I am still contemplating that six-volume "Flandry of Terra" series, complete in itself yet part of something greater. What a long way the six volumes have taken us from Ensign Flandry stranded on the planet Starkad to Captain Sir Dominic Flandry who has recently lost both his son and his fiancee but has just retaliated by bombarding Aycharaych's home planet, Chereion. But even this is not the whole story. The Terran Empire has survived civil war and usurpation. Flandry will become an Admiral, will settle down with his first mentor's daughter and will learn that he himself has a daughter. The Starkadians have been settled on Imhotep and, despite the destruction of his home planet, one of Aycharaych's very long term schemes is about to launch another Imperial civil war. And all of this is just one man's career. The Technic History also tells us what had happened long before Flandry's birth and the founding of the Empire, what happens elsewhere during his lifetime and what will happen long after his death and the Fall of the Empire. The ultimate future history series, in my opinion.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I agree, there are very few "future histories" which comes even close to being as satisfactorily "filled out" and "real" feeling as Anderson's Technic stories. Better than Heinlein's Future History and VASTLY better than Asimov's Foundation series.
I recall how David, before he unfortunately left, thought very well of H. Beam Piper's Terro-Human future history. Bu I've read only one or two of those stories, not enough to have an opinion about them.
So, of other SF future histories that I have read in detail, the ones that pleased me most were Pournelle's Co-Dominium series and Cordwainer Smith's Instrumentality stories.
Ad astra! Sean
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