The Long Night would be immediately perceived as a sequel by anyone who read the earlier volumes. "The Long Night" really refers only to the period of chaos after the fall of the Empire, therefore does not incorporate the works set in later civilizations. On the other hand, Imperialists might regard anything following their rule as a "Long Night" so that for them the title would be accurate.
Could the proposed titles be combined as After The Empire: The Long Night? Or, better still: Long Night And After? The latter version is more accurate and comprehensive, echoing an earlier proposed title: Late League, Early Empire.
This discussion might seem trivial to anyone not familiar with these works. I hope that some readers of this blog have read Anderson or are encouraged to do so or do look at the earlier articles where the content of the works is assessed in more detail.
An existing collection called The Long Night contains one story from what I call the "Late League, Early Empire" period, one story from the "Flandry and Empire" period and only three of the four works from the "Long Night and After" period.
7 comments:
Hi, Paul!
Long ago, Gregg Press published a volume called THE NIGHT FACE AND OTHER STORIES, collecting all four of the post Imperial stories written by Anderson. And I do have a copy as well as the somewhat misleadingly titled THE LONG NIGHT that you were commenting on. So, maybe A TRAGEDY OF ERRORS AND OTHER STORIES would do as a comprehensive title for collecting the post Imperial tales. And I would hope such a volume would include as well Sandra Miesel's interesting essay on THE NIGHT FACE.
Sean
One way to entitle a collection is to call it ...AND OTHER STORIES and to pick one to be the title story. Either THE NIGHT FACE or "A Tragedy of Errors" would suffice for this purpose. But I thought LONG NIGHT AND AFTER would show anyone reading the series that the future period feared by Flandry will come and pass so that this might be a better title for the collection as part of the series? (I thought it was a neat compromise between AFTER THE EMPIRE and THE LONG NIGHT.)
Hi, Paul!
I suggested A TRAGEDY OF ERRORS AND OTHER STORIES because it wss chronologically the earliest of the post Imperial tales Anderson wrote. Also, I'm not sure if it would be legally allowable to again use THE NIGHT FACE AND OTHER STORIES, because of Gregg Press using it first. But, maybe AFTER THE EMPIRE: THE LONG NIGHT would be best.
Sean
I would still go for LONG NIGHT AND AFTER: short and makes its point. There is not just one period after the Empire but at least two. I think we encapsulate our appreciation of the works and their contents by trying to fine tune proposed titles so there is some point to this! It is 3 AM here so I think I am finished.
Hi, Paul!
Or perhaps THE LONG NIGHT AND AFTERWARDS? More grammatical and makes the same point.
Sean
LONG NIGHT AND LATER? Brevity better?
Hi, Paul!
Brevity is good, but a book title should both make sense and "feel" right. I would argue that THE LONG NIGHT AND AFTERWARDS "feels" better than LONG NIGHT AND LATER.
I fear non fans would be bored to tears by this discussion! (Smiles)
Sean
Post a Comment