The Humanx Commonwealth is a fictional interstellar ethical/political entity featured in the

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

novels of

Alan Dean Foster Alan Dean Foster (born November 18, 1946) is an American writer of fantasy and science fiction. He has written several book series, more than 20 standalone novels, and many novelizations of film scripts. Career ''Star Wars'' Foster was the ghost ...

.Phylogenesis: Book One of The Founding of the Commonwealth
''Alan Dean Foster'' The Commonwealth takes its name from its two major sapient species, who jointly inhabit Commonwealth planets and administer both the political and religious/ethical aspects. They are the

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

ian Humans of the planet

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

and the

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

oid Thranx which dwell upon Hivehom. The Commonwealth is described as a progressive, well-intentioned

liberal democracy Liberal democracy, also called Western-style democracy, or substantive democracy, is a form of government that combines the organization of a democracy with ideas of liberalism, liberal political philosophy. Common elements within a liberal dem ...

spanning many star systems, and is somewhat similar to the

United Federation of Planets In the fictional universe of ''Star Trek'', the United Federation of Planets (UFP) is the interstellar government with which, as part of its space force Starfleet, most of the characters and starships of the franchise are affiliated. Commonly re ...

from ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...

''. The Humanx Commonwealth is notable for its portrayal of a human–alien relationship that is not just mutually beneficial but symbiotic, allowing an amalgamation of the two species. Humanx emblem

Commonwealth stories

* '' Midworld'' (1975) * '' Cachalot'' (1980) * '' Nor Crystal Tears'' (1982) * '' Voyage to the City of the Dead'' (1984) * '' Sentenced to Prism'' (1985) * '' The Howling Stones'' (1997) * '' Drowning World'' (2003) * '' Quofum'' (2008)

Stories featuring Flinx (a.k.a. Philip Lynx)

* '' The Tar-Aiym Krang'' (1972) * '' Bloodhype'' (1973) * '' Orphan Star'' (1977) * '' The End of the Matter'' (1977) * ''Snake Eyes'' (short story) (1978) * '' For Love of Mother-Not'' (1983) * '' Flinx in Flux'' (1988) * '' Mid-Flinx'' (1995) * '' Reunion'' (2001) * ''Side Show'' (short story) (2002) * '' Flinx's Folly'' (2003) * '' Sliding Scales'' (2004) * '' Running from the Deity'' (2005) * '' Trouble Magnet'' (2006) * '' Patrimony'' (2007) * ''Growth'' (Short Story) (2008) * '' Flinx Transcendent'' (2008) * ''Strange Music'' (2017)

Icerigger trilogy

* '' Icerigger'' (1974) * ''

Mission to Moulokin '' Mission to Moulokin '' (1979) is a science fiction novel by American writer Alan Dean Foster. It is the second entry in Foster's ''Icerigger Trilogy'' and is a part of his ever-growing series of books taking place within his Humanx Commo ...

'' (1979) * ''

The Deluge Drivers ''The Deluge Drivers'' (1987) is a science fiction novel by American writer Alan Dean Foster Alan Dean Foster (born November 18, 1946) is an American writer of fantasy and science fiction. He has written several book series, more than 20 sta ...

'' (1987)

Founding of the Commonwealth

* ''

Phylogenesis Phylogenesis (from Greek φῦλον ''phylon'' "tribe" + γένεσις ''genesis'' "origin") is the biological process by which a taxon (of any rank) appears. The science that studies these processes is called phylogenetics. These terms may ...

'' (1999) * ''

Dirge A dirge () is a somber song or lament expressing mourning or grief, such as may be appropriate for performance at a funeral. Often taking the form of a brief hymn, dirges are typically shorter and less meditative than elegy, elegies. Dirges are of ...

'' (2000) * '' Diuturnity's Dawn'' (2002)

Timeline

* '' Nor Crystal Tears'' (-89 AA) prequel * ''

'' (-60 AA) Founding of the Commonwealth 1 * ''

'' (-35 AA) Founding of the Commonwealth 2 * '' Diuturnity's Dawn'' (0 AA) Founding of the Commonwealth 3 * '' Voyage to the City of the Dead'' (106 AA) * ''The Emoman'' (?? AA but before Icerigger) Short story * '' Midworld'' (445 AA) * '' Icerigger'' (548 AA) Icerigger 1 * '' For Love of Mother-Not'' (548 AA) Pip and Flinx 1 * '' The Tar-Aiym Krang'' (549 AA) Pip and Flinx 2 * ''

'' (549 AA) Icerigger 2 * '' Orphan Star'' (550 AA) Pip and Flinx 3 * ''

'' (550 AA) Icerigger 3 * ''Chilling'' (550 AA) Icerigger short story * '' The End of the Matter'' (551 AA) Pip and Flinx 4 * ''Snake Eyes'' (551 AA) Pip and Flinx short story * '' Flinx in Flux'' (551 AA) Pip and Flinx 5 * '' Mid-Flinx'' (552 AA) Pip and Flinx 6 * '' Reunion'' (553 AA) Pip and Flinx 7 * ''Sideshow'' (554 AA) Pip and Flinx short story * '' Drowning World'' (554 AA) * '' Quofum'' (555 AA) * '' Flinx's Folly'' (557 AA) Pip and Flinx 8 * '' Sliding Scales'' (557 AA) Pip and Flinx 9 * ''Growth'' (558? AA) Pip and Flinx short story * '' Running from the Deity'' (558 AA) Pip and Flinx 10 * '' Bloodhype'' (558 AA) Pip and Flinx 11 * '' Trouble Magnet'' (558 AA) Pip and Flinx 12 * '' The Howling Stones'' (558 AA) * '' Patrimony'' (559 AA) Pip and Flinx 13 * '' Sentenced to Prism'' (571 AA) * '' Cachalot'' (572 AA) * '' Flinx Transcendent'' (? but after ''Patrimony'') Pip and Flinx 14 * ''Strange Music'' (? but after ''Flinx Transcendent'') Pip and Flinx 15

Adaptations

In 1987,

Steve Jackson Games Steve Jackson Games (SJGames) is a game company, founded in 1980 by Steve Jackson, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, and card games, and (until 2019) the gaming magazine ''Pyramid''. History Founded in 1980, six years after the cr ...

published the '' GURPS Humanx'' sourcebook for their ''

GURPS The ''Generic Universal Role Playing System'', or ''GURPS'', is a tabletop role-playing game system published by Steve Jackson Games. The system is designed to run any genre using the same core mechanics. The core rules were first written by St ...

roleplaying game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, eith ...

. Scheduled for 2023, Battlefield Press International will be releasing a new game for popular RPG systems.

References

External links

*
Alan Dean Foster's official website
Fictional governments Novel series