Nat Falkayn is the son of Nicholas Falkayn who is the son of David Falkayn and the great-great-grandson of Nicholas van Rijn who is also the father of Eric Tamarin, heir apparent to the Duchy of Hermes, David Falkayn's home planet! Ivar Holm is an ancestor of Daniel Holm whose son Christopher marries Tabitha Falkayn, a descendant of David.
Max Abrams' daughter Miriam marries Dominic Flandry who had already had a son, Dominic, by Persis d'Io, and a daughter, Diana, by Maria Crowfeather. We know of three different generations of Kitteridges on the planet Vixen. Manuel Argos founded the Terran Empire. Later dynasties and at least one would-be pretender claim Argolid descent. But Hans Molitor usurps and is succeeded by his sons.
What Anderson clearly shows, however, is that civilization and history are much greater than any great individual or powerful family. He welds together many works that are not just a van Rijn series followed by a Flandry series. There are many situations in which these familiar names do not get mentioned.
Just as the Polesotechnic League rises and declines, the Terran Empire goes through comparable phases. The concluding Flandry novels follow the period of civil war and usurpation.
1 comment:
Hi, Psul!
You wrote: "Manual Argos founded the Terran Empire. Later dynasties and at least one would be pretender claimed Argolid descent." I.e., this refers to the Argolid and Wang dynasties (plus the Duke of Hermes who schemed for the throne). I'm reminded of this bit from Chapter 22 of THE GAME OF EMPIRE, from Olaf Magnusson's conversation with his Merseian contact: "Well--Hans Molitor had it easier. The Wang dynasty was extinct, aside from a few idiots who could raise no following. And a Navy officer in an earlier chapter wished for another Argolid dynasty. Brief, but telling examples of how Anderson was able to deftly add depth to the book.
Sean
Post a Comment