Terran Trade Authority

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The Terran Trade Authority is a science-fiction setting originally presented in a collection of four large illustrated science fiction books published between 1978 and 1980.

The books formed a connected space-opera milieu, describing the future history of mankind's expansion into the galaxy, presented in the guise of official handbooks by the trade organization from which the setting takes its name. However, the books sometimes contained contradictory information (e.g., the nature of early FTL technology).

Compared to other science fiction settings, the TTA setting appears optimistic about man's place in the universe, with elements of violence and authoritarianism that prevent it from becoming unrealistically utopian. It features a strong undercurrent of wonder and adventure, due in part to the inclusion of various mysterious alien relics and incidents that are left unexplained by the author.

Beginning in 2006, the series is being updated and expanded (see below).

Contents

[edit] Premise of the setting

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The first tentative steps of Terrans into space during the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries were followed by a time of rapid progress, beginning with the development of the DeVass Warp Generator (a spacefold-style FTL drive).

Probes sent to various nearby stars resulted in first contact with the Alphans, aliens who inhabited the Alpha Centauri binary system. The two races became quick friends and allies. However, the second alien encounter, with the Proximans of Proxima Centauri (with whom the Alphans had had a long history of antagonism), did not go as smoothly, resulting in the two-decade long interstellar conflict known as the Proximan War.

As a consequence of the war, the development of spacecraft technology is greatly enhanced, becoming an everyday fact of life and setting the stage for the colonization of the stars.

[edit] Classic Series

The original four books are:

  • Spacecraft 2000-2100 AD (by Stewart Cowley, 1978) (UK and US Editions) [SC1]
  • Great Space Battles (by Stewart Cowley and Charles Herridge, 1979) (UK/US) [GSB]
  • SpaceWreck: Ghost Ships and Derelicts of Space (by Stewart Cowley, 1979) (UK/US) [SW]
  • Starliners: Commercial Travel in 2200 AD (by Stewart Cowley, 1980) (UK/US) [SL]

In addition, the books Spacecraft 2000-2100 AD and Great Space Battles were collected together and published as Spacebase 2000 (1984, UK/US). All the books are currently out of print, but can often be found through auction sites or used booksellers.

Large color illustrations cover at least half the pages in each book. Most of these illustrations are reprints from book covers, which explains why they sometimes do not exactly fit with each other.

All the illustrations were made by now-famous science fiction painters such as Jim Burns, Alan Daniels, Peter Elson, Fred Gambino, Colin Hay, Robin Hiddon, Bob Layzell, Angus McKie, Chris Moore, Tony Roberts, and Trevor Webb.

[edit] Spacecraft 2000-2100 AD

This book covers the events immediately prior to and after the Proximan War era and descriptions are presented in that context. The book is presented like an aircraft recognition guide, made up entirely of spacecraft descriptions, relating their role and performance in the war if applicable, and occasionally their history afterwards. (Some of the ships in the book are nonmilitary in nature). There is also a section on unknown aliens.

[edit] Great Space Battles

This book is divided in two parts:

  • The Laguna War: A novelette about an interstellar war between Earth and Laguna (Beta Hydri) in 2219. It's an excellent story that captures the atmosphere of a war in the depths of space against a mysterious opponent. It finishes with a tantalising 'the end... or is it?'
  • A set of very short stories mostly about exploration of dangerous planets and minor battles.

Contrary to Spacecraft 2000-2100 AD, the book contains stories instead of individual spaceship descriptions, which causes some problems as multiple illustrations were not always coherent within a single story.

[edit] SpaceWreck: Ghost Ships and Derelicts of Space

As was the case in the second part of Great Space Battles, the book is a collection of many unrelated very short stories about dangerous planets and space disasters. Since the stories are short, they usually have only one illustration, which avoids the problem of coherence between illustrations.

[edit] Starliners: Commercial Travel in 2200 AD

This fourth book is a return to the principle of the first book i.e. an illustrated list of spaceship descriptions instead of a collection of stories. However, being set in a time of peace, it speaks only of commercial companies exploiting flights towards exotic planets.

[edit] Modern Series

In late 2005, the rights to the release updated versions of the books were erroneously licensed from Hamlyn, the original publisher, to Morrigan Press. Morrigan, a publisher of roleplaying games, was intending to update the series as well as release a game in the setting. Unfortunately, just before the first book was to come out, Morrigan was informed by Cowley that the rights had reverted to him around 1990, thus rendering the Hamlyn license null and void. However, Cowley was supportive of their efforts to produce a new version, and a new agreement was negotiated.

The licensing agreement includes the right to update and reprint the text and diagrams of the original books as well as to reproduce the designs of the original art, but the rights to the paintings themselves were not available. The new series therefore features work by new artists, both in reproducing the classic art and in doing original pieces, using a mixture of computer graphics and more traditional media.

The modern series is divided into two distinct product lines: art books in the vein of the classic series, and the roleplaying game and its supplements. In some cases (e.g., Local Space vs. the RPG), the lines contain similar material, written for different audiences. In other cases, the art books and the RPG line complement one another (e.g., Spacecraft and the RPG, while containing some reprinted material, emphasize different aspects of the setting).

The original series was set in the near-future (the timeline started approximately nine years after the first book's publication date). By the time the modern series was being planned, the real world was well into the eponymous time period of the first book. Therefore, Morrigan decided to shift the timeline of the setting one hundred years into the future (thus changing the title for the reprint of Spacecraft).

The art books include:

  • Spacecraft 2100 to 2200 AD (by K. Scott Agnew, Jeff Lilly & Stewart Cowley) (July-August 2006) (Book info) [SC2]
  • Local Space: A Guide to the TTA Universe (November 2006) (Book info)
  • Capital Ships of the TTA (Planned - March 2007)
  • Aliens of the TTA (Planned - 2007?)

And for the roleplaying series:

  • The Terran Trade Authority Roleplaying Game (by K. Scott Agnew & Jeff Lilly, with foreword by Stewart Cowley) (October 2006) (Book info)
  • Alpha Centauri (Planned - February 2007)
  • Proxima Centauri (Planned - 2007)

[edit] Galactic Encounters

This series of six books was written by Stewart Cowley under the pseudonym "Steven Caldwell", for Intercontinental Book Productions (republished by Crescent Books in the US).

The Galactic Encounters series was set in roughly the same universe as the official TTA books (as demonstrated by many common visual elements and names), and was created partly using art rejected for inclusion in the official TTA books. As such, they are characterized as being of lower quality. They are considered non-canonical by fans of the original series, as well as Morrigan Press.

  • Aliens in Space: An illustrated guide to the inhabited Galaxy (1979, UK/US)
  • Star Quest: An incredible voyage into the unknown (1979, UK/US)
  • The Fantastic Planet: A World of Magic and Mystery (1980, UK/US)
  • Dangerous Frontiers: the fight for survival on distant worlds (1980, UK) (Printed as Settlers in Space: The fight for survival on distant worlds in the US)
  • Worlds at War: An Illustrated Study of Interplanetary Conflict (1980, UK/US)
  • Space Patrol: The Official Guide to the Galactic Security Force (1980, UK/US)

[edit] External links

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