Nantucket series
Encyclopedia
The Nantucket series is a set of alternate history novels written by S. M. Stirling
. The novels focus on the island of Nantucket which was transported back in time to 1250 BC due to something called "The Event". Shortly thereafter a conflict develops between the democratic Republic of Nantucket and a group of renegade Americans led by the ex-Coast Guard lieutenant William Walker (inspired directly by the real William Walker). The series was nominated for the Sidewise Award for Alternate History
in 2000.
In the three novels of the Nantucket series, a cosmic disturbance characterized by an elliptical dome of fire (called "The Event" in the series) transports the island of Nantucket
and its inhabitants back in time into the Bronze Age
. The world of circa 1250 BC, which corresponds to the late Heroic Age of Greek mythology
, is populated by a large variety of hunting, nomadic and agricultural people, as well as well-documented Bronze Age cultures including Egypt
, the Hittites
, and Mycenaean Greece
. The trilogy describes the day-to-day problems of adaptation and survival and the emotional and social trauma of losing connection with the modern world. Much of the plot deals with ongoing conflicts between the different factions of the island's population. Some Nantucket residents wish to dominate the world for their own benefit, others wish to interact with local populations through trade and cultural development, while most just want to survive, work hard, and claw their way back to something approaching their pre-Event way of life.
As the series progresses, it becomes clear to Nantucket's scaled-down Government that sitting back and reinventing isolationism will only profit those renegades who, under the leadership of ex-Coast Guard lieutenant William Walker, have fled the island to live like gods amongst the Bronze Age peoples of Europe and the Middle East. Walker—who, unfortunately, is as smart as he is callous—exploits the 'magic' of gunpowder
, iron-forging
, and the spinning-jenny
to build up an empire of his own, one that will inevitably conquer and enslave the entire world unless the people of Nantucket build an army, a navy, and a set of foreign alliances of their own and take the fight to Walker.
By the end of the third book, Nantucket is the dominant member of a sizable and expanding network of allies, rather reminiscent of the British Empire
(though Britain itself is called "Alba" in the novel, one of Nantucket's protectorates and a source of "warrior tribes" to be enrolled as mercenaries in its armies), and the Nantucketars ("Eagle-People", "Islanders", "Nan-Tukh-Tar", etc.) seem well on their way to re-enacting the United States’ Manifest Destiny
three thousand years early.
Nantucket has 'Outport' colonies spanning the globe, with bases in the Caribbean, Argentina, the Azores, South Africa, Zanzibar, Madagascar, Mauritius, Bombay, etc.; basically, anywhere there is a good harbor situated close to existing or future trading routes, the Republic is on the scene. The Alban Alliance rules the British Isles where Walker initially tried to carve out a kingdom, and are a close ally, a source of labor and military recruits, and, as its people absorb more of the New Learning, look like being at the heart of a very early Industrial Revolution. Babylon
, Hittite Empire and Mitanni
(a vassal of Babylon), are also allies, though how long that will last now that they have arms industries of their own is anyone's guess, even with an Islander military officer married to Babylon's ambitious young king. At the end of the third book, these allies are already laying plans for carving up the Caucasus and Persia between them.
There also appears to be a threat growing out in Central Asia
, where Walker's lone surviving heir and a convoy of mostly Achaean rejectionists have chosen to carve out a new empire in the Fergana Valley
region, far, far away from the reach of Islander naval power.
, is connected to the Nantucket series. Evidence of this is apparent throughout the novels, for more information, see here.
S. M. Stirling
Stephen Michael Stirling is a French-born Canadian-American science fiction and fantasy author. Stirling is probably best known for his Draka series of alternate history novels and the more recent time travel/alternate history Nantucket series and Emberverse series.-Personal:Stirling was born on...
. The novels focus on the island of Nantucket which was transported back in time to 1250 BC due to something called "The Event". Shortly thereafter a conflict develops between the democratic Republic of Nantucket and a group of renegade Americans led by the ex-Coast Guard lieutenant William Walker (inspired directly by the real William Walker). The series was nominated for the Sidewise Award for Alternate History
Sidewise Award for Alternate History
The Sidewise Awards for Alternate History were established in 1995 to recognize the best alternate history stories and novels of the year.The awards take their name from the 1934 short story "Sidewise in Time" by Murray Leinster, in which a strange storm causes portions of Earth to swap places with...
in 2000.
Novels
| Book # | Title | UK release | US/CAN release | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Island in the Sea of Time Island in the Sea of Time Island in the Sea of Time is the first of the three alternate history novels of the Nantucket series by S. M. Stirling.-Plot summary:An elliptical region, including the island of Nantucket, Massachusetts and the United States Coast Guard ship Eagle, is transported by an unknown phenomenon back in... |
March 1, 1998 | February 1, 1998 | ||
| At 9:15 pm EST, March 17, 1998, the island of Nantucket is transported back to 1250 BC by the mysterious "Event". As the inhabitants work to create a new civilization, a group of renegades leave to build themselves an empire. | |||||
| 2 | Against the Tide of Years Against the Tide of Years Against the Tide of Years is the second out of the three alternate history novels of the Nantucket series by S. M. Stirling.-Plot introduction:... |
May 1, 1999 | May 1, 1999 | ||
| Ten years after the Event, the citizens of the Republic of Nantucket are more interested in trade and exploration than in bringing the renegade Walker to justice. This situation changes after Tartessos launches a sneak attack on Nantucket. | |||||
| 3 | On the Oceans of Eternity On the Oceans of Eternity On the Oceans of Eternity is the last of the three alternate history novels of the Nantucket series by S. M. Stirling in which the island of Nantucket, Massachusetts is transported back to the Bronze Age. It covers the latter stages of the Republic of Nantucket's war against Walker and his... |
April 29, 2000 | April 10, 2000 | ||
| After making an alliance with Babylon Babylon Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad... , the Hittite Empire and Mitanni Mitanni Mitanni or Hanigalbat was a loosely organized Hurrian-speaking state in northern Syria and south-east Anatolia from ca. 1500 BC–1300 BC... , the Republic of Nantucket is ready to defeat Walker and his allies. |
|||||
Short stories
- Riding Shotgun to Armageddon - Originally published in the anthology Armageddon in 1998 and later republished as a part of On the Oceans of Eternity in 2000. It was again published in 2007 in the anthology Ice, Iron, and Gold.
- Blood Wolf - Published on May 1, 2004, in the The First Heroes anthology.
Background
Nantucket, Massachusetts
Nantucket is an island south of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in the United States. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget, it constitutes the town of Nantucket, Massachusetts, and the coterminous Nantucket County, which are consolidated. Part of the town is designated the Nantucket...
and its inhabitants back in time into the Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
. The world of circa 1250 BC, which corresponds to the late Heroic Age of Greek mythology
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
, is populated by a large variety of hunting, nomadic and agricultural people, as well as well-documented Bronze Age cultures including Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, the Hittites
Hittites
The Hittites were a Bronze Age people of Anatolia.They established a kingdom centered at Hattusa in north-central Anatolia c. the 18th century BC. The Hittite empire reached its height c...
, and Mycenaean Greece
Mycenaean Greece
Mycenaean Greece was a cultural period of Bronze Age Greece taking its name from the archaeological site of Mycenae in northeastern Argolis, in the Peloponnese of southern Greece. Athens, Pylos, Thebes, and Tiryns are also important Mycenaean sites...
. The trilogy describes the day-to-day problems of adaptation and survival and the emotional and social trauma of losing connection with the modern world. Much of the plot deals with ongoing conflicts between the different factions of the island's population. Some Nantucket residents wish to dominate the world for their own benefit, others wish to interact with local populations through trade and cultural development, while most just want to survive, work hard, and claw their way back to something approaching their pre-Event way of life.
As the series progresses, it becomes clear to Nantucket's scaled-down Government that sitting back and reinventing isolationism will only profit those renegades who, under the leadership of ex-Coast Guard lieutenant William Walker, have fled the island to live like gods amongst the Bronze Age peoples of Europe and the Middle East. Walker—who, unfortunately, is as smart as he is callous—exploits the 'magic' of gunpowder
Gunpowder
Gunpowder, also known since in the late 19th century as black powder, was the first chemical explosive and the only one known until the mid 1800s. It is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate - with the sulfur and charcoal acting as fuels, while the saltpeter works as an oxidizer...
, iron-forging
Forging
Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compressive forces. Forging is often classified according to the temperature at which it is performed: '"cold," "warm," or "hot" forging. Forged parts can range in weight from less than a kilogram to 580 metric tons...
, and the spinning-jenny
Spinning jenny
The spinning jenny is a multi-spool spinning frame. It was invented c. 1764 by James Hargreaves in Stanhill, Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire in England. The device reduced the amount of work needed to produce yarn, with a worker able to work eight or more spools at once. This grew to 120 as technology...
to build up an empire of his own, one that will inevitably conquer and enslave the entire world unless the people of Nantucket build an army, a navy, and a set of foreign alliances of their own and take the fight to Walker.
By the end of the third book, Nantucket is the dominant member of a sizable and expanding network of allies, rather reminiscent of the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
(though Britain itself is called "Alba" in the novel, one of Nantucket's protectorates and a source of "warrior tribes" to be enrolled as mercenaries in its armies), and the Nantucketars ("Eagle-People", "Islanders", "Nan-Tukh-Tar", etc.) seem well on their way to re-enacting the United States’ Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny
Manifest Destiny was the 19th century American belief that the United States was destined to expand across the continent. It was used by Democrat-Republicans in the 1840s to justify the war with Mexico; the concept was denounced by Whigs, and fell into disuse after the mid-19th century.Advocates of...
three thousand years early.
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
, Hittite Empire and Mitanni
Mitanni
Mitanni or Hanigalbat was a loosely organized Hurrian-speaking state in northern Syria and south-east Anatolia from ca. 1500 BC–1300 BC...
(a vassal of Babylon), are also allies, though how long that will last now that they have arms industries of their own is anyone's guess, even with an Islander military officer married to Babylon's ambitious young king. At the end of the third book, these allies are already laying plans for carving up the Caucasus and Persia between them.
Major powers
- Greater AchaeaAchaeaAchaea is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of West Greece. It is situated in the northwestern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. The capital is Patras. The population exceeds 300,000 since 2001.-Geography:...
(Greece), which was the location of Walker's second—and much more successful—attempt at empire-building, but which is now ruled by King Odikweus (OdysseusOdysseusOdysseus or Ulysses was a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey. Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer's Iliad and other works in the Epic Cycle....
/Ulysses of IliadIliadThe Iliad is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles...
and OdysseyOdysseyThe Odyssey is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is, in part, a sequel to the Iliad, the other work ascribed to Homer. The poem is fundamental to the modern Western canon, and is the second—the Iliad being the first—extant work of Western literature...
fame). - TartessosTartessosTartessos or Tartessus was a harbor city and surrounding culture on the south coast of the Iberian peninsula , at the mouth of the Guadalquivir River. It appears in sources from Greece and the Near East starting in the middle of the first millennium BC, for example Herodotus, who describes it as...
, an IberiaIberian PeninsulaThe Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
n city-stateCity-stateA city-state is an independent or autonomous entity whose territory consists of a city which is not administered as a part of another local government.-Historical city-states:...
which gained greatly from its new King's decade-long alliance with Walker's Meizon Achaea, and which managed to survive its unsuccessful challenge to Nantucket for control of the sea.
Minor powers
- EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, gained some basic New Learning from one of Walker's lieutenants, a fanatical —and naïve— Afrocentrist who was shocked to discover that the "Black EgyptiansAncient Egyptian race controversyThe question of the race of ancient Egyptians was raised historically as a product of the scientific racism of the 18th and 19th centuries, and was linked to models of racial hierarchy. A variety of views circulated about the racial identity of the Egyptians and the source of their culture...
" were not truly black. After Egypt's defeat at the 'Battle of Armageddon' and the loss of its CanaanCanaanCanaan is a historical region roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the western parts of Jordan...
territory to Babylon, this lieutenant fled to MeroeMeroëMeroë Meroitic: Medewi or Bedewi; Arabic: and Meruwi) is an ancient city on the east bank of the Nile about 6 km north-east of the Kabushiya station near Shendi, Sudan, approximately 200 km north-east of Khartoum. Near the site are a group of villages called Bagrawiyah...
, an iron-rich region in east-central Africa, with the intention of giving the black population a leg up before armed whites started arriving in large numbers. - Sicilian RepublicSicilySicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
was formerly an Achaean colony but is now an independent nation after it was invaded by Nantucket. The government is currently divided between the Sicilian natives, freed slaves, and Achaean colonists. - AlbaAlbaAlba is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. It is cognate to Alba in Irish and Nalbin in Manx, the two other Goidelic Insular Celtic languages, as well as similar words in the Brythonic Insular Celtic languages of Cornish and Welsh also meaning Scotland.- Etymology :The term first appears in...
, the Bronze Age EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, is an ally of Nantucket after the Islanders defeated Walker and his Sun People allies there.
There also appears to be a threat growing out in Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
, where Walker's lone surviving heir and a convoy of mostly Achaean rejectionists have chosen to carve out a new empire in the Fergana Valley
Fergana Valley
The Fergana Valley or Farghana Valley is a region in Central Asia spreading across eastern Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Divided across three subdivisions of the former Soviet Union, the valley is ethnically diverse, and in the early 21st century was the scene of ethnic conflict...
region, far, far away from the reach of Islander naval power.
Significant Characters
- AgamemnonAgamemnonIn Greek mythology, Agamemnon was the son of King Atreus and Queen Aerope of Mycenae, the brother of Menelaus, the husband of Clytemnestra, and the father of Electra and Orestes. Mythical legends make him the king of Mycenae or Argos, thought to be different names for the same area...
: King of Mycenae and titular 'High King' of Bronze-Age Achaea. Welcomed William Walker and his 'magics' in 2AE, but was slow in realising that Walker was taking over the kingdom. Rather than continue as Walker's puppet, he committed suicide during an escape attempt. His death caused unrest in the kingdom.
- Marian Alston (later: Alston-Kurlelo): Captain in the U.S. Coast GuardUnited States Coast GuardThe United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
and commander of the coast guard training ship EagleUSCGC Eagle (WIX-327)The is a barque used as a training cutter for future officers of the United States Coast Guard. She is one of only two active commissioned sailing vessels in American military service, the other being the USS Constitution....
, later military leader and Commodore of the Republic of Nantucket. Alston was born and raised by farmers in South CarolinaSouth CarolinaSouth Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
and has two sisters. Although a lesbianLesbianLesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
, prior to the event she had been married and had two children. Her husband, John, divorceDivorceDivorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
d her after finding out that she was cheatingInfidelityIn many intimate relationships in many cultures there is usually an express or implied expectation of exclusivity, especially in sexual matters. Infidelity most commonly refers to a breach of the expectation of sexual exclusivity.Infidelity can occur in relation to physical intimacy and/or...
on him with another women when they lived in South Carolina. The children stayed with their father. John, however, never revealed her sexual orientation in court and saved her from resigningResignationA resignation is the formal act of giving up or quitting one's office or position. It can also refer to the act of admitting defeat in a game like chess, indicated by the resigning player declaring "I resign", turning his king on its side, extending his hand, or stopping the chess clock...
from the coast guard.
- Lucy Alston-Kurlelo: Marian and Swindapa's adopted daughter. Biological child of McAndrews and a Fiernan woman. Found in Walkerburg.
- Heather Alston-Kurlelo: Marian and Swindapa's adopted daughter. Fiernan orphan of unknown parentage. Found outside the ruins of her villages with her dead mother nearby.
- Ian Arnstein: Professor in classical history at University of San DiegoUniversity of San DiegoThe University of San Diego is a Roman Catholic university in San Diego, California. USD offers more than sixty bachelor's, master’s, and doctoral programs...
, he has some knowledge of ancient languages. He is a tuckerizationTuckerizationTuckerization is the act of using a person's name in an original story as an in-joke. The term is derived from Wilson Tucker, a pioneering American science fiction writer and fanzine editor, who made a practice of using his friends' names for minor characters in his stories...
of Harry TurtledoveHarry TurtledoveHarry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.- Life :...
.
- Jared Cofflin: A Nantucket local and chief of police on the island prior to the Event. A Vietnam veteranVietnam veteranVietnam veteran is a phrase used to describe someone who served in the armed forces of participating countries during the Vietnam War.The term has been used to describe veterans who were in the armed forces of South Vietnam, the United States armed forces, and countries allied to them, whether or...
, Cofflin served as gunner on a gunboat in the Mekong DeltaMekong DeltaThe Mekong Delta is the region in southwestern Vietnam where the Mekong River approaches and empties into the sea through a network of distributaries. The Mekong delta region encompasses a large portion of southwestern Vietnam of . The size of the area covered by water depends on the season.The...
, receiving the purple heartPurple HeartThe Purple Heart is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those who have been wounded or killed while serving on or after April 5, 1917 with the U.S. military. The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor is located in New Windsor, New York...
at least once after being injured in a mortar attackMortar (weapon)A mortar is an indirect fire weapon that fires explosive projectiles known as bombs at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing ballistic trajectories. It is typically muzzle-loading and has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber....
. Following the Event, he is elected the first leader of the Republic of Nantucket by default. In addition to his function as head of state, he also put in time as a harpooner on a whaling ship. He marries the chief librarian Martha Stoddard.
- Pete Giernas: Nantucket Ranger of Lithuanian descent. Leader of the expedition to traverse the North American continent in 11 AE, which concluded with him leading an uprising against the secret Tartessian base he discovered in California. Eventually moved to the New Sconset outport with his two wives to take up the post of chief Ranger.
- Kenneth Hollard: Nantucket teenager who joins the Expeditionary Force to Alba in the first novel and stays in the Republic's fledgling military, eventually being selected to lead the Nantucket mission to Babylonia and command the Allied Armies in the war against Walker's Greater Achaea. Fell in love with and married Raupasha, with whom he emigrated after the war to take up the post of military governor of the Republic's South American outport (New Sconset).
- Kathryn Hollard: Twin sister of Kenneth Hollard, also a veteran of the Alban Expeditionary Force and career military. Second-in-command of the mission to Babylonia, where she met, fell in love with, and married King Kashtiliash. According to the terms of their marriage contract, she would be his only Queen and commander of the armies of Babylon, and their children would be raised for half of the year on Nantucket.
- Alice Hong: An Asian AmericanAsian AmericanAsian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...
and a physicianPhysicianA physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
. Hong has a sado-masochistic fetish that later evolves into psychotic behavior, according to her own self-diagnosis she is a clinical sadistSadistic personality disorderSadistic personality disorder is a diagnosis which appeared only in an appendix of the revised third edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders . The current version of the DSM does not include it, so it is no longer considered a valid...
, that suffer from paranoid tendenciesParanoid personality disorderParanoid personality disorder is a psychiatric diagnosis characterized by paranoia and a pervasive, long-standing suspiciousness and generalized mistrust of others....
, borderline sociopathBorderline personality disorderBorderline personality disorder is a personality disorder described as a prolonged disturbance of personality function in a person , characterized by depth and variability of moods.The disorder typically involves unusual levels of instability in mood; black and white thinking, or splitting; the...
and possible antisocial elementsAntisocial personality disorderAntisocial personality disorder is described by the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, fourth edition , as an Axis II personality disorder characterized by "...a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood...
. At first believing that Walker only jokes regarding becoming world emperor, she is quick to side with him and later becomes his first wife. She is later also known as The Despotnia Algeos, the Lady of Pain or Avatar of Hekate. She creates an all female military elite, resembling ninjas, known as Claws of Hekate, to whom she is known as the Goddess-on-Earth.
- Isketerol: A Tartessian merchant, early associate of Walker and later King of Tartessos.
- Kashtiliash:King of Babylon, Son of Shagarakti-Shuriash; husband of Kathryn Hollard.
- Swindapa Kurlelo (later: Kurlelo-Alston): A young woman from southern EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. She is of the Star Blood line of Kurlelo, of the Fiernan Bohulugi (People of the Soil or Earth Folk), with knowledge of her tribe's spiritual history, culture and ceremonies. She is also recognized as a warrior by her people, reflected by a spear tattoo on her chest. Later domestic partner of Marian Alston.
- Rosita Menendez: A registered nurse, early associate of Walker, later third wife of Isketerol and lesser Queen of Tartessos
- Helmut Mittler: A former East German StasiStasiThe Ministry for State Security The Ministry for State Security The Ministry for State Security (German: Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (MfS), commonly known as the Stasi (abbreviation , literally State Security), was the official state security service of East Germany. The MfS was headquartered...
agent, Mittler assists William Walker in turning his Greek empire into a police state. Ian Arnstein, a prisoner of Walker and the Achaeans, later manipulates him into murdering Walker and his family. Mittler is in turn slain by Odikweos as a traitor.
- OdikweosOdysseusOdysseus or Ulysses was a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey. Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer's Iliad and other works in the Epic Cycle....
: King of IthakanIthacaIthaca or Ithaka is an island located in the Ionian Sea, in Greece, with an area of and a little more than three thousand inhabitants. It is also a separate regional unit of the Ionian Islands region, and the only municipality of the regional unit. It lies off the northeast coast of Kefalonia and...
, quick to see the value in befriending William Walker and learning from him. Accompanied Walker on the campaign to conquer Sicily, staying on as military governor afterwards, before returning to become Walker's right-hand man and chief Achaean lieutenant. Supported Walker's rise to High King status after Agamemnon's death, but was never truly comfortable with the changes Walker was imposing. Conspired with Ian Arnstein to trick Helmut Mittler into assassinating Walker, then executed Mittler himself and took the throne. As High King, he signed a peace treaty with Nantucket that maintained Greater Achaea as a superpower.
- Ohotolarix: One of William Walker's most loyal followers, originally from the island of Britain, designated Alba in this time. He later follows Althea Walker into exile after his lord is murdered, vowing to avenge his death.
- Doreen Rosenthal: a female university astronomy student working in a temporary position at the Nantucket observatory. Rosenthal is of Lithuanian descent and can speak the language. She later marries Ian Arnstein.
- Raupasha: Mittanian princess and sole survivor of the former ruling house. During the Assyrian retreat from the advancing Nantucket/Babylonian armies she killed the Assyrian king when he attempted to rape her, and was only rescued from being burned alive by the arrival of Kenneth Hollard and the Nantucket vanguard. Raised and led Mittanian auxiliaries during the war against Greater Achaea, losing an eye and suffering terrible burns saving the Allied army from being outflanked in the last great battle. Later married to Kenneth Hollard and left Mittani for New Sconset. Her story has parallels with that of the Biblical JaelJaëlJaël, , is a singer-songwriter from the band Lunik. She also co-wrote and sang with Delerium on the song After All on their album Chimera, and the song Lost and Found on their album Nuages du Monde. She is both internationally famous in the Trance music community as well as domestically famous from...
.
- Althea Walker, of the House of the Wolf: A daughter of William Walker and a unnamed chieftain's daughter from Alba taken prisoner in a raid. She is the only survivor of Helmut Mittler's assassination of her family. At the end of the series, Althea flees with Ohotolarix and a small group of loyalists to carve out a new empire in Central Asian Fergana ValleyFergana ValleyThe Fergana Valley or Farghana Valley is a region in Central Asia spreading across eastern Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Divided across three subdivisions of the former Soviet Union, the valley is ethnically diverse, and in the early 21st century was the scene of ethnic conflict...
region, far from the naval might of the Republic of Nantucket.
- William Walker: the main antagonist of the story, is a Coast Guard officer on the Eagle, highly intelligent, self oriented and power hungry. After his defection from the Island, Walker adopts a Wolf's head as his banner and symbol of his house, in reference to Caput gerat lupinum (Latin for "Let his be a wolf's head"), the declaration of outlaw status by a Roman court.
Connections to the Emberverse series
Stirling has confirmed that The Emberverse seriesThe Emberverse series
Emberverse, or Change World, is a series of post-apocalyptic alternate history novels written by S. M. Stirling. The novels depict the events following "The Change", which caused electricity, guns, explosives, internal combustion engines, and steam power to stop working...
, is connected to the Nantucket series. Evidence of this is apparent throughout the novels, for more information, see here.
External links
- Maps for the Nantucket series
- S. M. Stirling’s Strange World of Alternate History by Fredric Smoler - article on American HeritageAmerican Heritage (magazine)American Heritage is a quarterly magazine dedicated to covering the history of the United States for a mainstream readership. Until 2007, the magazine was published by Forbes. Since that time, Edwin S...
discussing various titles by Stirling, including the Nantucket trilogy.