Wednesday 19 October 2016

The Early Stories

I have discussed this before but let's look at it again. How much of the background of Poul Anderson's History of Technic Civilization is established in the opening stories?

2055 "The Saturn Game"
2150 "Wings of Victory"
2300s "The Problem of Pain"
2461 [2416] "Margin of Profit"
2461 [2416] "How To Be Ethnic..."
2468 [2423] "The Three-Cornered Wheel"

For the reason why different dates are listed in some cases, see here.

In "The Saturn Game," one character was brought up in the Jerusalem Catholic Church and the Moon has been colonized.

In "Wings of Victory," the hyperdrive has been invented, Ythri is discovered, Hermes has been colonized, Cynthian trade routes have been studied and human beings know of quadrupedal Wodenites.

In "The Problem of Pain," Aeneas has been colonized and has a University, Avalon is explored and the Ythrian New Faith is introduced.

"Margin of Profit" introduces van Rijn and the League.

"How To Be Ethnic..." introduces Adzel and mentions Cynthia, Gorzun, Ythri and an Alfzarian.

"The Three-Cornered Wheel" introduces Falkayn and Ivanhoe and imparts more information about Hermes. Ivanhoe will re-appear in "The Season of Forgiveness" and Ivanhoans will later join Supermetals. Merseia is also discovered in this period although we are not told that until "Day of Burning," set in 2478 [2430s].

8 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

Thanks for the flattering linking to my essay where I discussed Sandra Miesel's Chronology of Technic Civilization and why I advocated many dates different from hers. The dating of SATAN'S WORLD, however, seems to be insoluble, alas. Which is why I've decided commentators like me will simply have to make an arbitrary choice.

I'm interested to see how the Jerusalem Catholic Church existed by AD 2055 in "The Saturn Game." You have convincingly argued that was simply our Catholic Church, wherein the Papacy relocated to Jerusalem. So far, I see no signs of that happening yet!

Sean

Paul Shackley said...

Sean,
I know that this has been discussed before but could you remind us why the dating of SATAN'S WORLD is particularly insoluble?
Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

Briefly, SpeakNoEvil has presented evidence for dating SATAN'S WORLD eight years before the date I advocated. The problem is this means dating the book before other events in Falkayn's life which had occurred earlier than SATAN'S WORLD. That would derange and upset both of the chronologies worked out by Sandra Miesel and myself.

The question of the most plausible dating of SATAN'S WORLD has been niggling and nagging at the back of my mind. I think I will need to write an entire essay to adequately the problem and propose any solutions. But, since I don't write as fast as you and I also have a job, this essay may well need some time to be written and sent to you.

Sean

Sean M. Brooks said...

I should have added "explore" after "adequately" in the second paragraph. DRAT!!!

Sean

Paul Shackley said...

Sean,
Thank you. We look forward to receiving another article. And what was the evidence for dating SATAN'S WORLD eight years earlier - or do you prefer to leave the whole discussion until you can address it properly?
Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

SpeakNoEvil presented his evidence in the combox for my revised Chronology of Technic Civilization in the "Contributor Articles" section of your blog. I think it's better to leave further comments to a more fully thought out article.

Sean

Paul Shackley said...

Sean,
Of course. Thank you for reminding me where to find SpeakNoEvil's comments.
Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

Because much of what I have in my mind about this problem is inchoate and in need of being worked out, assisted by researching the relevant Falkayn stories.

Sean