Freelance Traveller

The Raj Whitehall series

by Jeff Zeitlin

This article originally appeared in the November/December 2024 issue.

Editor’s note: the first eight stories were originally published as separate books, and then later as omnibus volumes Please see the “About These Books” sidebar for more information and current availability and pricing.

About a thousand years ago, the Federation fell apart. On the world of Bellevue, a battle computer has survived, waiting for the right man, who can be the man that starts Bellevue on the path to creating a new Federation. Raj Whitehall is that man.

The first five stories in the series (The Forge through The Sword) follow Whitehall in his efforts to unify Bellevue under the Civil Government that he is sworn to support. He is not a politician, but a general, and knows not to allow himself to be thrust into the position of a military ruler. The stories show something of the realities of low-tech war, without sugar-coating it; sometimes unpalatable decisions have to be made, and even the protagonist – in spite of having the help of a sophisticated battle computer with better-than-human information – can still lose battles.

The stories are largely told from Whitehall’s viewpoint, with occasional ‘side trips’ to show particular relevant episodes in which Whitehall is not directly involved. Except for these episodes, the reader is no more omniscient than the individual characters.

The five later stories (The Chosen through The Savior) take place long after Whitehall’s efforts to unify Bellevue. Bellevue has presumably regained the stars, and is starting to build the second Federation; Center, now with the assistance of an ‘uploaded’ Raj Whitehall, is travelling by stealth to other promising worlds, and setting them on courses which will eventually lead to their development into good candidates for membership in the re-created Federation.

In The Chosen, two young boys, on the edge of manhood, are selected, and prove pivotal in a war that bears many similarities to World War I, but with the antagonists bearing more resemblance to a hybrid of the Nazis and Stirling’s Draka than to the Kaiser’s Germany. In this story, the focus is less on the war of maneuver than it is on intelligence/espionage and technology – though the wise use of both in battle is critical. Again, neither of the protagonists ends up in high political office; their roles are ‘down in the dirt’ in their respective fields.

The Reformer and The Tyrant focus on a world where the dominant culture is more akin to the Roman Republic than anything else; here, Center and Whitehall are setting the dominant culture on the road to empire – but like the Roman Empire, it is expected to lead to an Enlightenment, liberal thought, and technological advancement, ultimately leading to the world being a strong candidate for membership in the Federation. The Tyrant has more of a political focus than The Reformer (or the earlier books in the series); it is also the first book in the series for which Stirling has no authorial credit. It does not, however, eschew military action.

The final two books, The Heretic and The Savior ultimately pit Center and Whitehall against another battle computer, identified as Zentrum. Here, the culture resonates more with Nile-Valley Egypt than anything else, and is forcibly kept static by Zentrum and its priesthood. Initially, it’s not clear – to either the reader or to Center and Whitehall – that Zentrum exists and is actively manipulating the culture, but it becomes clear, and Center must guide its chosen agent more covertly, and with the ultimate aim of making it possible for Center to ‘infect’ and overthrow Zentrum. Here, military action is more central to the story, but it has a distinctly different character than in Whitehall’s wars.

There are distinct changes in style between the first six stories and The Reformer, and between The Reformer and The Tyrant; the style of The Heretic and The Savior are different still. This is probably attributable to the fact that Stirling was the primary author with Drake as co-author in the Raj Whitehall stories and The Chosen, and Drake being the primary author in the rest, with Stirling being co-author of The Reformer, Flint of The Tyrant, and Daniel of The Heretic and The Savior. Nevertheless, all are well-written and miss-your-stop-worthy, and like other collaborations that Baen has published, these show that Baen’s encouragement of established authors ‘mentoring’ less-established authors works, and produces consistently solid writing, without stifling the personal style of any of the authors so mentored.

If purchased in their latest publication forms, six books (as ebooks) will set you back just shy of $50 total; the first three “Hope …” books should be purchased together to get the entire Raj Whitehall saga (plus The Chosen); neither Hope Reformed nor The Heretic/The Savior (which should be purchased as a pair) require having read any of the others – but it doesn’t hurt, and does clarify some references. Strongly recommended, unless MilFic is an absolute turn-off for you.