Saturday 25 May 2013

Decline And Fall

The previous two posts identified, within Poul Anderson's History of Technic Civilization:

3 pre-Polesotechnic League stories;
11 works about the rise of the League;
5 about its latter days and decline.

My proposed Volume II of the History would comprise:

2 van Rijn in space stories;
2 trader team stories;
2 van Rijn at home stories;
3 works about the beginning of the end of the League.

In addition, according to Sandra Miesel's Chronology of Technic Civilization, "Wingless" and "Rescue on Avalon" are also set before the dissolution of the League. However, they are about the colonization of Avalon, not about the League's decline.

Moving on within Volume III of the History, "The Star Plunderer" ends with Manuel Argos proclaiming an Empire. Thus, that Empire does not yet exist within this story. Thus, further, this single story is the only work set during the period of the Troubles between the League and the Empire just as "A Tragedy of Errors" is the only work set during the Long Night between the Empire and the Allied Planets. There are eighteen works set in the League period, seveneen set during the Imperial period and a further eight set before, between or after these two main periods.

However, the purpose of the previous two posts was to fine tune the League period into a Rise and a Decline and I think they succeeded to some extent. Moving one introduction to an earlier point in the sequence and one story with its introduction to a later point would avoid giving the reader mixed signals about when the Decline starts and when the Rise began.

3 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Hi, Paul!

It would be more correct to say Manuel Argos was PLANNING to found the Terran Empire in "The Star Plunderer." Strictly, the story does not end with him proclaiming the Empire. Manuel Argos and his followers would first need to get control of the Solar System before the failed and discredited Commonwealth could be abolished and replaced by the Empire.

Sean

Paul Shackley said...

I accept that qualification.

I never realized before that there is an identical number of works set during the League as during the Empire.

Paul Shackley said...

There is not an identical number. I miscounted, slightly, again but have corrected the numbers as given in the post.