Random questions about the Elite 'verse

[Commander Iunno]

Hey all.

New to Elite. Interested in (eventually) roleplaying in the 'verse after launch, but not very familiar with the source material. Pretty confident these questions will have been asked somewhere else at some point in the past, but I'm hoping you'll tolerate me asking them here now. Some things I've been curious about, in no particular order:

• Broadly, what's a good basis of comparison for the level of technology in Elite's 'verse? Is it more akin to "low" scifi (like Firefly, for example) or "high" scifi (Star Trek)?
• Is the Empire still controlled by the same ruling family as its original formation?
• From what I see there are three main political factions (Federation/Empire/Alliance) - are there independent worlds, or is every planet linked to one of those powers?
• Are the Thargoids the only known alien race? And generally, can anyone shed some more detail on them? Their relationship with humanity, society, etc.?

Sure I'll come up with more soon - thanks in advance.


Oh, and not really a specific lore question, but just out of curiosity. I know there are some licensed book deals (I see a lot of threads about those actually). For someone trying to keep to a strict budget, what would you most recommend, personally? The best source of lore, the best overall read, etc.

 

[Flowswithdrek]

Interested in (eventually) roleplaying in the 'verse after launch, but not very familiar with the source material

By roleplaying do you mean actual roleplaying as in the Roleplaying Game: Elite Encounters, or the Video Game: Elite Dangerous. The roleplaying game is still under development, but would also be a direct source of background information, rather than trying to piece it together from all the novels and short stories.

• Broadly, what's a good basis of comparison for the level of technology in Elite's 'verse? Is it more akin to "low" scifi (like Firefly, for example) or "high" scifi (Star Trek)?

• 
  
  
  Closer to Firefly but without the artificial gravity
  
  

  [*]From what I see there are three main political factions (Federation/Empire/Alliance) - are there independent worlds, or is every planet linked to one of those powers?

  
  There are independent worlds
  
  

  [*]Are the Thargoids the only known alien race? And generally, can anyone shed some more detail on them? Their relationship with humanity, society, etc.?

  
  The Thargoids are currently only the sentient race. There is other alien life, but some of that has already been made extinct.
  
  

  Oh, and not really a specific lore question, but just out of curiosity. I know there are some licensed book deals (I see a lot of threads about those actually). For someone trying to keep to a strict budget, what would you most recommend, personally? The best source of lore, the best overall read, etc.

  
  It really depends on what you are looking for. For example Lave Revolution delves into the history of the iconic Lave system whereas Tales From The Frontier gives you 15 different writers view points.

 

[Yaffle]

Moved to general as the Fiction Forum is for the official fiction.

 

[Frank]

If you're a fan of Drabbles then you're a fan of short stories. "Tales From The Frontier" is the best of the Elite tie-in books I've read, although I've yet to read the Gollancz books.

Drew Wagar's Oolite saga is a good introduction to the Elite Universe. And it's free to download from

http://www.drewwagar.com/books/oolitesaga/

But I should warn you that if you do read them you will end up buying "Elite: Reclaimation"

Kate Russell's book is great as well...

In fact just get them all

 

[Deep Blue]

Please don't start with the 'verse thingy here, it is universe. Thank you.

 

[ste]

According to the Elite timeline 1st contact with the Thargoids was in 3050. And it instantly kicked off. War went on for a good 200 years but by 3255 it was all pretty peaceful and friendly. Hmmm, but that was nearly 50 years ago so who knows what relations are like now. It was probably a mistake to trust them.

They were the only advanced hostile aliens discovered up until this point, but I think that is about to change with 2 other possible discoveries on the horizon.

Its a low tech sci fi. World war 3 in 2040 knocked us back a bit. Its more like a future sci fi industrial age.

From what I gather the Empire was formed in about 2300 on Achenar and has spread out since then.
The federation was formed in the 2240s in the Sol system and has spread out since then.
The Alliance was formed in 3230 and centred in the Alioth System.

All 3 dont like each other very much.