Thursday 15 February 2018

History On Avalon

See "Sandra Miesel's Technic Civilization Chronology" by Sean M. Brooks here.

Three works in Poul Anderson's Rise Of The Terran Empire are set wholly or partly on the colonized planet, Avalon. According to the Chronology, "Wingless" and "Rescue on Avalon" are set in the twenty sixth century whereas The People Of The Wind is set in the twenty ninth century. The Polesotechnic League dissolves in the twenty sixth century. That could be either before or after the events of the two short stories but, in any case, I do not think of the Avalonian stories as belonging to the League sub-series of Anderson's Technic History.

"Wingless" is about Nathaniel (Nat) Falkayn at the time when human beings and Ythrians have colonized the Hesperian Islands and are planning the colonization of the Coronan continent;

"Rescue..." is about Jack Birnam at the time when the Parliament of Man and the Great Khruath of all the Choths have divided Corona between their species - and Jack converses by radio with Ivar Holm;

The People Of The Wind, set during the Terran-Ythrian War, begins with a telescreened conversation between Daniel Holm, Second Marchwarden of the Lauran System, and his son, Christopher, who is also Arinnian of Stormgate Choth and subsequently marries Tabitha Falkayn, Hrill of Highsky Choth.

Historical Notes
David Falkayn, Nat's grandfather, founded the Avalonian colony.
The Terran Empire, which tries to annex Avalon, is founded in the late twenty seventh century.
Laura is the sun of Avalon.
Choths are Ythrian social organizations.
Avalonian choths accept human members, who are wingless but fly with gravbelts.

Observations
Anderson does not merely present successive generations of Falkayns on Avalon although the lineage returns with Tabitha.
He introduces Holms and ends this sub-series with a Holm-Falkayn marriage.

1 comment:

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Kaor, Paul!

I rather regret that we see no further Falkayns in the Dominic Flandry stories. But I agree it would have been unreasonable to continue seeing members of a single family like that over so many centuries. Unless, of course, the Falkayns had become a long lived ruling dynasty.

Sean