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From Traveller Wiki - Science-Fiction Adventure in the Far future
Traveller and the universe it inspired came from many sources. This page is a list of book, authors, movies and other media that both inspired and was the inspiration for Traveller and the Third Imperium.
Contents |
[edit] Original Sources
These books and movies were the Science Fiction that served as the primary influence on the original Traveller authors. This is all older SF, some from the 50s and 60s.
[edit] Books
- Poul Anderson
- Flandry series (Ensign Flandry ISBN 1-596-87030-3, A Circus of Hells, The Rebel Worlds, The Day of Their Return, Agent of the Terran Empire ISBN 0-743-47952-1, Flandry of Terra ISBN 0-743-49311-7, A Knight of Ghosts and Shadows ISBN 0-812-52225-7, A Stone in Heaven, The Game of Empire, The Long Night), Polesotechnic League (Trader to the Stars, The Trouble Twisters ISBN 0-425-05822-0, Satan's World ISBN 0-425-05851-4, Mirkheim ISBN 0-425-05863-8)
- Issac Asimov
- Foundation Trilogy (Foundation ISBN 0-553-29335-4; Foundation and Empire ISBN 0-553-29337-0; Second Foundation ISBN 0-553-29336-2; Foundation's Edge ISBN 0-553-29338-9; Foundation and Earth ISBN 0-553-58757-9; Prelude to Foundation ISBN 0-553-27839-8; Forward the Foundation ISBN 0-553-40488-1)
- Edgar Rice Burroughs
- John Carter of Mars series
- Joe Haldeman
- The Forever War series (The Forever War ISBN 0-312-29890-0; Forever Peace ISBN 0-441-00406-7; Forever Free ISBN 0-441-00787-2)
- Robert Heinlein
- Starship Troopers ISBN 0-450-02576-4, Moon is a Harsh Mistress ISBN 0-312-86355-1
- Frank Herbert
- Dune series (Dune ISBN 0-441-01359-7; Dune Messiah ISBN 0-441-17269-5; Children of Dune ISBN 0-399-11697-4; God Emperor of Dune ISBN 0-575-02976-5; Heretics of Dune ISBN 0-399-12898-0; Chapterhouse: Dune ISBN 0-399-13027-6)
- Keith Laumer
- Bolo series (Bolo; Bolo: Annals of the Dinochrome Brigade ISBN 0-399-11794-6; Rogue Bolo ISBN 0-671-65545-0; The Stars Must Wait ISBN 0-671-69859-1; The Compleat Bolo ISBN 0-671-69879-6), Retief series (Envoy to New Worlds; Galactic Diplomat; Retief's War; Retief and the Warlords; Retief: ambassador to space; seven incidents of the Corps diplomatique terrestrienne; Retief of the CDT; Retief's Ransom; Retief: Emissary to the Stars; Retief at Large; Retief Unbound; Retief: Diplomat at Arms; Retief to the Rescue; The Return of Retief; Retief; Retief in the Ruins; Retief and the Pangalactic Pageant of Pulchritude; Reward for Retief; Retief and the Rascals)
- Andre Norton
- Solar Queen series (Sargasso of Space ISBN 0-441-74981-X; Plague Ship ISBN 1-920-26528-7; Voodoo Planet ISBN 1-604-50239-8; Postmarked the Stars ISBN 0-441-67555-7; Redline the Stars ISBN 0-812-51986-8; Derelict for TradeISBN 0-812-55272-5; A Mind for Trade ISBN 0-812-55273-3)
- H. Beam Piper
- Federation Series (Uller Uprising ISBN 0-441-84292-5; Four-Day Planet ISBN 0-441-24891-8; The Cosmic Computer ISBN 0-441-11759-7; Space Viking ISBN 0-441-77784-8), The Complete Fuzzy ISBN 0-441-00581-0
- E. C. Tubb
- Dumarest of Terra
- Jules Verne
- From the Earth to the Moon, In the Year 2889, Around the World in Eighty Days
- H. G. Wells
- War of the Worlds, The Island of Dr. Moreau, The First Men in the Moon
[edit] Non-SF books
- C.S. Forrester
- Hornblower series (The Happy Return, A Ship of the Line, Flying Colours, The Commodore, Lord Hornblower, Mr. Midshipman Hornblower, Lieutenant Hornblower, Hornblower and the Atropos, Hornblower in the West Indies, Hornblower and the Hotspur, Hornblower and the Crisis)
- Edward Gibbon
- The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
- Herman Melville
- Moby Dick
- Patrick O'Brian
- Aubrey/Maturin series (Master and Commander, Post Captain, H. M. S. Surprise, The Mauritius Command, Desolation Island, Fortune of War, The Surgeon's Mate, The Ionian Mission, Treason's Harbour, The Far Side of the World, The Reverse of the Medal, The Letter of Marque, The Thirteen Gun Salute, The Nutmeg of Consolation, The Truelove, The Wine-Dark Sea, The Commodore, The Yellow Admiral, The Hundred Days, Blue at the Mizzen)
[edit] Movies
- Star Wars: A New Hope - The Original Star Wars movie came out in May 1977, and Traveller arrived in July 1977.
- Silent Running
- 2001: A Space Odyssey
- The Forbidden Planet
===Television
[edit] Primary Sources
These collections are later items recommended by the Traveller community. While they were not around when Traveller was originally written, they do reflect the themes and ideas of both Traveller and the Third Imperium.
[edit] SF Books
- Ian M. Banks
- Culture series (Consider Phlebas ISBN 0-333-44138-9; The Player of Games ISBN 0-333-47110-5; Use of Weapons ISBN 0-356-19160-5; Excession ISBN 1-85723-394-8; Inversions ISBN 1-85723-763-3; Look to Windward ISBN 1-85723-981-4; Matter ISBN 978-1-841-494173), Against A Dark Background ISBN 1-85723-179-1
- C. J. Cherryh
- Company Wars trilogy (Downbelow Station ISBN 8-470-02376-4; Heavy Time ISBN 0-446-67653-5; Hellburner ISBN 0-446-67653-5), Era of Rapprochement series (Serpent's Reach ISBN 0-88677-088-2; Merchanter's Luck ISBN 0-88677-139-0; Forty Thousand in Gehenna ISBN 0-932096-26-3 Cyteen ISBN 0-446-51428-4; Rimrunners ISBN 0-446-51514-0; Tripoint ISBN 0-446-51780-1; Finity's End ISBN 0-446-52072-1)
- Gordon Dickson
- Childe Cycle series (Dorsai!; Necromancer; Soldier, Ask Not; Tactics of Mistake; The Final Encyclopedia; The Chantry Guild)
- David Drake
- Hammer's Slammer's series (Hammer's Slammers; At Any Price; Counting the Cost; Rolling Hot; The Warrior; The Sharp End ; Paying the Piper); Republic of Cinnabar Navy series (With the Lightnings, Lt. Leary Commanding, The Far Side of the Stars, The Way to Glory, Some Golden Harbor)
- Harry Harrison
- Who can forget the Stainless Steel Rat series! "Slippery Jim" DeGriz is even detailed in "Citizens of the Imperium"! Harry Harrison works a lot of humor into his works, including the "Bill the Galactic Hero" series. Look him up on Wikipedia!
- Lois McMaster Bujold
- Miles Vorkosigan saga (Cordelia's Honor; Young Miles; Miles, Mystery, and Mayhem; Miles Errant; Miles, Mutants and Microbes; Miles in Love; Vorkosigan's Game)
- Richard Morgan
- Takeshi Kovacs series (Altered Carbon ISBN 0-575-07390-X; Broken Angels ISBN 0-575-07550-3; Woken Furies ISBN 0-575-07325-X)
- David Weber
- Honor Harrington series (On Basilisk Station ISBN 0-671-57793-X; The Honor of the Queen ISBN 0-671-57864-2; The Short Victorious War ISBN 0-671-87596-5 Field of Dishonor ISBN 0-671-57820-0; Flag in Exile ISBN 0-671-31980-9; Honor Among Enemies ISBN 0-671-87723-2; In Enemy Hands ISBN 0-671-57770-0; Echoes of Honor ISBN 0-671-57833-2; Ashes of Victory ISBN 0-671-57854-5; War of Honor ISBN 0-7434-3545-1; At All Costs ISBN 1-4165-0911-9)
[edit] Movies
- Outland
- Alien & Aliens
[edit] Television Series
- Babylon 5
- Battlestar Galactica - The Early series and the newer one
- Firefly
- Lost in Space - The original TV series
- Space: 1999
- Star Trek - The Original Series
- Starhunter
[edit] Secondary sources
These are books and other media which are not as closely tied to the Original Traveller universe for cross fertilization, but are frequently mentioned as good sources for inspiration. Some of these are implicitly (or explicitly) inspired by Traveller.
[edit] SF Books
- Greg Bear
- Blood Music
- David Brin
- Uplift series (Sundiver, Startide Rising, The Uplift War, Brightness Reef, Infinity's Shore, Heaven's Reach)
- Arthur C. Clarke
- Imperial Earth, Rendezvous with Rama, Songs of a Distant Earth
- Brian Daley
- Requiem for a Ruler of Worlds, Jinx on a Terran Inheritance, Fall of the White Ship Avatar
- Joe Clifford Faust
- The Essence of Evil, Precious Cargo, Desperate Measures
- Robert Frezza
- McLendon's Syndrome
- Dave Grossman
- The Two-Space War, The Guns of Two-Space
- Peter F. Hamilton
- Greg Mandel sequence, Night's Dawn Trilogy, Commonwealth series
- Aldous Huxley
- Brave New World
- Jeffery Kooistra
- Dykstra's War
- Ursula K. Le Guin
- The Dispossessed, Rocannon’s World, The Word for World is Forest
- Jack McDevitt
- Alex Benedict stories (A Talent for War, Polaris, Seeker)
- Steve Miller and Sharon Lee
- Liaden universe
- Elizabeth Moon
- Vatta's War series
- Larry Niven
- Known Space collections
- John Ringo
- Legacy of the Aldenata (Posleen) series
- Kim Stanley Robinson
- Red Mars, Blue Mars, Green Mars
- John Scalzi
- Old Man's War
- Charles Sheffield
- The McAndrew Chronicles
- Joan D. Vinge
- The Snow Queen, World's End, Summer Queen
- Vernor Vinge
- A Fire Upon the Deep, A Deepness In The Sky, Marooned in Realtime
- Walter Jon Williams
- The Crown Jewels, House of Shards, Rock of Ages
[edit] Non-SF Books
- Niccolo Machiavelli
- The Prince
[edit] RPG Sources
- Transhuman Space
- GURPS by Steve Jackson Games: GURPS Space, Ultra-Tech
- Space Opera
- 2300 AD
- Blue Planet
- Alternity: Star*Drive
- Star Wars RPG by West End Games
- ICE SpaceMaster
- Shadowrun
- Star Frontiers
- Fading Suns
- Stargate SG1 - The RPG
[edit] Video Games
- X-com 1 & 2
- Starcraft
- Starflight 1 & 2
- Rebelstar (forerunner to X-Com)
- Elite (the original, or Oolite for a modern update)
- Mass Effect (you can read the Traveller DNA in it's info Codex)
- Halo
- Privateer 2
[edit] Movies
- Battle Beyond the Stars (yes cheesy hokum, but not a bad plot for a Trav game)
- Black Hole (Disney does science)
- Blade Runner
- Dark Star
- The Day the Earth Stood Still
- Event Horizon
- The Fifth Element
- Ghost in the Shell
- Invasion of the Body Snatchers
- The Last Starfighter
- Master and Commander - The Far Side of the World
- Platoon
- Predator
- Riddick Trilogy: Pitch Black, The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury, The Chronicles of Riddick
- Titan A.E
[edit] Television Series
- Above and Beyond
- Blake's Seven
- Banner of the Stars (Anime)
- Buck Rogers in the 25th century
- Connections: by James Burke - Not SF but good for how Technology evolves
- Cowboy Bebop (Anime)
- Crest of the Stars (Anime)
- Earth 2
- Farscape (a bit zany, perhaps, but some fanastic aliens)
- Ghost in the Shell: Stand alone complex (Anime)
- Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy (radio show and TV)
- Horatio Hornblower
- Planetes (hyper real near-Earth space anime)
- Red Dwarf
- Stargate SG1
- Star Trek - The Next Generation
- Star Trek - Deep Space Nine
- UFO (best TV theme music EVER)
