Future History

My stories are mostly written at a point in time about 900 years in the future. Imagine, if you will, what the world was like in 1100 AD, a similar length of time in the past. Compare it with today. Technology in the past 150 years has given humankind many amazing tools—and yet day-to-day life is not all that different than it was then. Men and women still fall in love, governments still exploit the citizens, some people still strive to help each other while others use power to attain selfish goals.

Some authors argue that technology advances will make humankind unrecognizable within a short time. I differ. I believe the technology advances we’ve seen in the last two centuries will slow down, that human desires will focus less on new gadgets and more on day-to-day life. There will, of course, be some new technology—and you’ll find it in my stories—but the cycles of humanity have played out for thousands of years so far and will continue for thousands of years in the future. If we can last that long.

Here’s a timeline of some key events in my future universe (dates are given in Earth years; for later dates, also shown in equivalent Verdant years After Touchdown):

• 2123 AD – First colony ship launches from Earth, with transit time of ~80 years
• 2178 AD – Last colony ship from Earth. Total of 10 ships launched, 3 lost. Transit times now down to ~30 years
• 2192 AD – Earth destroyed in nuclear war while colony ships still in transit. Ecology blasted; recovery will take over a thousand years.
• 2204-2225 AD – First colonies established on 7 worlds.
• c. 2350 AD – Trade among human planets, ship times ~3 months to ~2 years.
• 2412 AD – Ansible perfected. Human worlds in instantaneous communications starting over the next 5 years
• 2450-2600 AD – Second wave colony ships launched with transit times of ~3 years. Total of 15 ships launched, 6 lost.
• 2580-2670 AD – First wave of colonies destroy their own worlds.
• 2540 AD (-18 AT Verdant) – World of Branch founded
• 2555 AD (0 AT) – World of Verdant founded, after 4-year transit from One Hope.
• 2602 AD (55 AT) – World of Newland founded, peak of 15 human worlds
• 2742 AD (224 AT) – One Hope destroyed
• 2891 AD (403 AT) – Branch destroyed, featured in the story “Someone Worth Saving” and referenced in the novel Not Like Us.
• 2901 AD (416 AT) – Time frame of the novel Not Like Us, with only three worlds remaining: Verdant, Brightness, and Newland.