Rise And Decline Of The Polesotechnic League III

Continuing the reasoning from the previous post:

(xi) "The Three-Cornered Wheel" and "A Sun Invisible" show Falkayn's pre-trader team career and are rightly the sixth and seventh stories in Volume I. In the latter, Falkayn is working for van Rijn's Company and we have already met van Rijn.

(xii) "The Season of Forgiveness" describes later events on the first planet visited by Falkayn and is rightly the eighth story in Volume I.

(xiii) The Man Who Counts is van Rijn's second appearance. Until now, we have not known that he will become a series character. He appeared once, then became part of the background. It makes sense for him to return in this novel which is the ninth work in the series.

(xiv) I find it easier to think of Volumes I and II as nine works each rather that the eleven in Vol I and seven in Vol II of the Baen Books Technic Civilization Saga. With nine each, the contents of Trader To The Stars do not get split between volumes.

(xv) In any case, as things stand in the Baen volumes, the tenth work is the van Rijn story, "Esau," and the Earth Book Introduction to this story informs us that at this time the early League philosophy and practice were becoming archaic or obsolete so maybe this work should come later?

(xvi) The eleventh work is the van Rijn story, "Hiding Place," which is preceded by an introductory passage beginning "'The world's great age begins anew...'" However, this passage originally introduced not just this story but the collection Trader To The Stars and it refers to the Polesotechnic League period as a whole so maybe this introduction should be moved to before "How To Be Ethnic In One Easy Lesson," which I would place fourth in the series?

(xvii) I would therefore have "Hiding Place," without this introduction, opening Volume II where it would be followed by another van Rijn story, "Territory," and two trader team stories, "The Trouble Twisters" and "Day of Burning." That gets us four stories into Vol II which must end with "Lodestar" so there are only four stories left to be accounted for.

(xviii) Van Rijn having sent trader teams out, it makes sense that he now stays at home where problems can be brought to him so "The Master Key" and "Esau," the latter with its hint that early League practice is becoming archaic, can fit here.

(xix) Satan's World features an external threat to the League requiring a response both from van Rijn and from the Falkayn trader team and there is also a hint that the League could have internal problems as well.

(xx) As its Earth Book Introduction says, "A Little Knowledge" gives a glimpse of troubles internal to Technic civilization so this story rightly comes between Satan's World and "Lodestar".

Conclusion
In this way of presenting the series:
three stories precede the League;
eleven works from "How To Be Ethnic..." to "The Master Key" show the League rising;
five works from "Esau" to Mirkheim show the League aging, then declining.