Sunday 21 January 2018

Early Exploration In Future Histories

In James Blish's Cities In Flight: Jupiter.

In Larry Niven's Known Space: Mercury, Venus, Mars and Pluto.

In Poul Anderson's Technic History, "The Saturn Game": the Solar System in general and the Saturnian System in particular.

In the Technic History, "Wings of Victory": extra-solar planets in general and Ythri in particular.

Both of these Anderson stories are proto-series. An indefinite sequence could have been set inside the Chronos and another during the Grand Survey. Instead, these two stories serve as launching pads for Anderson's second future history.

"The Saturn Game" prefigures later events when one of its characters mentions an upbringing influenced by the Jerusalem Catholic Church. Whatever the nature of that religious change or development, it is due to happen some time in the first half of the twenty first century.

"Wings of Victory," more closely integrated into the History, refers to Cynthia, Woden and Hermes and is the opening installment of The Earth Book Of Stormgate, with an Introduction by the Avalonian Ythrian historian, Hloch. Coincidentally (?), Hermes, Woden and Cynthia are, respectively, the home planets of the three members of Nicholas van Rijn's first trade pioneer crew, David Falkayn, Adzel and Chee Lan. Also, Falkayn will found the colony on Avalon in the Domain of Ythri.

The Technic History is multi-faceted but also remarkably integrated.

1 comment:

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Kaor, Paul!

I would have included WE CLAIM THESE STARS because we see Dominic Flandry visiting both the Crystal Moon and Jupiter itself.

Sean