Monday 4 February 2013

Fire Time: A Sequel

Rereading Poul Anderson's Fire Time (London, 1977) while knowing that it is set about thirty years after his The Star Fox, I look out for continuity clues.

In the Foreword:

on the first page of the text, p. 7, a vehicle called a "...flyer...";
on p. 9, " '...World Federation...' " and " '...the Welfare district...' " of a city;
on p. 10, an "...infotrieve..."

Chapter I describes quadrupedal aliens on their own planet which is not one of those featured in The Star Fox.

Chapter II refers to the planet Gea from which Gunnar Heim of The Star Fox had hailed. Heim will cameo later in Fire Time but I have not read that far yet. This chapter also refers to a cargo ship "...backing down on gravs..." (p. 23) Has "gravitrons" been abbreviated?

The Star Fox is a novelized three part serial whereas Fire Time seems to have been written as a single longer novel. Although the completed works form only a two volume series, Anderson skillfully includes several background details conveying the sense of a single fictional timeline common to both novels.

Later: References to " '...the Alerion affair...' " and to " '...the Naqsans...'" confirm that Fire Time is set in the same timeline as The Star Fox. (pp. 24, 25)

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