by Mike Resnick
“You may be content to sit here and wait for death,” said the man, “but if we can't live, then I think we should at least die with some kind of gesture, something they may remember us for.”
“We could all kneel down in front of the Kragans and pray while their firing squad mowed us down,”
said the second woman with a laugh.
“Or write down your touching little speech and put it in a bottle in the hope that someone will find it someday,” added the third woman.
“Stop your snickering!” snapped the man. “If we're going to die, at least we ought to go about it right.” “And what is the right way for a race to die?” said the second woman. “Not by sitting around moaning and cackling, that's for sure!” said the man. “Don't you want somebody to know we've been here, that this is where Man met his end?” “Who do you propose to tell?” asked the second woman. “I don't know,” said the man. “Somebody.” He looked around the cave and his eyes fell on the device. “Everybody.” He walked over and knelt down next to it. “At least they'll know we didn't go out like lambs to the slaughter, that we fought to the very end to preserve all that was Man.” He reached out and pressed the button.
It was glorious.
EPILOGUE: 587TH MILLENNIUM
Eons passed, and Man—or something very like him—slithered out of the slime, sprouted limbs, developed thumbs. He stood erect, saw the stars for the first time, and knew that they must someday be his....
AUTHOR'S AFTERWORD
Every science fiction writer ought to take a shot at a galaxy-and-eons-spanning novel. With Olaf Stapledon, it wasStar Maker .
With Isaac Asimov, it was theFoundation Trilogy . With me, it wasBirthright: The Book of Man . I wrote it in 1979, sold it to New American Library in 1980, and thought I was done with it. Little did I know.
My editor, Sheila Gilbert, thought it was a shame to waste two million worlds, twelve thousand sentient races, and seventeen thousand years of future history, and asked me if I would be willing to setThe Soul Eater , which I'd already sold to her, in the “Birthright universe.” I replied that if she'd settle for four or
five references to races and planets that had been mentioned inBirthright: The Book of Man , I had no objection. And that's what I did, and that was the end of it. Until I sold herWalpurgis III and theTales of the Galactic Midway tetralogy and theTales of the Velvet Comet tetralogy, and she asked me to placethem into the Birthright Universe (it had by now
become a proper noun) too.
When I moved to Tor Books, I found that Beth Meacham, my editor there, also liked the Birthright
Universe, and so I setSantiago andIvory and most of my other novels there. And, in the process, a funny thing happened: I got to where Iliked placing my books in the Birthright Universe, where indeed I felt uncomfortable on those increasingly rare occasions when Ididn't use it. When I sold theOracle Trilogy to Ace and theWidowmaker Trilogy to Bantam, it was a given that they'd be set in the Birthright Universe too. Until 1994, I had placed a ton of novels in the Birthright Universe, but had kept my short fiction out of it. That came to an end when I wrote a novella entitled “Seven Views of Olduvai Gorge"; it immediately went out and won a Hugo, a Nebula, and a number of lesser awards, and I think I'll probably set some more short fiction there in the future.
A local fan did yeoman work by creating a chronology of the Birthright Universe, which I reproduce here; it includes all work contracted through the end of 1995. (I hired another fan to keep an up-to-date concordance of the Birthright Universe, so I can keep the worlds, races, and eras consistent; it currently runs to well over 100 single-spaced pages, which I find both fascinating and just a little bit terrifying.) Chronology of the universe created in BIRTHRIGHT: THE BOOK OF MAN Year Era Story or Novel
1885 A.D. “The Hunter” (IVORY)
1898 A.D. “Himself” (IVORY)
1982 A.D. SIDESHOW
1983 A.D. THE THREE-LEGGED HOOTCH DANCER 1985 A.D. THE WILD ALIEN TAMER
1987 A.D. THE BEST ROOTIN’ TOOTIN’ SHOOTIN’ GUNSLINGER IN THE WHOLE DAMNED GALAXY
2057 A.D. “The Politician” (IVORY)
2908 A.D. 1 G.E.
16 G.E. Republic “The Curator” (IVORY)
264 G.E. Republic “The Pioneers” (BIRTHRIGHT) 332 G.E. Republic “The Cartographers” (BIRTHRIGHT) 346 G.E. Republic WALPURGIS III
367 G.E. Republic EROS ASCENDING
396 G.E. Republic “The Miners” (BIRTHRIGHT)
401 G.E. Republic EROS AT ZENITH
442 G.E. Republic EROS DESCENDING
465 G.E. Republic EROS AT NADIR
588 G.E. Republic “The Psychologists” (BIRTHRIGHT) 616 G.E. Republic A MIRACLE OF RARE DESIGN 882 G.E. Republic “The Potentate” (IVORY) 962 G.E. Republic “The Merchants” (BIRTHRIGHT) 1701 G.E. Republic “The Artist” (IVORY) 1813 G.E. Republic “Dawn” (PARADISE)
1826 G.E. Republic PURGATORY
1859 G.E. Republic “Noon” (PARADISE)
1888 G.E. Republic “Midafternoon” (PARADISE) 1902 G.E. Republic “Dusk” (PARADISE)
1921 G.E. Republic INFERNO
2122 G.E. Democracy “The 43 Antarean Dynasties” 2154 G.E. Democracy “The Diplomats” (BIRTHRIGHT) 2275 G.E. Democracy “The Olympians” (BIRTHRIGHT) 2469 G.E. Democracy “The Barristers” (BIRTHRIGHT) 2911 G.E. Democracy “The Medics” (BIRTHRIGHT) 3004 G.E. Democracy “The Politicians” (BIRTHRIGHT) 3042 G.E. Democracy “The Gambler” (IVORY) 3286 G.E. Democracy SANTIAGO
3322 G.E. Democracy A HUNGER IN THE SOUL 3324 G.E. Democracy THE SOUL EATER
3324 G.E. Democracy “Nicobar Lane: The Soul Eater's Story”
3407 G.E. Democracy THE RETURN OF SANTIAGO 3427 G.E. Democracy SOOTHSAYER
3441 G.E. Democracy ORACLE
3447 G.E. Democracy PROPHET
3719 G.E. Democracy “Hunting the Snark” 4375 G.E. Democracy “The Graverobber” (IVORY) 4822 G.E. Oligarchy “The Administrators” (BIRTHRIGHT) 4839 G.E. Oligarchy THE DARK LADY
5101 G.E. Oligarchy THE WIDOWMAKER
5103 G.E. Oligarchy THE WIDOWMAKER REBORN 5106 G.E. Oligarchy THE WIDOWMAKER UNLEASHED 5461 G.E. Oligarchy “The Media” (BIRTHRIGHT) 5492 G.E. Oligarchy “The Artists” (BIRTHRIGHT) 5521 G.E. Oligarchy “The Warlord” (IVORY) 5655 G.E. Oligarchy “The Biochemists” (BIRTHRIGHT) 5912 G.E. Oligarchy “The Warlords” (BIRTHRIGHT) 5993 G.E. Oligarchy “The Conspirators” (BIRTHRIGHT) 6304 G.E. Monarchy IVORY
6321 G.E. Monarchy “The Rulers” (BIRTHRIGHT) 6400 G.E. Monarchy “The Symbiotics” (BIRTHRIGHT) 6523 G.E. Monarchy THE OUTPOST
6599 G.E. Monarchy “The Philosophers” (BIRTHRIGHT) 6746 G.E. Monarchy “The Architects” (BIRTHRIGHT)
6962 G.E. Monarchy “The Collectors” (BIRTHRIGHT)
7019 G.E. Monarchy “The Rebels” (BIRTHRIGHT) 16201 G.E. Anarchy “The Archaeologists” (BIRTHRIGHT) 16673 G.E. Anarchy “The Priests” (BIRTHRIGHT) 16888 G.E. Anarchy “The Pacifists” (BIRTHRIGHT) 17001 G.E. Anarchy “The Destroyers” (BIRTHRIGHT) 21703 G.E. SEVEN VIEWS OF OLDUVAI GORGE To be included in this future:
AN AMBIGUOUS CLAY (?) (from Tor)
THE NULL-GRAVITY FERRIS WHEEL (2009 A.D.) (not yet contracted) Not set in this future:
ADVENTURES (1922-1926 A.D.)
EXPLOITS (1926-1931 A.D.)
ENCOUNTERS (1931-1934 A.D.)
STALKING THE UNICORN ("Tonight")
THE BRANCH (2047-2051 A.D.)
SECOND CONTACT (2065 A.D.)
BULLY! (1910-1912 A.D.)
KIRINYAGA (2123-2137 A.D.)
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