Analyzing The Earth Book

Of the twelve works in The Earth Book Of Stormgate, the first two are about early human-Ythrian contact and the last two are about the human-Ythrian joint colony on Avalon. Thus, only eight of the stories are about the Polesotechnic League. Further, two of these feature neither Nicholas van Rijn nor any member of his trader team.

The remaining six works begin with the first appearances of Adzel and of van Rijn and end with "Lodestar" - which is the last trader team story. The team does re-appear in the following volume, Mirkheim, but that is a sequel, set several years later with much water under the bridge. The characters have parted. Their lives have moved on. The old team is re-assembled, but with some difficulty, for one last time and not for its original purpose. "Lodestar" was written as, and is, the conclusion of the original series.

We are left with, in this volume, only three intermediate works about the Solar Spice & Liquors Company, two featuring van Rijn and one featuring the trader team. However, this is also the period of seven other works to be read, originally, in three separate volumes.