Trader To The Stars had presented three Nicholas van Rijn instalments. The Earth Book presents three more.
The Trouble Twisters had presented three David Falkayn instalments, the third introducing the trader team of Falkayn, Adzel and Chee Lan and cameoing van Rijn. The Earth Book presents an Adzel story and a second trader team story.
Satan's World and Mirkheim had equally featured van Rijn and his trader team as does "Lodestar" which, collected in the Earth Book, becomes a prequel to Mirkheim.
But the Earth Book also contains:
two more League stories;
four Ythrian stories;
twelve new Ythrian introductions and an afterword.
Thus, the Earth Book is definitely the most comprehensive volume in any American future history series.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I still like the idea of an expanded TRADER TO THE STARS which includes "Margin of Profit."
Ad astra! Sean
I think the Technic History is the most 'comprehensive' future-history series in American SF precisely because of its accidental origins -- with Poul deciding to have Flandry hear about van Rijn.
"History be weird" -- it's full of unexpected, low-probability accidents. That link-up gave the lived-in feeling.
Future histories designed from the beginning are too 'smooth' to resemble real history.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling: I agree, both about the comprehensiveness of the Technic stories and how Anderson's impulsive linking of two originally separate series in THE PLAGUE OF MASTERS really strengthened that "lived in" feeling.
I would nominate Jerry Pournelle's Co-Dominium timeline as a good runner up to the Technic series.
I think one of your favorite "History be weird" accidents was the assassination of Francis Ferdinand in 1914. A truly weird series of implausible "coincidences" had his car stopping directly in front of Gavrilo Princip!
Ad astra! Sean
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