A fan dropped this list of questions on Kris Longknife’s facebook page.
What Caused the ” unity war’?……
What’s the story of the itchee war?….
How did ‘Trouble’ become a general?
Ruth and Troubles marriage… It STILL works in Kris’s time…..
Here’s some answers.
The Unity war, like most wars, had a whole series of causes. I think I covered them pretty clearly in First Casualty. Part of it was the developed planets, say Earth and the first 49, charging too much for finished products and paying too little to the 150 Rim worlds for raw product. Part of it was the high interest rates the Earth banks were charging the start up colonies, making it impossible for them to get out of debt. Then there was President Urm of Unity who promised lots of things but usually only brought in thugs to take over a planet. (See the problems in To Do or Die of trying to clean up after Unity.) Then, there may have been a Peterwald at the bottom of it all, expecting to make a killing, buying up distressed companies after the war. First Casualty revolves around the war, while the other three books examine the aftermath.
The Iteeche War covers humanities collision with its first aliens. Unfortunately, first contact was not made through “official” channels but by our pirates outside human space running into some Iteeche Masterless Men likewise living out side the rule of law. I’ve written the first two or three of those books. I’m waiting to see if Ace buys them or if they will pass. The Ray Longknife books sell about half as well as the Kris books. I hope to have something to report early next year.
To Do or Die ends with Trouble still a captain. I think you’ll see his star rising very quickly during the Iteeche War.
And Yes, Ruth and Trouble’s marriage has survived all the pushing and pulling that a military wedding has thrown at it. I think the novella Kris Longknife Welcome Home, Go Away made good use of Trouble’s viewpoint to give you a good look at those two. Kris is not their only great-grandchild, though she may be their most troublesome one.