While checking Flandry's conversations with Aycharaych, I was struck by this contrast. At the beginning of his second published story, Flandry hears, "'Good evening, Captain Flandry,'" then spins round to find himself looking at a blaster. There follows a description of Aycharaych. This is the latter's first published appearance. See "Honorable Enemies" IN Captain Flandry: Defender Of The Terran Empire (Riverdale, NY, 2010), pp. 277-302 AT p. 277. It is also pure space opera, where heroes and villains confront each other with stunners and blasters.
Contrast that with a much later appearance of Aycharaych. Addressing Flandry, the Chereionite says:
"'Let us say I appreciate your total personality.' The smile, barely visible, resembled that upon the oldest stone gods of Greece."
-Poul Anderson, A Knight Of Ghosts And Shadows IN Anderson, Sir Dominic Flandry: The Last Knight Of Terra (Riverdale, NY, 2012), pp. 339-606 AT p. 461.
The hero and villain of a pulp magazine space opera have become characters in a work of literature.
4 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I'm puzzled, I checked your link for Isamu the Great and I found no mention of him at that site. And I really wish we knew more about the Terran Emperors, good or bad!
And even in the original version of "Honorable Enemies" we see both Flandry and Aycharaych as being more and better than simplistic pulp heroes and villains. And I don't think it was that implausible to see them using stunners, blasters, and swords. Real spies do sometimes use lethal weapons in real life.
Sean
Sean,
In the above post:
"Meanwhile, I had googled and found the answer here." On my screen, "here" is blue. When I click on it, I am taken to an ad for an ebook of THE REBEL WORLDS. There is also a search result: "Result 1 of 1 in this book for Isamu the Great Poul Anderson." There is then a page of the text of the novel and the phrase, "Isamu the Great," is highlighted. It is in the conversation between McCormac and one of his sons.
Paul.
Sean,
Of course Anderson's good writing and characterization are present even in the earlier short story but there is much more in the later novel.
The story, with its blue Betelgeuseans, green Merseians and golden Chereionite, all of them humanoid, hunting a dragon on their flying scooters, could be adapted very readily to an animation.
I think we have had trouble before with Internet links. My links are not necessarily yours or vice versa.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Over here, in the US, the links I get are orange, till I click on them, then they turn grey. Yes, that's probably why I did not see the reference to Isamu the Great, your links in the UK are different from those in the US, at least sometimes.
And I agree with what you said about the quality of PA's writing, both in his early and later works. And I will expect non human intelligent species to look different from ours, including skin pigmentation.
I would also suggest we keep in mind my articles about Josip and "The Widow of Georgios." I managed to find enough about them to justify writing notes about them. And I do wish we knew the name of Emperor Georgios widow!
Sean
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