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The General book cover 1
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The General
Series · 10 books · 1991-2014

Books in series

The Forge book cover
#1

The Forge

1991

Long after interstellar civilization collapsed, Battle Central, a sentient computer, selected a young military officer to restore its fallen glory by conquering a planet—and then re-conquering the stars.
The Hammer book cover
#2

The Hammer

1992

A monolithic computer is using General Raj Whitehall to reunite the planet and start humanity back on the road to technological achievement, but armies of musket- and saber-wielding barbarians stand in the way. Original.
The Anvil book cover
#3

The Anvil

1993

With the aid of a sentient battle computer from before the collapse of interstellar civilization, Raj Whitehall has come close to reuniting the entire planet of Bellevue. Raj is loved by the people, who hold him in awe, but the half-mad jealousy and fear of his emperor is about to force Raj to revolt or face death by torture.
The Steel book cover
#4

The Steel

1993

For five years, the computer in Raj Whitehall's mind has been using him as its instrument to reunite the planet Bellevue as the first step in restoring technological civilization across the galaxy. Now, Raj's mission is to take on hordes of the Holy Federation and regain territories lost to the Civil Government for centuries. Civilization had been falling for a thousand years, since interstellar war isolated Bellevue from a universe in chaos. This was the last chance to reverse the fall. If Raj failed, the darkness could last fifteen thousand years.
The Sword book cover
#5

The Sword

1995

For five years Raj Whitehall has led his men across the face of the planet Bellevue. With saber and bayonet he has conquered one barbarian nation after another. Now his greatest enemy is his own overlord, Barholm Clerett, who's so paranoid of Raj's victories that he is reduced to only one thought: Raj Whitehall must die.
The Chosen book cover
#6

The Chosen

1996

Picking up where their highly successful sreies The General leaves off, The Chosen follows the further adventures of Raj Whitehall and Battle Central—this time to the stars! Original.
The Reformer book cover
#7

The Reformer

1999

After the collapse of the galactic Web, civilizations crumbled and chaos reigned on thousands of planets. Only on planet Bellevue was there a difference. There, a Fleet Battle Computer named Center had survived from the old civilization. When it found Raj Whitehall, the man who could execute its plan for reviving human civilization, he and Center started Bellevue back on the road leading to the stars; and when Bellevue reached that goal, Center sent copies of itself and Raj to the thousands of worlds still waiting for the light of civilization to dawn. On Hafardine, civilization had fallen further than most. That men came from the stars was not even a rumor of memory in Adrian Gellert's day. The Empire of Vanbret spread across the lands in a sterile splendor that could only end in another collapse, more ignominious and complete than the first. Adrian Gellert was a philosopher, a student whose greatest desire was a life of contemplation in the service of wisdom...until he touched the "holy relic" that contained the disincarnate minds of Raj Whitehall and Center. On that day, Adrian's search for wisdom would lead him to a life of action, from the law-courts of Vanbret to the pirate cities of the Archipelago—and battlefields bloodier than anything in the history he'd learned. The prize was the future of humanity.
The Tyrant book cover
#8

The Tyrant

2002

On the planet Hafardine, civilization must rediscover progress or collapse. Adrian, guided by disembodied electronic mentors from space, has brought gunpowder and steam power to the Kingdom of the Isles to break the stranglehold of the Empire. But he will have to avoid being killed by the suspicious King he serves, by the barbarians he must recruit, and even by his insanely vengeful brother. [Drake and Flint] instruct as well as entertain in this latest volume in the popular [General] series... narrative excitement . . . [the authors'] thorough knowledge of the underlying causes and conditions that shaped Rome's destiny lends authority. At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (DRM Rights Management).
The Heretic book cover
#9

The Heretic

2013

David Drake’s legendary Raj Whitehall/The General series, stunningly reborn! In a world of muskets, bows and arrows, and reptile riding nomads, a young warrior fights against a totalitarian computer devoted to stasis. ABEL DASHIAN'S WORLD DOESN'T NEED A HERO Duisberg is one of thousands of planets plunged into darkness and chaos by the collapse of the galactic republic, but where other worlds have begun to rebuild a star-travelling culture, Duisberg remains in an uneasy balance between mud-brick civilization and bloodthirsty barbarism. The people of Duisberg have a god: Zentrum, a supercomputer from the ancient past. Zentrum has decided avoid another collapse by preventing civilization from rising from where it is. And because even a supercomputer and the powerful religion which it founded cannot block all progress, Zentrum has another tool: every few centuries the barbarians sweep in from the desert, slaughtering the educated classes and cowing the peasants back into submission. These are the Blood Winds, and the Blood Winds are about to blow again. This time, however, there's a difference: Abel Dashian, son of a military officer, has received into his mind the spirit of Raj Whitehall, the most successful general in the history of the planet Bellevue—and of Center, the supercomputer which enabled Raj to shatter his planet's barbarians and permit the return of civilization. One hero can't stop the tide of barbarians unless he has his own culture supporting him. To save Duisberg, Abel must break the power of Zentrum. With the help of Raj and Center, Abel Dashian must become . . . THE HERETIC! About The Heretic: “More than once, I envied Abel’s ‘gift’. If you count having the voice of a computer and the recreation of a famous general in your head as a gift. . .An interesting relationship that elevates [the novel] to something unique. . .I loved the battles and I found Abel to be an engaging character. I adored Golitsin, his priest friend.”—SF Crowsnest About the Raj Whitehall series: “[T]old with knowledge of military tactics and hardware, and vividly described action. . .devotees of military SF should enjoy themselves.”—Publishers Weekly “[A] thoroughly engrossing military sf series . . . superb battle scenes, ingenious weaponry and tactics, homages to Kipling, and many other goodies. High fun.”—Booklist About David Drake: “[P]rose as cold and hard s the metal alloy of a tank … rivals Crane and Remarque …” –Chicago Sun-Times “Drake couldn’t write a bad action scene at gunpoint.” –Booklist About Tony Daniel: “[D]azzling stuff.”–New York Times Book Review “[His work] teems with vivid characters and surprising action.”–Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Daniel proves that the Golden Age of science fiction is right here and now.”–Greg Bear “[A] large cast of utterly graspable humans, mostly military and political folks, of all ranks and capacities and temperments. Daniel has a keen eye for the kinds of in extremis thinking and behavior that such a wartime situation would engender...Following in the footsteps of Poul Anderson and Greg Bear. . .”—Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine on Daniel's Guardian of Night
The Savior book cover
#10

The Savior

2014

Sequel to The Heretic, Book 10 in the nationally best-selling General series. FROM HERETIC TO SAVIOR Duisberg is one of thousands of planets plunged into darkness and chaos by the collapse of the galactic republic, but where other worlds have begun to rebuild a star-travelling culture, Duisberg remains in an uneasy balance between mud-brick civilization and bloodthirsty barbarism. The people of Duisberg have a god: Zentrum, a supercomputer from the ancient past. Zentrum has decided avoid another collapse by preventing civilization from rising from where it is. This is known as the Stasis. And because even a supercomputer and the powerful religion which it founded cannot block all progress, Zentrum has another tool: every few centuries the barbarians sweep in from the desert, slaughtering the educated classes and cowing the peasants back into submission. These are the Blood Winds, and the Blood Winds are about to blow again. This time, however, there's a difference: Abel Dashian, son of a military officer, has received into his mind the spirit of Raj Whitehall, the most successful general in the history of the planet Bellevue—and of Center, the supercomputer which enabled Raj to shatter his planet's barbarians and permit the return of civilization. One hero can't stop the tide of barbarians unless he has his own culture supporting him. To save Duisberg, Abel must conquer the very land of his origin and attempt to destroy the computer A.I. “god” who has doomed his world to an everlasting Dark Age. Abel is a heretic, but now he must go beyond and become—THE SAVIOR. At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).

Authors

S.M. Stirling
S.M. Stirling
Author · 61 books

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. MINI AUTO-BIOGRAPHY: (personal website: source) 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.

Tony Daniel
Author · 12 books

Tony Daniel is an author of science fiction novels, short stories, and radio dramas. For the comic book author, see Tony S. Daniel.

Eric Flint
Eric Flint
Author · 74 books
Eric Flint was a New York Times bestselling American author, editor, and e-publisher. The majority of his main works were alternate history science fiction, but he also wrote humorous fantasy adventures.
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