Sunday 19 October 2014

Origins Of Van Rijn

Nicholas van Rijn was introduced as a character by the publication in Analog Science Fiction of "Margin of Profit"(1956), although that original, pre-revised, text was not consistent with the emergent History of Technic Civilization. Van Rijn became a series character with the publication of "The Man Who Counts" (ASF, 1958) and "Hiding Place" (ASF, 1961).

Those of us who first read the Technic History not in ASF but in books first encountered van Rijn in Trader To The Stars, which collects "Hiding Place," "Territory" (ASF, 1963) and "The Master Key" (ASF, 1971). For us on first reading, it was appropriate that "Territory" was prefaced by a long expository passage quoted from "Margin of Profit." That was van Rijn's first story which we had not yet read and thus it had an authoritative status.

As for van Rijn's fictional origins within the series, there is no information. Sandra Miesel's Chronology of Technic Civilization says:

2376  Nicholas van Rijn born poor on Earth.
-Sandra Miesel, "Chronology of Technic Civilization" IN Poul Anderson, The Van Rijn Method (New York, 2009), pp. 611-619 AT p. 612.

For an alternative view of the Chronology, see here.

Do the texts confirm that van Rijn was born poor? If not, it is a logical deduction. Van Rijn reminisces:

"He thought back to the days when he had ridden ships through yonder spaces, bargaining in strange cities or stranger wildernesses, or beneath unblue skies and in poisonous winds, for treasures Earth had not yet imagined. For a moment, wistfulness tugged at him. A long time now since he had been any further than the Moon..."
-Poul Anderson, "Margin of Profit" IN Anderson, The Van Rijn Method, pp. 135-173 AT p. 147.

Thus, a feel for his earlier days but no biographical data.

6 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Hi, Paul!

But we do get another indication, at least, for van Rijn starting from obscure origins in "Hiding Place." That story has Old Nick blustering in his inimitable way to Captain Torrance that in his, van Rijn's, day crewmen saluted even when they mutinied. (Smiles) That has led me to thinking van Rijn was once an ordinary space hand in his youth. Even if only for a very short time!

Sean

Paul Shackley said...

Sean,
Yes, it is clearly stated that he was a space hand but that is all.
Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Hi, Paul!

And we would both have liked to have known more of how and when old Nick started his rise to great power and wealth. Probably about the time he purchased or invested in his first space ship and started trading.

Sean

Paul Shackley said...

Sean,
That is a good guess so we would like a series about: Young Nick's first job as a spaceman; how he acquired the capital to buy a ship; the early days of SSL. The equivalent of the early bio info we have for Falkayn and Flandry. Also, how about an account of how Max Abrams got into Intelligence?
Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Hi, Paul!

I like these suggestions, and I wish Poul Anderson had done at least a few of these. And, yes, a story featuring mostly Commander Max Abrams in his younger years would be very good.

Again, I think of those boxes of papers left behind by PA that Greg Bear told me about. Are there publishable fragments in them? Perhaps even one or two incomplete stories which needs only a bit of editing to be published?

Sean

Sean M. Brooks said...

Hi, Paul!

Just thought of another point. A story set in Max Abrams younger years, say about thirty years before ENSIGN FLANDRY, might also tell us more Emperor Georgios. Altho basically favorable to him, the mentions we get of his Majesty was during his decline and old age.

Sean