[Frost]

I have just started working again on an idea I have had kicking around for a few years in various forms and thought that I would run the outline past the hive mind to see if you guys can spot any flaws or possible improvements.

The basic idea is to create a 'space opera' setting in the vein of Alistair Reynolds etc by using a small number of relatively closely spaced worlds connected by fast STL ships and without any other form of super science.

History
The human race acquired an interstellar capability in the later part of the twenty first century, expanding over the course of the next hundred and twenty years to the point where settlements existed within most of the more appealing solar systems within about thirteen light years of earth. By the height of the colonial boom more than a dozen large independent settlements had been established on five more or less habitable worlds.

Only a few years after the peak of settlement activity the whole edifice came crashing down as earth found its political and economic establishment paralysed by economic collapse and subsequently global warfare. With the breakdown of the preceding golden age interstellar flight stalled and the settlements found themselves isolated for almost a century.

By the time that engineers on (a now somewhat depopulated and impoverished) earth and the closer settled worlds re-established communications in the late twenty third century the colonies had had become established and distinct cultures. In many respects although still relatively limited the larger settlements spared the destruction of the collapse by their remoteness had already begun to eclipse earth as technological, cultural and even economic centres a trend that has continued into the present day (2465).

Scope
Human settlement is currently confined to a handful of worlds within less than thirteen light years of Earth. Initially this was determined by the limitations of early interstellar propulsion and settlement technology. Later the extreme difficulty of operating new settlement projects with post collapse population and resource bases had much the same effect although with the upsurge in shipping over the past three to four decades this seems likely to change rapidly.

Commentators divide occupied space into three regions, the Inner Ring, the Arc and the Waste.

The misleadingly named Inner Ring consists of Earth and the colony planets of Toliman and Swan orbiting Alpha Centauri A and 61 Cygni B respectively. This region is the figurative centre of human society collectively dominating most fields of activity.

The remaining three colony planets collectively form the Arc. The Arc worlds retain a frontier feel and mentality absent in their sophisticated and prosperous compatriots in the Inner Ring. If it is surprising that the Inner ring planets survived the various upheavals of the collapse so well it is even more surprising that the Arc worlds survived at all. These smaller, poorer and more recent colonies faced a struggle for survival that was unequalled even in the most war-ravaged regions of Earth that has radically (and negatively) affected their subsequent development.

To call the Waste a region is somewhat misleading, as it constitutes the greater part of explored space, being those systems deemed to be unsuitable for human life (the overwhelming majority) within the area of settlement. Although for most people the Waste is an unsettling reminder of how hostile the Galaxy is to humanity it still commands a degree of fascination being home in the imagination at least to hidden colonies, alien artefacts and other somewhat unlikely wonders.

Technology
With few exceptions technological development has progressed at a slow pace along the conservative hard SF path reaching TL 10 on several of the inner ring worlds although it descends rapidly in the most backward regions of Earth and the Arc.

The principle exception to this is the existence of an STL warp engine technology. This technology (strictly speaking a family of related technologies) has served to define humanities horizons by making interstellar travel merely an expensive and prolonged process as opposed to prohibitively expensive and prolonged one. Early warp engines were able to propel a craft at approximately 0.5c and required near constant servicing. Newer second and third generation units capable of reaching 0.7-0.8c and operating unattended for years at a time have become available since the collapse permitting greatly improved interstellar communication, limited trade and possibly further expansion.