A Peak Of Future History

The Earth Book Of Stormgate is a peak of future historical writing. Hloch's introductions and afterword make this volume both more and other than just another collection. In the first place, if the book had not included these specially written passages, then it would have had to be titled differently and probably less evocatively. It not only completes but also almost doubles the length of the Polesotechnic League series. Having read six stories and two novels in four previous volumes, we now read a further seven stories and one novel of this series in the Earth Book. Familiar characters return even though we have already read their farewells at the end of Mirkheim. The Earth Book complements The People Of The Wind and almost completes the story of the Ythrians. The only remaining appearance of an Ythrian, imparting some further information about the planet Avalon, is in the Terran Empire novel, The Day Of Their Return. Finally, because it is fictitiously written and published during the period of the early Terran Empire, the Earth Book paves the way for the nine-volume Dominic Flandry series and its single-volume sequel. Thus, this single volume is pivotal to the entire Technic History. If there is any better future historical writing anywhere, then I would like to know about it.