The concluding two would be:
Children Of Empire, the last three novels featuring Dominic Flandry;
After the Empire, the four shorter works set after the Fall.
The Imperial capital, Archopolis, merely one region of an almost entirely urbanized Earth, is beautifully described in (what I call) the Children novels and I quoted these descriptions earlier. By contrast, the post-Empire works are set not only much later in time but also far away in space. Although Asimov describes the ruined Galactic Imperial capital, Trantor, in his future history and Anderson shows us the ruined First Empire capital, Sol City, in his earlier future history, we never see the ruined Archopolis.
What I do value, however, is the glimpses of the still powerful and vibrant Archopolis that we are given in the concluding Flandry novels and I might reread these passages to appreciate the details when I have completed current reading.
6 comments:
Hi, Paul!
Yes, if we ever get a COMPLETE COLLECTED WORKS OF POUL ANDERSON, it would make sense to collect A KNIGHT OF GHOSTS AND SHADOWS, A STONE IN HEAVEN, and THE GAME OF EMPIRE as the seventh volume of the volumes collecting the Technic History. "A Tragedy of Errors," THE NIGHT FACE, "The Sharing of Flesh," and "Star Fog" are, when combined, long enough to justify an eighth volume.
I would argue for a ninth volume serving as an Appendix collecting the original versions of stories Poul Anderson later revised: "Margin of Profit," "The White King's War" (which became the core of A CIRCUS OF HELLS), "Tiger by the Tail," "Honorable Enemies," and "Warriors From Nowhere." The revisions are now the "canonical" forms after all.
I too wish we had seen more of Archopolis, intead of the all too brief, tantalizing glimpses we are given in A STONE IN HEAVEN. I think you believe Admiralty Center is at least part of Archopolis. I disagree and believe the descriptions we have of Admiralty Center in THE REBEL WORLDS and WE CLAIM THESE STARS plainly show it was not the Imperial capital.
It would be interesting to compare and contrast the Coral Palace used by thg Emperors and their ministers on the Policy Board with the Crystal Moon purchased by the Merseians. The former is plainly symbolic of the Empire as a great and independent power while the latter hints at what the Merseians would like to do to the Empire.
I have sometimers speculated that Archopolis is actually centered in New Rome, Contantinople (Turkish Istanbul). That city is probably as close to being in the "center" of Terra as it's possible to be. To say nothing of how its history as the capital of first the Eastern Roman Empire and then the Turkish empire gives it a unique imperial past few other cities had.
While I agree much of Terra was urbanized in the Imperial era, I argue wide regions were preserved from that both as hunting/recreational parks by some members of the aristocracy and as agricultural areas for growing food. I think the Imperium would not want Terra to be wholly dependent on off world imports of foodstuffs. I can imagine farms and plantations being exempted from taxes as long as the land was used for agriculture. Also, I think some esp. fertile regions would be forbidden by law to be urbanized.
Sean
Hi, Paul!
I had another thought I forgot to include in my previous note. I would prefer that the volume collecting the stories set in the eras after the Empire fell be called THE POST IMPERIAL ERA instead of AFTER THE EMPIRE. Because I think my suggested title reads and sounds smoother.
I've also changed my mind about a separate volume in a hypothetical COMPLETE COLLECTED WORKS OF POUL ANDERSON collecting the original texts of the five stories in the Technic History he revised. I would include them as an Appendix or Second Part in THE POST IMPERIAL ERA because it would make for a more FULLER volume. An editor collecting the works of Poul Anderson might prefer to avoid having too many "thin" volumes.
Sean
Sean,
THE POST-IMPERIAL ERA. I like it. I was, of course, thinking of uniform linear titles.
Paul.
Hi, Paul!
Glad you liked my suggested title! And I would be insterested if you had any additional thoughts about Archopolis, the Coral Palace, or how much of Terra was urbanized.
Sean
Sean,
We are about to eat and rewatch THE HOBBIT, Part 1.
I have started to glance through Flandry for info on Terra and will probably summarize this, albeit repeating the content of some earlier posts in the process.
Paul.
Hi, Paul!
I hope you had fun watching the first HOBBIT movie. I have watched Peter Jackson's LOTR and HOBBIT movies. But I fear I was rather indignantly critical of them, taking note of the far too many times he deviated from Tolkien.
I won't mind at all if you sometimes repeat what you have said in the past about the works of Poul Anderson. I'm enough of a PA fan not to be bothered by that! (Smiles)
Sean
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