Outies (Mote Series, Book 3) - Softcover

J. R. Pournelle

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0615434142 ISBN 13: 9780615434148

Publisher: New Brookland Press, 2011

Synopsis

In a return to the CoDominium universe of the Second Empire of Man, Outies pauses at the fringes of human space, on an outworld that never knew fossil fuels. New Utah instead pushed crude solar technologies to the limits of everyday utility. But a planet is a big place - and it's time for the New Utahns to meet the neighbors. Blending hard science and social science, Outies explores complexities of biology, geology, and ecology at the heart of alien Motie society and evolution. While military science fiction in a sense, that sense is very much of the wars of our time. Outies plunges through the confusion, chaos, factionalism, and unpredictability of low intensity conflict with realism, but largely through civilian eyes. In a twist on traditional space opera, it introduces Asach Quinn - a wily, thoughtful, genderless, and diplomatic foil to reckless pilot Kevin Renner. Leaving the aristocratic manors of Sparta, Quinn burrows deep inside the heads of members of the Church of Him - who believe that the red dwarf visible twinkling through the Coal Sack Nebula is literally the Eye of God. Pournelle - an ex-Army intelligence officer turned anthropologist - provides New Utah and its characters with a rich sense of place and deep motivations; hints at what may become, over the next millenium, of Mormons, moties, and Earth islanders displaced by sea level rise - and even masters some Tok Pisin along the way. At nearly 110,000 words (about 400 print pages), the book is packed with additional material designed to allow the reader to explore New Utah in as much depth as desired. For those new to (or needing a refresher on) the Mote series, a detailed chronology lists key events over the five centuries preceding Outies. The cast of characters is organized by role and location, providing hints of relationships that unwind over the course of the novel. A map lays out the continental-scale environs in which the story is set. An appendix provides a guide to acronyms, details of religious history and organization, an explanation of alien accounting systems, and evolutionary biology. There is even an original musical score, composed by music theorist J. Daniel Jenkins. Outies is an authorized sequel to The Mote in God's Eye and The Gripping Hand by best-selling SF duo Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. With a fresh point of view, deep continuity, and page-turning plot twists, J.R. (Jennifer) Pournelle brings a mature generation of Moties to life for a mature generation of readers. Outies introduces new characters, adds depth to beloved old ones, creates a rich, imaginable world, and gives clear voices to aliens and outsiders.

About this title

From the Author

I thought about the post-war (or was it still war?) period of 2003-2004 for a good long time after returning home from Iraq. Of the many things I pondered, one was war fiction, and especially military science fiction. War books have compelling plots, generally along the lines of: there are good guys; there are bad guys. Sometimes bad guys, that is, guys who were individually bad, redeem themselves and become heroic good guys. Anyway, the good guys win, or die valiantly trying. War's over. The End.

But nothing I saw in Iraq was ever that cut-and-dried. On any given day, it was hard to tell if, when and where we were having a war. It was generally impossible to tell good guys from bad guys. There were many shades of both, on both sides. Technology sometimes won the day, but seldom won the outcome. None of us outsiders, ever, knew what the locals were thinking - even if they pretended to tell us. And everything, absolutely everything, including matters of life and death, was weighed and measured by social standards and rules of conduct that we simply could not read.

That's what "first contact" stories are really about - and that's what Niven & Pournelle did with The Mote in God's Eye some 35 years ago. So, as I thought about it, I decided: wouldn't it be interesting to try to flip that around: to get inside the heads of locals and others who had the same dilemna in reverse. I drew a lot on my Iraq experience trying to do that.

To make this a credible sequel, I took careful, detailed notes on timelines, political precedents, character traits, and technologies from Mote and The Gripping Hand, and tried to be excedingly careful to stick to the "realities" of that universe. But, given that the first Mote was written 35 years ago, I also wanted to update the science and gender issues that were at the core of the original novel. First, because Sally Fowler (a central character in the original book) was ostensibly an anthropologist, in my sequel, I brought in another anthropologist to serve as a new protagonist and do real anthropological things. Second, I spent a lot of studying reproductive biology, in order to write in backstory that made sense of the Motie's bizarre physiology. It's written up in the report in the Appendix. You don't have to read that, but if you are interested, you can - and if you demand more answers than are in the story itself, you should.

What I did NOT try to do was copy Niven & Pournelle's style. Firstly, they are, after all, still writing and need no help from me to do that. Secondly, I wanted to get at that sense of disordered confusion - that sense of nobody being quite sure where they are, literally and figuratively, as a place teeters on the brink of  (or of pulling back from) war. So, each chapter deals with four threads. Mentally, I think of them as: Imperials (and what they are up to); Church and State (that is, events in New Utah's capitol city, St. George); The Pale (that is, Bonneville and the Barrens); and Beyond the Pale (that is, the Barrens and Outback). These threads each move forward independently for awhile, but of course come together as the book goes on. In Iraq, that would be something like trying to keep track of what's going on in Washington D.C., Baghdad, Nasiriya, and the desert wastes of Dhi Qar province. From the standpoint of standing next to a single well at a roadside shrine, it's hard to grasp that those other places even exist - let alone have much relevance. But of course they do.

Finally, the ending was intended as a bit of fun, consistent with the other "remote fringe" of Second Empire space (King David's Spaceship) that launched my father's career in science fiction writing. I hope that diehard Pournelle fans who spot the premise will recognise it for what it is: an intentional homage to him.

And by the way, I expect most fans of his know this already, but he's J.E.  I'm J.R.

From the Inside Flap

Since first contact with the alien Mote civilization, expansion of the Second Empire of Man has slowed. The Fleet's attention has become consumed with blocking Motie access to human space--and holding that thin line now depends upon a shaky alliance with the horrifically prolific, technologically brilliant, three-armed Moties themselves. Under the terms of Horace Bury's will, human and Motie shareholders have also assumed joint control of industrial giant Imperial Autonetics.

However, the Empire still decides the fate of worlds. Those already in possession of space-worthy craft may join as Classified systems, and enjoy the benefits of access to new technology, trading rights, and Fleet protection. Those less advanced may be parceled out as colonial concessions. Outworlds that refuse to join risk conquest by zealous commanders intent on preserving the hard-won peace at any cost. Worlds boasting great riches are targeted for quick accession. Those presenting any danger are targeted for quick destruction. Yet, though their very planets depend on guessing the right questions, and delivering the right answers, in the remote backwaters of Imperial space, few of these details are known to the Outies themselves.

Set in the first chaotic year following Horace Bury's death, this new sequel to King David's Spaceship, The Mote in God's Eye, and The Gripping Hand introduces Asach Quinn, a human character as enigmatic as the alien Moties. It shifts point of view from those engaged in the vast race across the stars, to that of the "outies" themselves.

About this edition

• Publisher: New Brookland Press
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0615434142
• ISBN 13: 9780615434148
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 400