, supporting a web-based interface. You can generate star systems at random, possibly forcing a few parameters (existence of a garden world, position in an open cluster, and so on). You can pick from several naming schemes for the resulting planets.

The output includes a neat animated map of the system, and hierarchically tabulated information for randomly generated stars, planets, and moons. All in all, it looks very slick, and it seems to reflect the original game rules pretty accurately.

The source code for the project can be found at Jan Sandberg’s GitHub repository. The redditor Myrion_Phoenix hosts an instance of the application on his website as well.

I’ve mentioned my own more recent work on Architect of Worlds – it would be neat to see a similar automated version of that once it’s ready for release. In any case, this application looks very useful for folks who are running hard-SF games, whether using GURPS Space or something similar.

Short Story Now Available: “Landfall”

Short Story Now Available: “Landfall”

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I’ve posted “Landfall,” a short story that I wrote a few years back, to the Free Articles and Fiction section.

“Landfall” is a tale about a slower-than-light interstellar expedition, which runs into trouble when it finally encounters a hospitable, Earthlike world after a thousand years of voyaging. What does a society organized around an eternal voyage do, when it becomes possible for the voyage to end?

The story should be linked from the sidebar, but here’s a link as well.