Legacy of the Aldenata

Lore & Background

The first four novels cover the Posleen War in which the Posleen invade Earth. Another novel, Cally's War (and its two sequels), takes up the story a few decades later; The Hero is set about 500 years after the Posleen War. Watch on the Rhine takes place immediately after Gust Front and is set during the Posleen War in 2007, with the very last chapter taking place at some unspecified point far after the end of Hell's Faire but prior to the beginning of The Hero. A role-playing game based on the d20 system and the Legacy of the Aldenata was included on the free CD-ROM included in the first hardcover edition of Hell's Faire.

Reader's Guide

The Legacy of the Aldenata series is significant for its detailed military science fiction premise, where humanity is forced into a desperate war against the ravenous Posleen, with the Galactic Federation providing technology but harboring hidden agendas. The series explores themes of total mobilization, the revival of historical military units like the Waffen-SS in Watch on the Rhine, and the use of rejuvenation technology. The inclusion of the song 'March of Cambreadth' and guest strips from the webcomic Sluggy Freelance in Hell's Faire adds cultural cross-references. The series has spawned multiple spinoffs and fan-created works considered canon by some, though their canonical status is uncertain. Two planned books, Beneath the Avalanche and Master of the Winds, remain unfinished as of 2017.

Did You Know?

• The fourth novel Hell's Faire includes guest strips from the internet comic Sluggy Freelance, and a massive armored vehicle is named after the character Bun-Bun.
• The war song 'March of Cambreadth' becomes popular with the military because the Posleen have yellow blood.
• Two fan-created electronic books, 'The Yeomen of England' and 'Holy War', are considered canon by Baen Barflies, but their canonical status is uncertain.