Drakas! [Mass Market Paperback]

S.M. Stirling (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2000

THINK ABOUT HISTORY. NOW MAKE IT WORSE...

The Domination of the Draka begins as a British possession in Africa, but soon becomes far more. Absorbing refugees after the American Revolution, and later the Civil War, the Draka become a people bred to rule with an iron fist. They permanently enslave the peoples of Africa, when they do not simply kill them.

But this does not slake the Draka thirst for power. Sweeping across the world, the Draka empire engulfs nation after nation, shackling into servitude all who are not Draka. Europe, Asia, and finally all the Earth and its colonies throughout the Solar System fall before the might of the Draka.

But empires are not faceless monoliths; they are made of individuals, complex humans with their own hopes and dreams. And so one might ask: Who are the Draka? What sort of people does the Domination rule? The Draka would have many different answers...

...and this is their story.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Baen (November 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671319469
• ISBN-13: 978-0671319465
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #745,448 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #79 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Short Stories

More About the Author

I'm a writer by trade, born in France but Canadian by origin and American by naturalization, living in New Mexico at present. My hobbies are mostly related to the craft -- I love history, anthropology and archaeology, and am interested in the sciences. The martial arts are my main physical hobby.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Draka are Back, November 9, 2000

By 

Jonathan Amato - See all my reviews

This review is from: Drakas! (Mass Market Paperback)

For those of us who have been anxiously waiting for a new Draka novel since _Drakon_ came out in 1996, this short story anthology is the next best thing.

Featuring works by such speculative fiction luminaries as David Drake, Harry Turtledove, John Barnes, Jane Lindskold, and others, the anthology revisits one of the most intriguing, fascinating, and terrifying alternate realities ever created.

The stories are all of good quality, and cover a wide time spectrum. I particulary liked the stories by Lindskold (who shows us another side of Eric von Shrakenberg) and Turtledove (who gives the Alliance for Democracy just a bit of hope).

The anthology is best read after reading the four Draka novels, much of it will make little sense to those not familiar with them.

The only things that prevented me from awarding five stars instead of four were some minor continuity problems with the Draka novels in a couple of the stories, and the absence of a new story by Stirling himself. But these are just minor concerns.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a very pleasant surprise, November 3, 2000

By 

Fredric Smoler (Bronxville, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Drakas! (Mass Market Paperback)

The original Draka books are in my opinion the best alternate history ever written, and I thus opened this volume of shared-world short stories with some anxiety; this sort of venture is almost always disappointing. Boy, was I wrong: these stories are almost all wonderful. To pick out a few particular successes at random: David Drake's story is truly chilling. Harry Turtledove's affords some small but very satisfying consolation for the wrenching conclusion of The Stone Dogs, the third volume of the original trilogy. Jane Lindskold has written a quietly hilarious homage to another series which does no irreprable violence to the original Marching Through Georgia. A few people, such as Lee Allred, were new to me, and very, very good. So if you know the originals, these are a must-buy.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An outstanding shared-world anthology, October 31, 2000

By 

Jeph Gord - See all my reviews

This review is from: Drakas! (Mass Market Paperback)

S. M. Stirling's Draka are one of alternate history's more memorable creations. Bloodchillingly nasty and utterly efficient, they are seen by all as either the most terrifying or the most ludicrously implausible of villains. But one thing is clear: the Draka are big business with an IngolfTech label.

Stirling has asked many of his fellow writers to make their contributions to the Draka canon. This anthology, which includes stories by such big-name authors as Harry Turtledove and David Drake, is the result. And a worthwhile result it is, for every story is good in it's own right. The first two tell, in bloody detail, how George Custer and Chinese Gordon help the Draka conquer Africa. David Drake tells the tale of gritty, un-glorious military politics during the Eurasian War.

Some of the most interesting stories, however, come later in the anthology. Perhaps the best are those that deal with trans-dimensional travel. This sub-genre may seem hopelessly tired, but these stories give it new life. John Barnes, for instance, pits the hero of his Timeline Wars novels against the Draka. In Anne Marie Talbott's "A Walk in the Park", a woman from our timeline swears that those tall, inexplicably charismatic strangers she sees in the park are just like something out of an SF series she once read.

This is a good choice for any science fiction fan. Fans of the Draka series will understand the background better, but everyone will appreciate the high quality of the writing.