The future history of human space exploration is divided into two distinct eras, separated by centuries of dark age between: the CUSET era and the Confederation (DCHC) era.
CUSET stands for Corporate Union Space Exploration Treaty. This era was marked by explosive expansion after the discovery of FTL travel (which became known as leapfrogging or leaping). Many habitable planets were settled (and exploited), as were the star systems near them. During this time, CUSET’s only rival in space was the People’s Republic of China who were also expanding into Earth’s solar system and a handful of extra-solar star systems.
Stories such as Eventide and Scrapper are set in this period. The novella Scrapper takes place about five years before Eventide.
The CUSET era and its expansionism came to a crashing halt when the alien PBT virus devastated human colonies and cut them off from each other, regressing the survivors into pre-industrial societies for almost eight centuries.
The Confederation/DCHC era was established about 800 years after the novel Eventide. Gradually, various colonies and factions rediscovered star travel (chiefly Xerxian pirate factions in the early days). A confederation of three worlds was formed in the 2980s with other worlds and habitats joining in the years shortly after. This included one former Chinese settlement.
These new planetary governments lacked the corporation nature of CUSET days. Prior to the year 3010, the biggest threats to the Confederation’s peace were the remaining Xerxian pirate factions and the unknown power of the reclusive Yun Dao system. That would change with the meeting of humans and Tluaanto in 3014 …
For more detail about human settlements and particular the shape of the Confederation during the Envoys series of novels, please click here for a downloadable companion guide.
Novels in chronological order
- Hard Landing (set in 2129)
- Scrapper (set in 2140)
- Eventide (set in 2145)
- Aster Sands (set in 2978 — work in progress)
- Exclusion Zone (set in 3001)
- Shore Leave (currently free when registering for email updates from the author – set in 3013)
- Third Contact (Envoys 1) (3014)
- Assured (Envoys 2) (3014)
- The Stars Remain (Envoys 3) (3014)