Line #118 Literature/CoDominium


1	The ''[=CoDominium=]'' series is the brain child of SciFi author Creator/JerryPournelle. 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), dominate the planet, and colonize space. The stories follow the events afterwards.
2
3	!!A Brief History of the [=CoDominium=] Universe
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5	!!!The [=CoDominium=] Era
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7	Corrupt to the core, the CD has a nasty habit of shipping millions of prisoners, dissidents, and 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.
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9	Despite the fact that it's one of the more grotesquely evil political entities we see in fiction (it gives the [[Literature/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]].
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11	!!!Decline and Fall
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13	At first things seem to go smoothly, Earth is dominated by a one hundred year era of relative peace, and interstellar travel and colonization is 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 still hate each other's guts 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.
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15	!!!The Empires of Man
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17	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 Literature/TheLordOfTheRings 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.
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19	Things get even more complicated when humanity actually makes FirstContact with an alien race...
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21	[[folder: Works within the Series]]
22	* ''Falkenberg's Legion'', tales focusing on mercenaries during the decline of the [=CoDominium=].
23	* ''Prince of Mercenaries'', ''Go Tell the Spartans'', and ''Prince of Sparta'', co-written with Creator/SMStirling. Written some decades after the original ''Falkenberg's Legion'' stories, but still involve the Legion and intertwine with the earlier novel. It tells of the story of planet Sparta dealing with a violent revolution.
24	** The two sets of stories were published together as the omnibus ''The Prince: The Complete Saga of Falkenberg's Legion''. Available for free online on[[http://baencd.thefifthimperium.com/ CD #1]] under 'Friends of Honor'.
25	* ''Literature/TheMoteInGodsEye'', and ''The Gripping Hand'', set centuries after Falkenberg's Legion, co-written with Creator/LarryNiven. The stories involve humanity's dealings with the alien Moties.
26	* ''King David's Spaceship'', set in the same time as ''Mote'', tells the story of Nathan [=MacKinnie=] and his secret mission to Makassar. Expanded (roughly doubling its size) from ''A Spaceship for the King''.
27	* ''War World'': series of anthologies that deal with the [[PenalColony prison]] DeathWorld Haven, stretching from the Co Dominium era to after the collapse of the First Empire of Man.
28	[[/folder]]
29
30	----
31	!!'''The [=CoDominium=] setting provides examples of:'''
32	* AbductionIsLove: The War World Story ''Tribute Maidens'' by Harry Turtledove deals with the consequence of the fact that [[MarsNeedsWomen Sauron needs women.]] A Sauron soldier abducts a steppe woman, and eventually StockholmSyndrome forms an intimate bond between the two of them as they have children.
33	* AbsentAliens: Largely in the ''Falkenberg's Legion'' series. Aliens eventually show up, and become the focus in latter books.
34	* AbsentmindedProfessor: Dr. Buckman in ''The Mote in God's Eye'' and ''The Gripping Hand''. Not a terribly important character, but an excellent example.
35	* ActionGirl: Glenda Ruth Horton in Falkenberg's Legions, a Patriot leader. Even more notable is that she actually does some combat.
36	* TheAlliance: What the [=CoDominium=] was supposed to technically be.
37	** TheEmpire: What the [=CoDominium=] was in reality, later played straight with the Empire of Man.
38	* AllPlanetsAreEarthLike: Played straight and subverted. See that trope for details.
39	* AllThereInTheManual: The essay "Building the Mote in God's Eye" by Pournelle and Niven. Among other things, it discusses the history of the setting, as well as more details into the Alderson Drive and the Langston Field.
40	* AlternateHistory: by virtue of being set TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture while being written in TheSeventies.
41	* AlienArtsAreAppreciated
42	* ApocalypseHow: Earth gets a Class 2 variant in the Great Patriotic Wars, but given how man has colonized the stars already it feels more like a galactic Class 0.
43	* ArsonMurderAndLifeSaving
44	* AristocratsAreEvil: Subverted in ''Mote'', in which [[TheGoodCaptain Captain Blaine]] is eldest living son of 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.
45	* ArtisticLicenseBiology: The short story "Brenda". Constant references to X and Y ''genes'' instead of X and Y ''chromosomes''.
46	* ArtisticLicenseEconomics, the "Welfare Islands" - huge prefab communities where [[ApatheticCitizens "Citizens"]] 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.
47	* AttackAttackAttack: Sauron's supersoldiers are trained to attack at all costs; the result is that they attack until they have nothing left. Latter, the tropes applies to the Empire as well.
48	* AuthorFilibuster: Like much of Pournelle's work, the [=CoDominium=] stories get rather {{Anvilicious}} in dishing up his social and political ideas.
49	* AuthorTract: The stories strongly reflect Pournelle's own political leanings.
50	* BadassArmy: The Sauron Supermen and Motie Warrior class.
51	** In ''KDS'', [=MacKinnie=] builds one on Makassar, from a bunch of starving citizens and knights.
52	** Falkenberg's Legion in numerous instances.
53	* BigBad: Grand Senator Adrian Bronson in the ''Falkenberg's Legion'' series.
54	* BigEater: The Sauron Super Soldiers. They're much faster and stronger than baseline humans, so they eat a lot very fast. Can prove to be a logistical concern, or a means of impressing tribal humans who find such feats laudable.
55	* BizarreAlienBiology: Moties have an asymmetrical anatomy.
56	* TheCaptain: Blaine in ''The Mote in God's Eye'', Falkenberg in the ''Legion'' books, Renner in ''The Gripping Hand''.
57	* ChekhovsGun:
58	** Upon arriving at Hedley, Falkenberg is told about a sports stadium. [[spoiler: It becomes the setting for the climax of the campaign, with Falkenberg using the structure to trap and end the populist revolt.]]
59	** Halfway through ''King David's Spaceship'', Mary Graham makes a throwaway reference to the Makassar natives' inferior horse harnesses and how she dealt with the situation. At the end of the story, when the Imperial Navy are looking for an excuse to nail her hide and [=MacKinnie=]'s to the wall, they seize on this: rigid horse collars, by making a horse twice as fuel-efficient as a man, were instrumental in ending slavery in the Middle Ages and will cause huge social change on a primitive world, which was flagged as a no-no before they ever went there.
60	* ChurchMilitant: In ''KDS'', the Temple controls the city of Batav and its Christian soldiers. [=MacKinnie=] has to deal with their internal politics before completing his mission.
61	* ChristianityIsCatholic: Justified, as there was a reunification of Christianity under the Pope. However, not all Christian denominations joined, and some conservative Catholics were displeased with the reunification. The later Empire imposes this religion on all Colonials, which isn't popular with, say, the Muslim offshoots on Makassar or Levant, or the followers of a Christianity off-shoot on New Scotland called "The Church of Him."
62	* CitadelCity: Harmony-Garrison in ''Falkenberg's Legions'', and Batav in ''King David's Spaceship''.
63	* CocaPepsiInc: The [=CD=] is a geopolitical example of this.
64	* 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.
65	* 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.
66	* CulturedWarrior: John Christian Falkenberg III. Helps that his father was a history professor.
67	* TheCycleOfEmpires: Humanity goes through at least three after the discovery of Alderson drive. The Moties experience it often due to their rapid population growth and confinement to one system.
68	* DarkActionGirl: Skida "Skilly" Thibodeau. Think Mayday from James Bond, but even more evil.
69	* DaysOfFuturePast
70	* DeathFromAbove: An Imperial warship can slag a planet's entire surface into a lava field.
71	* DeathWorld: ''All over the place.'' Most of them were forcibly populated by people the [=CoDominium=] wanted to get rid of for various reasons (criminals, protestors, political enemies, political inconvenients, ''personal'' enemies, etc.). Wither or not they survived, let alone were comfortable, was of little interest of the [=CD=]:
72	** Tanith is an uber-HungryJungle with your expected assortment of lethal critters and horrible diseases. Largely a penal dumping ground, people only go there to grow the drugs Earth uses to [[GovernmentDrugEnforcement keep the lower classes stoned]].
73	** Frystaat is an uber-ThirstyDesert with [[{{Heavyworlder}} twice Earth's gravity]], blinding ultraviolet sunlight, sandstorms of industrial-grade abrasives half the year, is so hot humans can only live at the poles, and the native life is hunted with anti-tank weapons. All the Afrikaners came here by ''choice'', so they wouldn't have to deal with the [=CoDominium=] for a while. The convict-transportees that followed them became a slave caste, and after a few centuries, the population is considered a race of {{Super Soldier}}s.
74	** Fulson's World is an entire planet of Alaska - precious metals under a permanent snow cap, with the reputation of Siberia. It's telling that people would rather be deported to Tanith than be sent here.
75	** And [[http://community.fortunecity.ws/tattooine/heinlein/326/CoDominium/haven.htm Haven]], the setting of the ''War World'' series, is essentially a thought experiment between him, Creator John F. Carr and contributors Roland Green and Don Hawthorne summed up as, "Under [[MundaneDogmatic Mundane Dogma]], exactly how horrible can we make a planet where humans can breathe the air?". Here's what they came up with:\
76	\
77	The world is tidally locked with a deep space gas giant ''bigger'' than Jupiter. It rotates like Mercury - "days" can and do last years, in which the Sun rises about halfway, reverses its course, then sets ''on the same horizon.'' Tidally-induced earthquakes galore. An entire ''planet'' of Southern Nevada canyons with Andes-style rocky peaks. The only temperate area is in the equatorial zone, which is kind of like northern Scotland. Due to the thin atmosphere the only near-comfortable area is a single deep rift valley in the equatorial area. And all the indigenous life is [[EverythingTryingToKillYou exactly as horrible]], as indicated by names such as "shark's fin," "hangman bush," "land gator," "dragon" and "wireweed".\
78	\
79	If you're wondering exactly why anyone ''chose'' to live here? Most ''didn't'' - they were ''[[SentencedToDownUnder deported]]'' there by the [=CoDominium=] - and as even bureaucrats had enough heart not to send hippies to hell, most of those deportees were violent criminals. The only people who came there with technology was a PathOfInspiration kooky enough to ''pay'' to come.\
80	\
81	And ''then'' a ship-full of refugee [[ProudWarriorRace Sauron]] {{Super Soldier}}s showed up and [[DeathFromAbove nuked the last remnants of civilization]], and the neighborhood goes ''completely'' to hell. And some of the recent exiles to Haven came from Frystaat.
82	--->''"It's not precisely a niche for life. More like a loophole."''
83	* DecadeDissonance: Let's face it, the [=CoDominium=] 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.
84	** ''The Mote in God's Eye'' features the INSS ''Lenin'', a massive battleship with a reputation of being a nigh-invincible mobile DepopulationBomb (see immediately below). In the sequel, ''The Gripping Hand,'' 25 years later, the main character tools around in an aircraft described as if it was found and restored from the Alaskan bush.
85	* DeflectorShields: The Langston Field, works by EnergyAbsorption. They have limits to show much energy can be absorbed, and can collapse or release energy within the bubble. The results are not pretty.
86	* {{Demonization}}: Surprisingly avoided in ''Mote'' and more so in ''KDS''. Every side tends to be painted fairly. No one is presented as a total monster, including Makassar's Islamic "barbarians", some of the New Chicago rebels, Haven's ruthless secret police, and the Moties. The closest characters that come across as villainous are the Traders.
87	* DepopulationBomb: Admiral Kutuzov does this to one rebel planet. Thanks to that, TheEmpire Of Man now considers him the go-to guy when they have to ShootTheDog. He should have realized that once he did it he'd either be executed or be forced to make a ''career'' out of it.
88	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Several. The climax of the Hadley campaign is based on the Nika Riots, the Santiago Civil War is likewise based on the UsefulNotes/SpanishCivilWar.
89	* DramatisPersonae: Used in ‘’Mote’’ for the sheer number of characters involved in the novel.
90	* DrinkingOnDuty: It is noted that the CoDominium service has no rule against this. However there are severe penalties for becoming unfit for performance of duty.
91	* 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.
92	** [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] by Rod Blaine in ''The Gripping Hand'' regarding his current standing with Horace Bury.
93	* {{Expy}}: Skilly and Two-Knife are these of ComicStrip/ModestyBlaise and Willie Garvin, only evil.
94	* EncyclopediaExposita: Usually in the form of essays or articles written in the books' present or recent past, as well as histories written in their future.
95	* FantasticRacism: Horace Bury after a traumatizing encounter with the Moties caused him to very quickly go from thinking the Moties represented a lucrative commercial venture to being a threat to the entire human race that must be exterminated.
96	* FantasticShipPRefix: [=CoDominium=] ships have the prefix CDS ([=CoDominium=] Ship)
97	* FailedFutureForecast: The Soviet Union is no longer a going concern in the [[RealLife real world.]]
98	* 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.
99	* FasterThanLightTravel: Alderson Drive, which operates more like a [[OurWormholesAreDifferent wormhole]] system, but not quite.
100	* FeudalFuture:
101	** We see the Second Empire of Man in this state: with an Emperor right, nobility, and religious and trading classes. The collapse of the previous Empire has encouraged this state, as leaving a planet or Star system became very difficult without a starship.
102	** The Falkenberg’s Legions stories shows how the feudal future trend began. Limited space travel meant people couldn’t leave a Planet if they couldn’t afford it. Forced relocation of convicts lead to return of slavery systems on some colony worlds. The failure of democracy in general alienated people to the idea, and are now putting their trust in individuals more so than government systems.
103	** Discussed in “The Building of The Mote in God’s Eye”. Apparently the critics were horrified at the feudal future society the authors wrote about. Pournelle and Niven explained how such a future society could be possible, and their reasons for using it.
104	* GalacticSuperpower: First the [=CoDominium=], then the Empires.
105	* 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.]]
106	* GivingRadioToTheRomans: Occurs in ''King David's Spaceship'', where the Kingdom of Haven sends a secret expedition to Makassar. Despite Haven having the technology of the early industrial era (they hire an Imperial trading ship to transport them), Makassar is even far more primitive. As a result, the expedition's seemingly outdated technology and tactics (compared to the Empire's) actually gives them a huge advantage on Makassar.
107	* TheGoodKingdom: 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 The Empire.
108	* GoodRepublicEvilEmpire: Inverted. Some rebel groups that support republican governments are either hypocrites, or use extremely unethical, violent methods to achieve their goals. The constitutional monarchy of the Spartan Hegemony/Empire of Mankind is portrayed positively, even though its default position is ''"Accept our rule or be bombed into extinction"''.
109	** One of the few exceptions of this is the New Washington rebels, who are genuinely fighting for Independence and not an ideology. Still, there are elements of the rebellion who are willing to commit atrocities on the loyalists.
110	* GovernmentAgencyOfFiction: The [=CoDominium=] 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.
111	* GratuitousNinja:''Techno''ninja of Meiji, who show up in Sparta books of Falkenberg’s Legions.
112	* HealItWithBooze: In ''West of Honor'', the main character gets a minor wound, but due to an alien fungus has to get sent back to base to receive weeks of treatment. He later meets with a Private who was also wounded in the same battle, but got out earlier. It turns out the soldier used Brandy to disinfect the wound.
113	* {{Heavyworlder}}: Spartans, Taniths (slightly), and Frystaaters
114	* HeelFaceTurn: Horace Bury, who goes from a greedy self serving trader to someone really concerned about mankind.
115	* HiredGuns: One of the books is called ''The Mercenary'' after all.
116	** Falkenberg's Legion starts out as LawEnforcementInc, among other things.
117	** Motie armies are run by Masters who typically take up whatever cause seems most profitable.
118	* HiveCasteSystem: Moties, but also subverted as they aren't a hive society -- each caste is a specially-bred subspecies produced over a million years of intermittent civilization.
119	* HumansAreSpecial: Charlie predicts humanity will take over Motie civilization after the next collapse and the Keeper more or less confirms it.
120	* HumansAreWhite: Averted by Frystaaters. Ironic because the colony was founded by South African whites that [=CoDo=] [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything rounded up and transported]] to a hellish high-gravity [[SingleBiomePlanet desert world]] along with a mixture of others.
121	* HyperspaceLanes: Alderson Drive relies on them, tramlines created by thermonuclear reactions of stars.
122	* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Admiral Lavrenti Kutuzov, in regards to the one planet he sterilized. Despite his reputation for ruthlessness, Kutuzov actually does feel bad for what he did. Falkenberg on Hadly perpetrated a massacre and felt badly about it, but it was the only way to avert collapse and general starvation.
123	* InvisibilityCloak: Chameleon suits, seen in War World.
124	* ItsQuietTooQuiet: Col. Falkenberg: "Things are going well. When that happens I wonder what I've overlooked."
125	* LaResistance:
126	** Subverted, in which the supposedly pro-democracy insurgents are often far worse than the governments they're trying to overthrow. New Washington and Prince Samual's World, which are fighting for independence and not a political ideology, are the exceptions to this. Pournelle wrote some of these stories in the late 1960s and may have done this as a TakeThat to [[StrawmanPolitical campus revolutionaries]].
127	** ''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. This story is told from ''their'' point of view.
128	** ''The Gripping Hand''; The Medina Traders are effectively the LaResistance against the much larger Khanate. There's also passing mention of a potential Mormon uprising.
129	* LatexSpacesuit: Skin tight space suits in ''The Mote in God's Eye''.
130	* LegionOfLostSouls: The CD Line Marines were formed from the French Foreign Legion, and thus continue their traditions.
131	* LightningBruiser: The Sauron Soldier Class. Can casually break human bones with their bare hands, and move so fast that it seems like they blur. Also have the running speed/stamina to make using horses in most circumstances superfluous.
132	* LiteraryAllusionTitle: See Matthew 7:3, and ''Go Tell The Spartans''.
133	* MarsNeedsWomen: The Sauron need local Haven women (who are of hardy enough genetic stock to produce Sauron children) to keep their numbers up. The Sauron acquire women through spontaneous bridal capture, as well as tribute from clans and towns.
134	* MateOrDie: The Moties (technically, theirs is "get pregnant or die")
135	* MegaCorp: Imperial Traders Association has elements of this. While not outright evil as in other sf works, the Association has no qualms about manipulating others to achieve a profit.
136	* MetalPoorPlanet: Prince Samual's World is noted to be lacking copper.
137	* TheMissionary: Several in ''King David's Spaceship'', [[spoiler: some of whom support and help [=MacKinnie=]'s mission]].
138	* 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 nightmares for decades as a result.
139	* {{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 [=BuReloc=]. The ad execs begin to riff into the very propaganda they help create, bursting out in laughter.
140	* 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). Larry Niven added his typical whimsical naming by having one world named ''Tabletop'', a world of plains. And then there's ''[[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Sauron]]''.
141	* NavalBlockade: In ''King David's Spaceship'', the port city of Jikar was blockaded by patrols of pirate ships. The pirates demanded not only tribute but also the heads of the Masters of each Guild in the city.
142	* NewNeoCity: Overkilled in ''Mote'', with almost every other setting mentioned is "New [Insert Nation or City Here]" Averted in later books.
143	* NoTranshumanismAllowed: Due to the lost of high technology and the Empire's bad experiences with the Saurons.
144	* NuclearWeaponsTaboo: the Moties don't have nukes, though not by choice as their system has run out of fissionables. Not to worry though, [[ColonyDrop they found something just as good as nukes.]]
145	* 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 Motie Prime (The Only Aliens Around Planet).
146	* OnlySmartPeopleMayPass: The Motie museums [[spoiler: are sealed with a lock that requires a certain level of scientific knowledge to open. It's done so the surviving Moties after their civilization falls don't gain access to technology they're not ready for.]]
147	* PassingTheTorch: Occurs in ''Prince of Mercenaries'', where Prince Lysander briefly joins Falkenberg's Legion on Tanith. It's at this point that the latter books begin focusing on the events on Sparta than on Falkenberg himself. The clear moment of torch passing is before the climatic mission: [[spoiler: Falkenberg comes up with a daring plan to hijack a cargo shuttle by swimming through monster infested swamps and sneaking on board. When Falkenberg says he'll carry out the plan himself, Lysander points out that the Colonel isn't in the best shape or age for doing something this dangerous. So Lysander gets the mission instead.]]
148	* PenalColony: The CD treats most poor or undeveloped worlds as dumping grounds for criminals, ethnic minorities, and other "undesirables". In universe, Tanith and Fulson's World are considered the epitome of the trope.
149	* PlanetOfHats:
150	** Many of the human worlds seem to be defined by a single culture. It's justified, since the colonies were founded by nations, religious motivations, nationalist separatists, and idealists. Though [=BuReloc=] did toward the end like to go to small backwater colonies and drop ten million violent convicts from Earth's prisons on them to deal with, too (along with nonviolent protesters, wrong-place-wrong-time "dissidents", homeless, and anyone else they could grab to reach their quota).
151	** And Moties are a species of hat-wearers, with different castes in which all caste members are bred to perform the same function (engineering castes, warrior castes, even a caste that was, umm...[[CarnivoreConfusion bred as a food source]].
152	* PointlessCivicProject: So Hadley is in desperate need of infrastructure and industry. So what does the [=CoDominium=] build for the colony? 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]].
153	* PopulationControl: The corrupt future United States implements this, through contraceptives and releasing infertility viruses among the welfare-supported "Citizens".
154	* PraetorianGuard: During the events on Hadley, Vice President Bradford attempts this. He orders Falkenberg to create a brigade composed of trusted party members, and led by officers loyal to Bradford. [[spoiler: It comes to naught, as Falkenberg (being the savvy fellow he is) decides to stop the coup, and uses Bradford's men to take the blunt of fighting]].
155	** Likewise, Hadley's government has a force of Presidential Guards. However, their loyalty is rather questionable.
156	* PrequelInTheLostAge: ''Falkenberg's Legions'' are set during the [=CoDominium=] era, which is right before World War III and the chaos that follows.
157	* ThePoliticalOfficer:
158	** The Republican volunteers during the Santiago Civil War is lead by one who follows the Western stereotype. The Commissar is more interested in propagating Communism than the well being of his men. Worse, the Officer prevents the volunteers from receiving any proper training.
159	** Also seen in ''Reflex'', the story of the battle between the INSS ''[=MacArthur=]'' and the Union war cruiser ''Defiant'' that was cut from ''Mote'' for size reasons: the ''Defiant'' has a classic, though non-Communist, Commissar type who second-guesses Captain Colvin's decision at every turn and orders his arrest when [[spoiler: he surrenders to the ''[=MacArthur=]'']]. Then, when [[spoiler: a boarding party comes aboard, he steals their nuke (used to ensure the crew's compliance with the surrender) and demands that the crew resume the battle. They hit him.]]
160	* PrivateMilitaryContractors:
161	** Falkenberg's Legion, and the dozen or so mercenary groups and hired out planetary armies.
162	** ''All'' Motie armies are in effect [=PMCs=] ruled by a single Master, and are usually employed to achieve some sort of financial gain.
163	* RetCon: The [=CoDominium=] 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.
164	* SecretPolice: The CD Intelligence agencies regulates and suppresses research and development to maintain the status quo. The Kingdom of Haven also has a SecretPolice that fits the trope more closely.
165	* SexGod: Sauron aren't universally good lovers. But they never get tired in bed thanks to their superhuman stamina.
166	* 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 meant not developing ''anything'', and 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]].
167	* ScienceMarchesOn: more of politics marches on, but a few scientific predictions from the first books are shown to be dated now.
168	* ShoutOut: Several:
169	** Sparta shares many similarities with ''Literature/StarshipTroopers'', namely citizenship with the right to vote as an earned privilege.
170	** Then there was the little reenactment of the OdessaSteps sequence in ''The Mercenary'', and of the suppression of the Nika ('Victory') riots in Constantinople under the Byzantine Emperor Justinian in 532.
171	** 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 Creator/EEDocSmith's {{space opera}}s.
172	** The word is still out whether or not Sauron was originally a reference to Tolkien, although the Warworld works play up the reference.
173	** The Alderson Drive is a shout out to Dan Alderson, a JPL scientist who ''designed'' the drive, [[MinovskyPhysics carefully defining its capabilities and limitations]]. Having a real physicist design your AppliedPhlebotinum really makes for much harder than usual space opera.
174	** ''The Gripping Hand'' features references to Pre-Civil War Mormons, who were considered dangerous radicals by the U.S. Government. How dangerous? The government had a third of the U.S. Army watching them, making sure they didn't create a separate nation.
175	** The motto of the [=CoDominium=] Armed Forces is "Peace is Our Profession", the same as [[UsefulNotes/PeaceThroughSuperiorFirepower the USAF's Strategic Air Command]].
176	* SimilarSquad: In ''KDS'', [=MacKinnie=] and his sergeant Hal Stark are two unemployed mercenaries when the book starts. On Makassar, they meet up a similar pair of mercs, a Knight and his trusted sergeant. Going meta, this is how Pournelle first introduced Col. Falkenberg and Sergeant Calvin: as out-of-work mercs.
177	* 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.
178	* SpaceNavy: With admirals and midshipmen and captured ships referred to as "prizes". Sadly, they do not appear to TalkLikeAPirate.
179	* 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.
180	* StayInTheKitchen: Especially in the Falkenberg's Legion books, but the standard position in Pournelle's work. It gets a little better in later books, but not much.
181	* StandardSciFiArmy:
182	** During the CD period, the technological stasis leave aircraft unable to cope with Anti-air weapons or Electronic countermeasures. As a result, Aircraft are gone from the battlefield. The lack of industry on Colony worlds results in difficultly of building tanks or artillery. As a result, colonial warfare is dominated by Infantry, artillery is rare and valuable, and a dozen or so tanks can win a war.
183	** 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.
184	* 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 Cruisers and Battlecruisers are designed for.
185	* StandardSciFiHistory:
186	** Follows the template closely, except alien contact occurs during the Second Empire stage. In most SF works, Alien Contact typically occurs relatively early or not at all.
187	** 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 to the [=CoDominium=] series. [[WordOfGod Pournelle disagreed]].
188	* StrawmanPolitical: See AuthorFilibuster above.
189	* SuperSoldier: Sauron's [[PlanetOfHats hat]]. Their soldiers are genetically engineered to be super soldiers, who easily outmatch most non-Sauron infantry, though [[{{Heavyworlder}} Frystaaters]] are said to be sufficiently tough and crazy to be able to give them a run for their money. Sauron Cyborgs are considered to be even more powerful than regular Sauron forces. The Motie Warrior caste also fit the trope.
190	* TenMinuteRetirement: Happens to [=MacKinnie=], who after being defeated by the Imperials is allowed to go into retirement and keep his pension. However, he's immediately press ganged into service after [[spoiler: accidentally overhearing a vital piece of information that starts the plot]].
191	* {{Terraform}}: Generally limited to altering pre-existing ecologies, with varying degrees of success. New Cal is an example of a system with two worlds needing full Terraforming.
192	* TechnologyLevels: Plays a major plot point in ''King David's Spaceship''. It turns out the Second Empire of Man admits planets with different levels of autonomy. Those who have developed Space Flight technology are allowed some say in their affairs, while more primitive worlds become colonies.
193	* TradingBarsForStripes:
194	** Harlan “Hal” Slater in ''West of Honor''. Poor guy was trying to save his family ranch, which also meant bribing the corrupt government. It got all messed up, but a local judge manages to pull some strings to get Hal into the [=CD=] Marines as an officer instead of prison time.
195	** In general, the [=CoDominium=] Space Navy and Marines offer this to perspective convicts. If they can learn to obey orders and do their job, they can avoid ending up on a death world. And considering how many decent people end up getting sentences because of the corrupt American and Soviet law systems, it works out well for the military.
196	* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: The basic attitude of the restored Empire Of Man: Mankind ''will'' be united and at peace under our rule, through diplomacy if possible, by conquest where necessary, and the only alternative to subjugation is ''extermination''.
197	** The basis of the original Empire of Man as well, though not as strongly (or nastily) enforced.
198	* ViciousCycle
199	* WarfareRegression:
200	** To keep the status quo, the CD restricts most research. As a result, 21st Century warfare resembles early 20th century combat. Improvements to computer countermeasures, railguns, and man-portable missiles have made aircraft obsolete. Improvements to body armor has limited effective sizes of ammunition. In addition, newly settled worlds lack any industry - artillery rare, and tanks can easily win a coloinal war.
201	** Happens on Haven in the War World series. The Sauron bombed every settlement with technology (even sources of radio transmissions) in order to make the planet easier to conquer, leaving most people as steppe nomads. Even the Sauron degenerate, going from advanced space age weapons to simple bolt and semi-automatic rifles.
202	* WellIntentionedExtremist:
203	** Grand Senator Bronson. Determined to dominate the [=CoDominium=] and whatever arises after it tears itself apart as well as to utterly destroy all he regards as his enemies, and a very evil man. Nevertheless, he is shown to hate the hell that the [=CoDominium=] has created, and is working towards the same end as his enemies: the survival of human civilization. Pournelle's AuthorAvatar [[WordofGod spells this out]] in ''Prince of Sparta''.
204	** On the heroic side, there is John Grant, Director of the CIA who, in ''Mercenary'', to keep the [=CoDominium=] (and with it, human civilization) alive as long as possible, [[spoiler: destroys the campaign of presidential candidate Harvey Bertram (whose victory would, he believes, lead to WorldWarIII), by framing some of his supporters for giving nuclear weapons to Japanese nationalists. He then exiles his daughter offworld to cover up his actions]].
205	** From the same book, U.S. presidential candidates Harmon and Harvery Bertram. Harmon is a rabid right-winger who sees the [=CoDominium=] as making the United States a partner in Communist oppression and wants to pull the U.S. out, risk of nuclear war be damned, emphasizes the "extremist" part. Harvey Bertram, a libertarian idealist who wants to restore the liberties that participation in the [=CoDominium=] cost the United States, meanwhile, emphasizes the "well intentioned" part. Victory by either man would lead to WorldWarIII.
206	** In "King David's Spaceship", the whole Second Empire is viewed this way, from the POV of a conquered planet.
207	* WeWillUseManualLaborInTheFuture: Donkeys and pack-mules along with human porters are used to move goods around on colonized planets. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that the Co Dominium made sure it was set up like this.
208	** Likewise, the Runner, Farmer and Engineer caste on Mote Prime. Engineers in particular are 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.
209	* WorldWarIII: the Great Patriotic Wars.
210	* WorldBuilding
211	* YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters: A lot of the "Outies" during the Imperial period see themselves this way. Unfortunately, [[LaResistance the resistance]] is often guilty of far worse atrocities than the Empire.

Context Literature / CoDominium