History Literature / CoDominium

The ''[=CoDominium=]'' series is the brain child of SciFi author Jerry Pournelle. The first books were written in the Seventies and set TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture, now [[ScienceMarchesOn Science and Time have marched on]] rendering the setting AlternateHistory. The premise of the series is that the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics join together to form the [=CoDominium=] (CD), and dominate the planet.

The [=CoDominium=] is corrupt to the core. It has a nasty habit of shipping millions of prisoners and dissidents, not to mention tens of millions of people "ethnically cleansed" from regions of Earth desired by persons or groups it views more favorably, to ramshackle colonies on Earthlike worlds in other solar systems--for some values of "Earthlike." Some, like Haven and Frystaat and Fulson's World, are quite [[DeathWorld horribly lethal places]] for humans. Others are merely really unpleasant.

At first things seem to go smoothly, Earth is dominated by a one hundred year era of relative peace and interstellar travel and colonization are developed. However, this peaceful era comes with a price tag attached to it, namely [[ModernStasis a complete halt in scientific research and development; not to mention political evolution.]] Eventually it collapses under its own weight, as both the United States and the USSR both hate each others guts still despite [[EnemyMine technically being allies]]. At the end, [[WorldWarIII large numbers of nuclear-tipped birds fly]], many launched down from orbit, and Earth is devastated. Even a millennium later, the devastation could still be seen.

The series includes:

'''Setting provides examples of the following tropes:'''

Despite the fact that it's one of the more grotesquely evil political entities we see in fiction (it gives the [[TheDraka Domination of the Draka]] a run for its money when it comes to sheer ruthless brutality), some military men serve it faithfully--if only because, they reason, [[IDidWhatIHadToDo someone has to hold it together and hold off the inevitable nuclear war as long as possible to give humanity a chance to survive offworld]].

* ''Falkenberg's Legion'', tales focusing on the titular mercenaries during the decline of the [=CoDominium=].

* MobileSuitHuman: Some Watchmaker Moties try to pull this off with a spacesuit and a severed head. Bury spots them [[InSpaceEveryoneCanSeeYourFace through the faceplate]] and has [[NightmareFuel nightmares for decades]] as a result.

The CoDominium is the brain child of SciFi author Jerry Pournelle. The first books were written in the Seventies and set TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture, now [[ScienceMarchesOn Science and Time have marched on]] rendering the setting AlternateHistory. The premise of the series is that the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics join together to form the [=CoDominium=] (CD), and dominate the planet.

* ''Literature/TheMoteInGodsEye'', and ''The Gripping Hand'', set centuries after Falkenberg's Legion, co-written with LarryNiven. The stories involve humanity's dealings with the alien Moties.

* ColonyDrop: the Moties got this one covered by virtue of there being no fissionables left in their star system. Luckily, there were plenty of asteroids around.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive, subverted: Horace Bury funds a war in ''The Mote In God's Eye''. But in ''The Gripping Hand'' it's [[RetCon retconned]] that he was only doing so because he wanted his planet to have religious freedom. He still has shades of being a greedy bastard, however. The whole tone of the character is different in the second book. The first gives no hint that he's anything but a villain who, among other things, had the man who suggested his ''name'' tortured to death.

* CitadelCity: Several examples such as Harmony-Garrison in ''Falkenberg's Legions'' and Batav in ''King David's Spaceship''.

* PointlessCivicProject: So Hadley is in need desperate of infrastructure and industry. So what does the [=CoDominium=] build them? A giant sports stadium. No surprise that the company that got the contract was owned by Senator Bronson. It's hinted this sort of thing happens all the time with the [=CoDo=] [[CorruptPolitician Grand Senate]].

** Several characters in ''King David's Spaceship'' are badasses who get medieval on their enemies.

** Several characters in ''King David's Spaceship'' are badasses who literally get medieval on their enemies.

* DarkActionGirl: Skida "Skilly" Thibodeau. Think Mayday from James Bond, but [[CompleteMonster even more evil]].

** ''King David's Spaceship'' plays it straight; the Empire are earnest fanatics who believe UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans and have no trouble sterilizing continents for the Greater Good, but Dougal and his anti-Imperial SecretPolice are just as nasty customers as you'd expect. Note that this story is told from ''their'' point of view.

* OneProductPlanet: Certain worlds are known for the commodities or services they provide: Tanith (Important Drug Slave Planet/ DeathWorld), Sauron (SuperSoldier planet), Sparta (Tough but free, and later Imperial Capital), Fulson's world (Very cold prison planet that everyone wants to avoid getting sent to), New Aberdeen (Producer of weapons), Meiji and Xanadu (Japanese and Chinese Mercenary Techs), Friedland (German Tanker Mercs), Covenant (Scottish Infantry mercs), and even Motie Prime (The Only Aliens Around Planet).

* PrivateMilitaryContractors: Falkenberg's Legion, not to mention the dozen or so mercenary groups and hired out planetary armies.

* SchizoTech: Justified by a century-long period of ModernStasis following the creation of FasterThanLightTravel, due to every politician in the CoDominium being either an ObstructiveBureaucrat, a StrawmanPolitical or a WellIntentionedExtremist; the only way all these megalomaniacs could agree not to start WorldWarIII was to agree not to develop weapons technology any further, which of course meant not developing ''anything'', and even trashing all the libraries so nobody could build better weapons by MacGyvering. They then proceeded to deport millions of people every year to every marginally habitable world they could find, often with little more than the clothes on their backs. The result is a smorgasbord of Schizo Tech. CasualInterstellarTravel, but [[FamilyFriendlyFirearms no lasers]]. Hand-held anti-satellite weaponry stored next to bolt-action rifles. Spaceports with horse troughs. Pournelle's [[TheVerse 'Verse]] never actually recovered from the whole mess; a thousand years later, every SpaceMarine thinks [[TechMarchesOn PDAs are state-of-the-art]].

* StayInTheKitchen: Especially in the Falkenberg's Legion books, but pretty much the standard position in Pournelle's work. It gets a little better in later books, but not much.

** Likewise, the Runner, Farmer and Engineer caste on Mote Prime. Engineers in particular are pretty much treated like portable autopilots. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that the Moties bomb themselves back to the Stone Age every five generations or so, are aware of the fact, and keep the old methods around as preparation for the next time.

After the CD's fall, the planet of Sparta forms the nucleus of the ''Empire of Man''. It leads to centuries of "peace" (Not counting the initial conquest, putting down rebellions, and "Outies" who don't count), until a massive civil war is begun by the genetically-engineered SuperSoldiers of Sauron (the planet, NOT the LordOfTheRings character). The Sauron Supermen are defeated (and their home world slagged by Spartan space battleships in orbit), but the Empire collapses into barbarism. Centuries pass, and Sparta becomes strong enough to form the ''Second Empire of Man''. To make sure another civilization destroying war doesn't happen again, the Empire decides to take over every human held planet, through diplomacy, but through force if necessary.

* AristocratsAreEvil: Subverted in ''Mote'', in which [[TheGoodCaptain Captain Blaine]] is a Marquis, and is a decent guy. WordOfGod is that ''Mote'' is set in a dynamic, expanding period of the Second Empire when the aristocracy are devoted to their duty to unite humanity under the Empire and to serve it -- or, as the authors put it, when they're more concerned with duty than privileges. ''The Gripping Hand'' includes one scene with a couple of Spartan gentry arguing over fishing rights, implying that decadence is creeping in.

* PopulationControl: The corrupt future United States implements this, through contraceptives and releasing infertility viruses among the welfare supported "Citizens".

* SpaceMarine: The CD Marines and later the Imperial Marines. The CD Marines subvert the trope, as they're often under equipped, lack power armor, and are armed with bolt-action rifles or whatever local industry can support.
* StagedPopulistUprising: ''Go Tell The Spartans'', Senator Bronson of earth tries to undermine the too independent government of Sparta by sending in supplies and advisers to organize the convict underclass into an army. It backfires as in the process of cracking down on the rebellions the Spartan government expels the [=CoDominium=] garrison and starts on the path to becoming the Empire.

** One of the few exceptions of this is the New Washington rebels, who are geuinely fighting for Indepenence and not an ideology. Still, there are elements of the rebellion who are willing to commit atrocites on the loyalists.

* {{MST}}: Done in-story in one of the Warworld collections. In one of the framing interludes, a [=CoDo=] bureaucrat and a group of ad execs are watching a new commercial promoting [=ReBulock=]. The ad execs begin to riff into the very propaganda they help create, bursting out in laughter.

* PenalColony: The CD treats most poor or undeveloped worlds as dumping grounds for criminals, ethnic minorities, and other "undesirables". In universe, Tainth and Fulson's World are considered the epitome of the trope.

* StandardSciFiFleet: In the essay ''Building the Mote in God's Eye", Niven and Pournelle actually choose the ship type of the INSS [=MacArthur=]. It was too big to be a Destroyer (which would be expendable and deployed only in a flotilla), and too small to be a Battleship. It had wings and scoops (good for getting fuel from gas giants), and thus can go on independent missions, which Crusiers and Battlecruisers are designed for.

* YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters: A lot of the "Outies" during the Imperial period see themselves this way. Unfortunately, [[LaResistance the resistance]] is often guilty of far worse attrocities than the Empire.

** The defensive energy shields for spaceships that start radiating under fire, going through the colors of the spectrum before failing at ultra-violet ''has'' to be a ShoutOut to EEDocSmith's {{space opera}}s.

* EvilPlan: Invoked by the Imperial Trading Association. [[spoiler: Tricking a group of imperial clergymen to go to Makassar, the merchants hoped the locals would slaughter them. The Navy would then have to retaliate, and the Traders would profit from the whole mess]].

* XanatosGambit: Invoked by the Imperial Trading Association. [[spoiler: Tricking a group of imperial clergymen to go to Makassar, the merchants hoped the locals would slaughter them. The Navy would then have to retaliate, and the Traders would profit from the whole mess]].

** Sparta shares many similarities with ''StarshipTroopers'', namely citizenship with the right to vote as an earned privilege.

* GeneralRipper: Admiral Lavrenti Kutuzov, you ''do not'' want to be on a rebellious colony when he is around. [[spoiler: Subverted in that he is right, right, ''right!'' in every possible way,]] at least [[WriterOnBoard according to his supporters]].

** One of the few exceptions of this is the New Washington rebels, who are geuinely fighting for Indepenence and not an ideaology. Still, there are elements of the rebellion who are willing to commit atrocites on the loyalists.

* HiredGuns: one of the books is called ''The Mercenary'' after all.

* TheKingdom: played with in ''King David's Spaceship''. The Kingdom of Haven is conquering its neighbors, and a ruthless secret police. However, they are still trying to keep their freedom from TheEmpire.

* YouFailBiologyForever: The short story "Brenda". Constant references to X and Y ''genes'' instead of X and Y ''chromosomes''.
* YouFailEconomicsForever, the "Welfare Islands" - huge prefab communities where ApatheticCitizens are kept apathetic with foodstamps and [[GovernmentDrugEnforcement free drugs]]. Actually an InvokedTrope; eventually there are more people in the islands getting stoned than there are "Taxpayers"; people who actually work and pay taxes in exchange for voting privileges - Pournelle's AuthorTract about how welfare will "ruin the economy". The "Taxpayers" slowly realized that their votes were worthless, as TheGovernment started fixing elections by framing the {{well intentioned extremist}}s for nuclear terrorism.

* MobileSuitHuman: Some Watchmaker Moties try to pull this off with a spacesuit and a severed head. Bury spots them [[InSpaceEveryoneCanSeeYourFace through the faceplate]] and has [[NightmareFuelUnleaded nightmares for decades]] as a result.

* TheAlliance: What the Co Dominium was supposed to technically be.
** TheEmpire: What the Co Dominium tended to act like, later played straight with the Empire of Man.

* DecadeDissonance: Let's face it, the Co Dominium has some cool toys (like regeneration technology, Nemourlon body armor, etc...) while certain planets are lucky to field infantry armed with bolt-action rifles. There are long parenthetical asides and quotes from Encyclopedia Galactica-style articles about things like the New Aberdeen 7mm semiauto combat rifle, which from the specifications in the description would not have raised any eyebrows had it been introduced on Earth around 1955, to terrifyingly efficient and effective smart bombs, orbital artillery, space battleships that can sit in high orbit and nuke entire continents down to the bedrock, antimatter bombs small enough to conceal in a tooth, etc. Some characters in one of the Haven stories set long after the fall of the [=CoDo=] find an imperishable, indestructible ceramic [=CoDo=] Marine dress uniform belt buckle that no one in the galaxy can analyze or duplicate and whose colors are as bright as they were the day it was made, seven hundred years before.

* FantasyWorldMap: Typically included in the front of the Falkenberg books is a map of the relevant planet or city. This presumably allows the reader to have a clear idea where everything is, and follow the strategy the characters use in their works.

* GovernmentAgencyOfFiction: The CD has a ton of Bureaus, including [=BuCorrect=] (Prisons), [=BuReloc=] ([[TransplantedHumans Forced Relocation]]), [=BuTech=] (Bureau of Technology-- prevents all advancement), Intercontinental Bureau of Investigation ("Eyes"), and the CD Intelligence Agencies. [=BuReloc=] is notably one of the largest and least liked since it's responsible for many of the problems of the Colonies.

* LegionOfLostSouls: The [=CD=] Line Marines were formed from the French Foreign Legion, and thus continue their traditions.

* NamingYourColonyWorld: Since a lot of the major colonies are supported by nationalists, its no surprise that there a lot of planets named after people (Churchill, Meiji, Dyan). Other colonies seem to reflect their cultural or religious influences (New Scotland, Haven, Ararat, Covenant). LarryNiven added his typical whimsical naming by having one world named ''Tabletop'', a world of plains.

* PenalColony: The [=CD=] treats most poor or undeveloped worlds as dumping grounds for criminals, ethnic minorities, and other "undesirables". In universe, Tainth and Fulson's World are considered the epitome of the trope.

* RetCon: The Co Dominium was supposed to be founded in 1991, the year the Soviet Union collapsed in RealLife. Jerry Pournelle later moved the founding date to the year 2000 and had a military coup reestablish the Soviet Union. Likely done so the author could continue writing sequels to the work which he was working on at the time.

** The motto of the CoDominium Armed Forces is "Peace is Our Profession", the same as [[PeaceThroughSuperiorFirepower the USAF's Strategic Air Command]].

** Also, the CoDominium Marines are divided into three branches: Fleet (Elites), Garrison (Security), and Line infantry. Indigenous partisans also play a vital role in several of the books.

** Pournelle had another collection ''High Justice'', set during the ''Exploration of Colonization of Space''. Likely thinking of this trope, the publishers billed it as a prequel. Pournelle disagreed.

** [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] by Rod Blaine in ''TheGrippingHand'' regarding his current standing with Horace Bury.

* EnemyMine: The premise is that the Soviet Union and the United States decided to ally with each other and rule the world, amongst other things.