p. 303 is an internal title page for this single short story;
p. 304 is blank;
p. 305 repeats the story's title, then presents an entire speech or monologue by Dominic Flandry.
I will summarize Flandry's speech but please read or reread his words, not just my summary of them.
Flandry alleges that:
someone who shoots another to steal his property is enslaved for murder and theft whereas someone who kills a million people, takes their planet and taxes the survivors is a hero;
eventual recognition of this contradiction generates "'...a desire for universal peace.'" (p. 305);
the desire generates decadence;
the early stages of decadence are the most agreeable to live in;
they are comparable to a banana turning brown;
the Terran Empire is currently decadent but "'...just a bit overripe.'" (ibid.)
However, according to the immediately following installment of the Technic History, A Knight Of Ghosts And Shadows, the Empire was at that time in a state of civil war. Hans Molitor had seized the throne less than two years previously and was still opposed by three armed rivals and:
"'Everything was still in upheaval.'" (1, p. 350)
4 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
The apparent contradiction you pointed out was due to "Warriors From Nowhere" being a REVISION of an original text Anderson thought it was necessary to rewrite, to make it better fit into the Technic series. The original text makes no mention of the elderly Emperor being a usurper (even if a reluctant one). That could have been handled easily enough if Josip's heir had been an elderly cousin who managed to preserve the legitimate line of succession. Since that was, alas, not the case, Flandry was either exaggerating the case or genuinely thought the decadence of his times was not yet too bad.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean, Paul,
The original story had become dated as compared to all the additions PA had made to the history of the Empire since. In this case, there was no glossing over the fact that Flandry would not have been cavalier about the end of the legitimate line of Emperors and the rise of a military usurper, albeit a good-natured and honest one like Hans Molitor.
We know from THE REBEL WORLDS how seriously Flandry regarded the need of legitimate government. Hugh McCormac was good-natured and honest, and Flandry fought him tooth and nail.
It is conceivable that Flandry would have thought about his own time as pleasantly in the early stages of decadece before the death of Josip. Even though he saw mind-numbing horrors committed by Josip's favourite Snelund, he might have been able to dismiss them as atypical and a minor part of the big picture, especially if nothing of the sort was repeated in Josip's later years.
But after Josips death, the end of the Wang dynasty and protracted civil war ending with a military usurper on the throne, he would no longer have had any illusions about the Empire being only in the early stages of decadence. In other stories, he refers to it as "this walking corpse of an Empire" and that should logically have been his attitude also in this story.
Johan,
Thank you. We discuss it as if it were real history.
Paul.
Kaor, Johan!
Many thanks for your comments! And I agree with what seems to be your point, that Flandry was being perhaps too cavalier about the condition of the Empire in the revised version of "Warriors From Nowhere."
Where I disagree with you is in thinking Flandry took too "lightly" Snelund's gross abuses of power that we see in THE REBEL WORLDS. After all, we see Flandry taking steps to get Snelund eliminated.
Poul Anderson himself told me in one of his letters to me that the Empire still had enough "structure" in Josip's day that Flandry was able to help preserve the principle of legitimacy, which explains why he fought Hugh McCormac so hard. But, afterwards, the best Flandry could do was to support the least bad of the warlords contending for power. And at least Hans was an able and well meaning man, who only reluctantly seized the throne after the Wang dynasty collapsed.
Btw, it was Flandry's son Dominic "Hazeltine, a traitor who served Merseia, who described the Empire as "this walking corpse." Such persons would naturally try hard to justify their treason! For a contrast, Koassara Vymezal called it "...the poor way worn Empire."
I hope my latest effort, "Tricks With Cards And Dice," was of some interest to you!
Ad astra! Sean
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