Secondly, although Bond, like Fleming himself, worries about age, Fleming initiated the process, perpetuated to a ludicrous extent by the films and by later novels by other authors, of keeping Bond endlessly contemporaneously active. Poul Anderson, writing sf, was able to invoke antisenescence but nevertheless showed Flandry aging, living past retirement age and eventually beginning to be superseded by one of his own offspring.
Finally, Anderson's Technic History continues for millennia after Flandry, showing his legacy. Someone could now write a Secret Service novel with Bond long dead and his successors facing the problems of 2022: On His Majesty's Secret Service.
5 comments:
Flandry doesn't keep the Empire from falling, but he delays that fall very considerably, saves a number of -planets- that later become very important, and he's crucial to preventing a Mersian takeover.
kaor, mr. stirling!
absolutely! my guess is that flandry managed to enable the Empire to survive for at least two centuries after THE GAME OF EMPIRE.
Still recovering from surgery to correct vertebrae from pressing on the spinal cord in my neck. full recovery is expected. but typing is slow and difficult.
sean
Welcome back, Sean.
Great to see you again, Sean! Was worried. Hope improvement continues... have you considered a dictation program? I used those when I broke my hand, and they've improved vastly since.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Thanks! I thought of it, but I can type now with my right hand, so that kind of program does not seem necessary.
Ad astra! Sean
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