Introductions VI

Sometimes an introductory passage is clearly the opening section of a fictitious text and would have appeared as such in the original magazine publication of a short story or of an installment of a novel. Example: the passage attributed to the fictitious Francis L Minamoto at the beginning of section I of "The Saturn Game" by Poul Anderson. Minamoto re-appears at the beginnings of sections II, III and IV so it is then clear, if it was not already, that he is an integral part of the text.

It is equally obvious that the introductions and conclusion to the stories collected as The Earth Book Of Stormgate were specifically written for that edition where they add an extra layer and perspective, including even a new character, to the fiction. I think that the Introduction to the van Rijn collection, Trader To The Stars, and the Introductions to the individual stories in the Falkayn collection, The Trouble Twisters, are in the Earth Book category, not in the "Saturn Game" category. But, in any case, Anderson presents us with an intricate network of fictitious characters commenting on his fictitious texts:

Minamoto;
Le Matelot;
Vance Hall, commenting on Noah Arkwright;
Noah Arkwright;
Urwain the Wide-Faring, reminiscing about Noah Arkwright;
Hloch of the Stormgate Choth on Avalon;
Donvar Ayeghen, President of the Galactic Archaeological Society;
(Michael Karageorge);
a Didonian composite intelligence;
a Dennitzan.

Have I missed any? (Karageorge is bracketed because he is not a creation of Anderson but a joke, albeit a welcome one, by Baen Books Editor, Hank Davis.)

With one exception, these Andersonian commentators are closely involved with the periods on which they comment. The single exception is Ayeghen who writes a long time later but who was also created by Anderson a long time before most of the History was written. This is shown by some slightly discordant elements in what he, Ayeghen, writes.

Imagine if Anderson, using Ayeghen, had written some overall commentary on the Imperial period and the Long Night similar to Hloch's commentary on the League and the Troubles.