Worlds of the Imperium
Book Details
Author(s)Keith Laumer
PublisherGlobalSlaughterMedia
ISBN / ASINB00HY0GS2I
ISBN-13978B00HY0GS26
Sales Rank645,441
MarketplaceUnited States 🇺🇸
Description
Original Publication 1962-
From Wikipedia-
"Brion Bayard, an American diplomat on assignment in Stockholm, Sweden, attempts to evade men he believes to be Soviet agents, only to find himself kidnapped by agents of the Imperium from a parallel world. Taken to the home world of the Imperium, he is introduced to the aristocratic members of the government, which rules most of the civilized world from London, having been formed by the union of the British Empire, which included America, and the German and Austro-Hungarian empires of Europe. He is impressed by the commitment to duty of the Imperial officials he meets and drawn to a particularly noble lady.
"The main reason for his abduction, however, is that the Imperium is under attack from another parallel world.
"The Maxoni-Cocini drive, invented in the Imperium universe by Italian scientists/experimenters Giulio Maxoni and Carlo Cocini at the end of the 19th Century, is the technology for traveling between worlds and is extremely dangerous. Only if several sensitive parameters are tuned exactly can disaster be avoided and the trans-world transportation effect be achieved. Almost all worlds where its development is attempted or even inadvertently stumbled upon are destroyed, often in bizarre and horrible ways.
"The collection of time lines where such disasters have occurred is known as the Blight, and the rare ones where the Earth survives are known as Blight Insulars, or BI's. BI-1 is the Imperium, where, by rare chance, the Maxoni-Cocini drive was successfully developed. The Imperium has become rich and powerful by trading with time lines beyond the Blight. BI-3 is Bayard's home world, where the technology never developed. The raids are coming from BI-2, a chaotic world where war has swept the planet for generations, and which was not believed to have the Maxoni-Cocini drive. That version of Earth is currently ruled by a dictator, who happens to be Brion Bayard."
From Wikipedia-
"Brion Bayard, an American diplomat on assignment in Stockholm, Sweden, attempts to evade men he believes to be Soviet agents, only to find himself kidnapped by agents of the Imperium from a parallel world. Taken to the home world of the Imperium, he is introduced to the aristocratic members of the government, which rules most of the civilized world from London, having been formed by the union of the British Empire, which included America, and the German and Austro-Hungarian empires of Europe. He is impressed by the commitment to duty of the Imperial officials he meets and drawn to a particularly noble lady.
"The main reason for his abduction, however, is that the Imperium is under attack from another parallel world.
"The Maxoni-Cocini drive, invented in the Imperium universe by Italian scientists/experimenters Giulio Maxoni and Carlo Cocini at the end of the 19th Century, is the technology for traveling between worlds and is extremely dangerous. Only if several sensitive parameters are tuned exactly can disaster be avoided and the trans-world transportation effect be achieved. Almost all worlds where its development is attempted or even inadvertently stumbled upon are destroyed, often in bizarre and horrible ways.
"The collection of time lines where such disasters have occurred is known as the Blight, and the rare ones where the Earth survives are known as Blight Insulars, or BI's. BI-1 is the Imperium, where, by rare chance, the Maxoni-Cocini drive was successfully developed. The Imperium has become rich and powerful by trading with time lines beyond the Blight. BI-3 is Bayard's home world, where the technology never developed. The raids are coming from BI-2, a chaotic world where war has swept the planet for generations, and which was not believed to have the Maxoni-Cocini drive. That version of Earth is currently ruled by a dictator, who happens to be Brion Bayard."
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