A Tale Of Two Books

 

Browsing in the Old Pier Bookshop, I found Volumes III and IV of the omnibus collections of A.Bertram Chandler's Grimes/Rim World series. Having been told previously that Grimes had once met Poul Anderson's Dominic Flandry, I searched these two volumes for any reference to Flandry but in vain. Returning home, I googled and established that the two characters meet in Chandler's The Dark Dimensions which will now be sought for on Amazon. I understand that Chandler's presentation of Flandry might be unsatisfactory but nevertheless want to see for myself.

Nicholas van Rijn, Jetman Rhysling and a Lensman visit Anderson's inter-universal inn, the Old Phoenix. Thus, a Grimes-Flandry encounter will be a further instance of inter-universal discourse although we might conclude that Grimes meets an alternative Flandry.

Grimes/Rim World is the kind of series that I would automatically have read if I had had access to it at an earlier age. That is how I got into van Rijn, Fladry etc. However, I will require a lot of persuading that Grimes warrants further attention after reading this single novel. But this will be his opportunity to attract one reader's attention.