Galactic Empires

Entry updated 19 December 2017. Tagged: Theme.

InThe Universe Makers (1971) Donald A Wollheim attempts to distil from the range of futuristic visions presented by magazine sf a basic pattern – a "cosmogony of the future" – in which stages three to five (there are eight in all) describe "the rise and fall of the Galactic Empire", which is thus enshrined as the central myth ofGenre SF. ("Empire" is here used with a general, almost metaphorical meaning, rather than in its politically definitive sense.) The galactic empire was a necessary invention: an imaginative framework which could accommodate any number of "Earth-clone" worlds on which writers might deploy ordinary human characters in confrontation with any imaginable social and biological system. Very many modern sf stories are designed to fit into such a framework, taking advantage of the fact that it has become established as a convention which needs no explanation.

Much of the credit for the establishment of the convention must go to IsaacAsimov, whoseFoundation series (stories May 1942-January 1950Astounding; fixups1951-1953) set the most influential example, although it is possible to trace the idea back to earlier roots. As long ago as 1900 Robert WCole had imagined Victoria's glorious British Empire extending its dominion to the stars, so that ours should not be the only sun never to set upon it. Confederations of worlds within the solar system were common in pulp sf from its inception, and these were extended into the Galaxy in such novels asGalactic Patrol (September 1937-February 1938Astounding;1950) by E E "Doc"Smith. Asimov, however, was the writer who provided the essential historical framework for such a concept. He did so by relatively straightforward analogy with past empires, reversing the analytical historical perspective of such works asThe History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776-1788) by Edward Gibbon (1737-1794) to produce the predictive science ofPsychohistory. With a single flourish, a whole prospectus for the future of the human race – allowing virtually limitless possibilities so far as events on a finer scale were concerned – was established. Asimov used the convenient historical pattern himself as a background for other works, includingThe Stars Like Dust (1951) andThe Currents of Space (October-December 1952Astounding;1952). Robert AHeinlein's painstaking attempt to develop a futureHistory step by step became an empty endeavour after theFoundation series, and later efforts seem distinctly half-hearted. JamesBlish'sCities in Flight (1955-1962) succeeds more through its key image of the star-travellingCities than through its framework, derived from the philosophy of cyclic history developed by Oswald Spengler. PoulAnderson, who developed his own scheme for use in hisTechnic History series and many other stories and novels, was able to take a great deal for granted because Asimov had prepared the way; it was Anderson who evocatively described the post-fall galactic era as theLong Night.

Writers of the 1940s who employed the galactic-empire framework include C LMoore, inJudgment Night (August-September 1943Astounding;1952), EdmondHamilton, inThe Star Kings (September 1947Amazing;1949; vtBeyond the Moon1950) and – most extravagantly – A Evan Vogt in such stories as "Recruiting Station" (March 1942Astounding; inMasters of Time coll1950). Van Vogt was not at all hesitant about borrowing the entire apparatus of historical empires, and replayed the most melodramatic phase of Roman history – presumably borrowed via RobertGraves'sI, Claudius (1934) – in hisLinn series,Empire of the Atom (stories May 1946-December 1947Astounding; fixup1957) andThe Wizard of Linn (April-June 1950Astounding;1962). The background proved particularly useful in the colourful brand of adventure sf featured byPlanet Stories, and it was very extensively used therein, notably by LeighBrackett, AlfredCoppel and Poul Anderson (in his earlySpace Operas). During the 1950sScience Fiction Adventures, the magazine closest in editorial philosophy toPlanet Stories, likewise made extensive use of it, particularly in stories written for the US version by RobertSilverberg and for the UK version by KennethBulmer.

In addition to Anderson, several other post-World War Two writers have made consistent and elaborate use of a galactic civilization as a reservoir for unusual worlds. These include JackVance, notably inThe Languages of Pao (1958),The Dragon Masters (August 1962Galaxy;1963 dos) and in virtually all of his work during the 1960s and 1970s, JohnBrunner, notably inEndless Shadow (1964) andThe World Swappers (1959), CordwainerSmith, in hisInstrumentality series, and E CTubb, in hisDumarest series. Few writers have, however, concerned themselves in any but the most superficial way with the sociopolitical structure of the galactic community. Anderson has done significant work in this vein, and so has Gordon RDickson, notably in theDorsai series, but most are prepared to leave the community in a state of disorganization or nebulous harmony. Only rarely do works appear in which there actually is a powerful, autocratic, imperial system of government – the most conspicuous modern example is theStar Wars sequence – and the word "empire" is often substituted by "league", "federation" or some other such variant. Most works of this kind are either US or (like the GermanPerry Rhodan series) products of cultural coca-colonization, and the political model employed for galactic civilization is very often the US system writ large – an ideal summed up by the final line of Asimov'sThe Stars Like Dust and conscientiously supported by innumerable episodes ofStar Trek. It is interesting to note the relative unwillingness of genre-sf writers, even when they take the entire Galaxy for their setting, to create new political or economic modes, although Iain MBanks's galactic culture inConsider Phlebas (1987),The Player of Games (1988) andUse of Weapons (1990) is refreshingly alien to the US model. Galactic empires are almost always ruled by humans, and human empires are often involved inFuture War withAlien empires. In Stephen Baxter'sXeelee series, roughly a million years of theFuture History are occupied by such a prolonged, ultimately futile struggle between galactic humanity and the inscrutable alien Xeelee. Often in other sf the alien empire is long gone, leaving only the relics of mystery-shroudedForerunners strewn about the galaxy. An amusing antidote to conventional human chauvinism isThe Zen Gun (1983) by Barrington JBayley, in which men become so effetely decadent that their erstwhile underlings, theUplifted pigs, take over the reins of empire.

It is more or less taken for granted in post-World War Two works that any galactic federation will have a relatively untamed frontier, almost always called "the rim" (seeGalactic Lens;Rimworld). First popularized by A BertramChandler's long-runningRim Worlds series, the galactic empire's equivalent of the Wild West features fairly prominently in modernSpace Opera, notably in C JCherryh's relatively sophisticated stories of that type, which includeMerchanter's Luck (1982) andRimrunners (1989). In JackVance'sDemon Princes sequence the lawless frontier is termed "Beyond". In such stories freelanceStarship pilots take the place of cowboy gunfighters; in the later twentieth century such roles were increasingly frequently filled by female characters, partly as a result of the influence ofStar Trek in recruiting female readers and writers into the sf community.

Any list of post-World War Two sf novels using the galactic-empire framework is bound to be highly selective, but some of the more notable stories which actually deal with issues relating to the community rather than to specific worlds within it are:Star Bridge (1955) by JackWilliamson and James EGunn,Citizen of the Galaxy (September-December 1957Astounding;1957) by Robert AHeinlein,Starmaster's Gambit (1957; trans1973) by GérardKlein,Way Station (June-August 1963Galaxy as "Here Gather the Stars";1963) by Clifford DSimak,Empire Star (1966) by Samuel RDelany,The Ring of Ritornel (1968) by Charles LHarness,Rite of Passage (July 1963If as "Down to the Worlds of Men"; exp1968) by AlexeiPanshin,Voyage to Dari (1974) by IanWallace,Beyond Heaven's River (1980) by GregBear,Light on the Sound (1982) by S PSomtow,Star of Gypsies (1986) by RobertSilverberg, theHyperion books (1989-1990) by DanSimmons, andExcession (1996) by Iain MBanks. TheDread Empire's Fall sequence by Walter JonWilliams, beginning withThe Praxis (2002; vtDread Empire's Fall: The Praxis2003), deals withFuture War in space between humans and other former vassal races after anAlien galactic empire collapses.

In film, the most famous of all Galactic Empires is the evil example which dominates theStar Wars saga. The definitive theme anthology isGalactic Empires (anth1976 2vols) edited by Brian WAldiss. [BS/DRL]

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