The Contents of NESFA Collections Vol 4

non-series stories, 12
Psychotechnic History, 4
Technic History, 2
Gunnar Heim, 1
Hoka, 1
Time Patrol, 1
"Directorate," 1
Operation..., 1
verse, 1

In this volume, "Marius," the opening story of the Psychotechnic History, immediately follows "Gypsy," a much later installment of that same future history. "Marius" is a near-future post-nuclear-war story set so close to the present that its characters had been involved in World War II whereas "Gypsy," set in a remote future of faster than light interstellar travel, recounts the origin of the space-traveling Nomad culture. Reading these two works here, there is no way to tell that they belong on the same timeline. The idea is merely to appreciate them as individual stories. "Quixote and the Windmill" and "Holmgang" recount stages of the history intermediate between these two chronological extremes.

I find it impossible to read such a collection without mentally re-cataloguing its contents. It is possible that the fifth volume will contain not a single story that I have not read before. At the same time, even already familiar stories can generate new observations and comments when they have been re-packaged and re-presented.

Some Points About Time Travel And Admiralty

If the universe began to exist at time t-zero, then what becomes of a time traveler who, not knowing this, tries to travel to a time earlier than t-zero?

Does he enter a void?

Or does the entire universe including a time traveler with a reverse arrow of time begin to exist at t-zero? Thus, in terms of that reverse arrow of time, the past-ward traveling time traveler would cease to exist at t-zero?

Another possibility might be that the earliest moment, in this case t-zero, is like the northernmost point, the North Pole. Thus, someone who travels to the North Pole and keeps going travels south again but through another hemisphere. In the same way, a time traveler who travels to t-zero and keeps going would travel future-ward again but through a different volume of space.

There are at least three possible answers. A Poul Anderson story ends unexpectedly with one of these three.

I have got back into "Admiralty" - see the two previous posts - so will probably post more about this third Gunnar Heim story. Hard sf premises lead to human stories. If Heim merely blockades occupied New Europe indefinitely, then the human colonists, living off the land but cut off from supplies by the Aleriona occupation force, will run out of vitamin C and will have to surrender. Learning this from a freed prisoner, Heim must change his approach. But, despite the evidence about Aleriona intentions, the World Federation remains reluctant to wage war. Policy might be changed by the emotional appeal of a shipload of New European women and children entering the Solar System. So Heim has to smuggle a ship to the surface of New Europe concealing it from the Aleriona by hiding it behind a small asteroid that has been nudged into a collision course with the planet...

At each stage, Anderson combines a hard sf concept with a human issue.

Admiralty And Admiralty II

I was surprised to find a passage that is much shorter in the later version of "Admiralty." See previous post. On p. 14 of Admiralty, there is a reference to an Aleriona delegate who is called "...Admiral Cynbe ru Taren..." I did not think that the text of The Star Fox had applied Terrestrial naval terms to the Aleriona, who instead had much more elaborate - literally florid - ways to describe their own military ranks and functions, so I checked the corresponding passage in the novel. This passage, on p. 143, turns out to be much shorter, one sentence instead of two paragraphs, and not to refer to Cynbe.

However, on the question of naval terms applied to Aleriona, The Star Fox, p.24, has "Cynbe ru Taren, Intellect Master in the Garden of War, fleet admiral, and military specialist of the Grand Commission of Negotiators..." so the word "admiral" is used even if only by way of comparison with Terrestrial ranks. Anyone who has the NESFA collections and The Star Fox can, if they want to, make detailed comparisons of the texts at every such point.

The Aleriona, like the Merseian Roidhunate, are unequivocally determined to eliminate humanity. Consequently, the human characters who are prepared to wage war are in the right. Peace mongers are at best mistaken and at worst dishonest. However, Anderson shows a different situation in the sequel, Fire Time, where it is the Terrestrials who are imperialistic in their war against the Naqsa.

"The boats went forth. Heim settled himself in the main control chair and watched them..." (The Star Fox, p. 139)

How many of us read about Captain Heim and the Star Fox and remember Captain Kirk in Star Trek? However, this is serious hard sf, not a popular TV series.

Admiralty And Admiralty

The title of this post refers to two versions of a Poul Anderson text:

(i) "Admiralty," original version, republished in NESFA collections, Vol 4, Admiralty (Framingham, MA, 2011);

(ii) "Admiralty" in The Star Fox (London, 1968).

(i) fills pp. 11-55 of Admiralty and is divided into nine sections numbered 1 to 9, preceded by an unnumbered introductory page.

(ii) fills pp. 133-204 of The Star Fox and is divided into ten Chapters numbered One to Ten.

In (i), the introductory page presents a summary that is unnecessary in The Star Fox where "Admiralty" is immediately preceded by the two earlier Gunnar Heim stories. The summary informs or reminds us that:

the Phoenix region of space is about 150 light years from the Solar System;

this region contains a French colony on the planet New Europe in the Auroran System;

the alien Aleriona from the system of The Eith have occupied New Europe and are building what will become impregnable orbital defences;

the Aleriona are opposed only by a single, well-armed privateer, Fox II, captained by Gunnar Heim;

Fox II captures Aleriona ships and sells them in the Solar System;

 
however, the prize crews cannot return because Fox's movements must remain unpredictable;

the Aleriona begin to arm unescorted cargo ships;

however, despite its unexpected armaments, Fox captures the ship, Meroeth;

nevertheless, this capture will end Fox's raiding missions - we must read on to find out why.

The introductory page begins with the omniscient narrator directly addressing the reader:

"Consider his problem." (p. 11)

This leads into the summary.

In (ii), Chapter One fills eight pages, presents less summary and describes the battle with Meroeth. Missiles and lasers are deployed. Meroeth's FTL drive is disabled and its captain surrenders. Heim sends a boarding party which learns that Meroeth carries human prisoners.

The second paragraphs of section 1 and of Chapter Two both begin:

"The mess seethed with men."

Crew and liberated prisoners celebrate.

Admiralty

NESFA Collections Vol 4 arrived by post the day after it was ordered from Amazon. Any faster would have been time travel. Initial observations:

there seem to be only two stories that I have not already read, the lowest proportion yet;

one of those is about time travel, thus potentially although not necessarily, an interesting story;

this original version of "Admiralty" differs textually from the version in The Star Fox so it will be read;

some other stories may be reread;

the introductory essay on Poul Anderson by David G Hartwell is clearly of interest.

There are at least two NESFA volumes after this. Vol 5 is called Door To Anywhere. Is that, like the other five volumes, named after one of the stories collected in it?

My immediate life agenda is: lunch (eat it); Latin (attend a class in it); litter (buy it for the cat). However, posts about Admiralty will not be long delayed.

Texts And Contexts II

Poul Anderson's Gunnar Heim stories:

"Marque and Reprisal,"
"Arsenal Port" and
"Admiralty"

- can be read either collected as The Star Fox, in which case they have a sequel, the novel Fire Time, or scattered among NESFA's The Collected Short Works Of Poul Anderson, in which case each story is in a different volume and Fire Time is not mentioned since it is not a short work.

Some fans might even prefer the latter reading experience, unexpectedly re-encountering Gunnar Heim after reading a considerable number of different kinds of works in between. Several other series, e.g.:

Time Patrol;
Wing Alak;
Flying Mountains;
the Rustum History -

- are also to be found in whole or in part among The Collected Short Works... My preference would be for each of the series to be collected as a unit and for any additional Short Works volumes to contain only non-series stories. However, the NESFA collections prompted me to reread, and also to re-post about, what I call the Star...Time series. While hoping for an eventual Complete Works of Poul Anderson, we can meanwhile derive considerable enjoyment from reading the many overlapping volumes that have been published so far.