How old does Flandry get to be in his series? I said seventy but this disagrees with the most recent version of the Chronology of Technic Civilization. I have the idea that I read the age of seventy in a later Flandry novel but must reread to confirm or disconfirm.
Comparing Anderson's account of Jupiter in "Call Me Joe" with Blish's account in the "Jupiter V" chapters of They Shall Have Stars diverted me from blogging about Anderson to blogging about Blish but this question of Flandry's age might have the reverse effect.
Meanwhile, does anyone out there know for sure how old Flandry is?
3 comments:
Hi, Paul!
We do have solid indications of Flandry's age at various times if we look for them. Chapter 4 of ENSIGN FLANDRY begins: "Ensign Dominic Flandry, Imperial Naval Flight Corps, did not know whether he was alive through luck or management. At the age of NINETEEN,..." Which means Flandry was 22 (and old Emperor Georgios still alive) three years later in A CIRCUS OF HELLS. And I found this in Chapter II of THE REBEL WORLDS, where Flandry was grumbling to himself about his leave being cancelled by his superiors: "Three, count 'em, three gorgeous girls, ready and eager to help me celebrate my birth week, starting tomorrow at Everest House with a menu I spent two hours planning; and we'd've continued as long as necessary to prove that a quarter century is less old than it sounds." So Flandry was 25 in THE REBEL WORLDS. Lastly, I found this about Flandry's age in Chapter 12 of THE GAME OF EMPIRE: "Not quite, he approaching seventy and she approaching fifty,..."
To conclude, my view is Flandry was 19 in ENSIG FLANDRY and nearing 70 in THE GAME OF EMPIRE. If I had to guess at an exact age, I would pick 67. Which means the time from ENSIGN FLANDRY to THE GAME OF EMPIRE was at least 48 years.
Sean
Nineteen in ENSIGN FLANDRY! Dammit, I thought, and said, seventeen. I think "...approaching seventy..." means more like 69? Anyway, the Chronology is wrong to set THE GAME OF EMPIRE in 3064.
Thank you, Sean. I knew you would come through about Flandry's age.
Hi, Paul!
Glad my bit of geekery pleased you! By "Chronology" I assume you meant Sandra Miesel's timeline for Technic Civilization. As you will, of course recall, I found that chronology unsatisfactory and containing too many inconsitencies. I wrote a long essay outlining why I found it unsatisfying and proposing a fairly drastic revision. While I'm sure my own version of the Technic Chronology has weak spots I still think it has fewer inconsistencies than Miesel's timeline.
I wish there was some way I could bring my proposed revision of her timeline to Sandra Miesel's attention!
Sean
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