Friday 16 September 2022

Sequels Galore

When I said at the beginning of the previous post that I was big on sequels, I was really thinking not of Nicholas van Rijn and David Falkayn but of Dominic Flandry. The Captain Flandry series has a prequel, the Young Flandry Trilogy, in which Flandry advances from Ensign to Commander, and a sequel, A Stone In Heaven, in which Flandry is an Admiral. The following volume, The Game Of Empire, is a proto-series, because it is potentially the opening volume of a series about Diana Crowfeather, and features three cameo appearances by Diana's father, Fleet Admiral Flandry. The Young Flandry Trilogy, Volume III, The Rebel Worlds, has a sequel, The Day Of Their Return, that quotes intelligence gathered by Commander Flandry.

At the end of the Captain Flandry series, Volume III, A Knight Of Ghosts And Shadows, Flandry had intended not only to marry Kossara Vymezal but also to settle down with her on her home planet, Dennitza. However, Kossara has been martyred. Nevertheless, Flandry's new plan to return home surprises Kossara's uncle, the Gospodar of Dennitza, Bodin Miyatovich:

"'Go back to Terra?... In God's name, why?'"
-Poul Anderson, A Knight Of Ghosts And Shadows IN Anderson, Sir Dominic Flandry: The Last Knight Of Terra (Riverdale, NY, March 2012), pp. 339-606 AT XX, p. 604.

Flandry watches the bombardment of Chereion before replying:

"'I have my own people.'" (ibid., p. 605)

There ends the narrative although it is followed by a prayer of thanksgiving for Gospodar Bodin. But what happens to Flandry after he has returned home? Indeed, as we would want, there is a sequel.

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I think Flandry was realizing that for all their faults Terra and its residents was his true home and people. Kossara herself had expected to move to Terra after marrying Flandry.

Ad astra! Sean