One difference between the novels (so I initially thought) was that A Midsummer Tempest also places more recent technology in the seventeenth century. But so does The Alchemists' Revenge! Reading further, I find that not all of the anachronistic mechanisms are alchemically empowered. Some of them are merely ingenious engineering - although still suspected of Satanic influence, of course.
Each of these novels is one part of a vaster fictional universe but the ways in which this is done could not be more different.
A Midsummer Tempest...
...is set in a universe where all of Shakespeare's plays were literally true. Specifically, it is a sequel to A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Tempest. Further, this Shakespearean universe coexists with the Carolingian universe of Anderson's Three Hearts And Three Lions and with the magical universe of his two Operation... volumes. Prince Rupert meets Holger Danske and Valeria Matuchek in the inter-universal inn, the Old Phoenix.
The Alchemist's Revenge...
...is the "First Book of the Companie of Reluctant Heroes." Further, this series is set in the universe of the Clockwork & Chivalry Role Playing Game (RPG) by Peter Cakebread and Ken Walton. Since RPG's are interactive dramas, maybe there is some connection with Old Will after all!
In both cases...
...the fiction must be understood in the context of the history:
"...for all the differences, much remains the same as the real history. Traditional society and values are crumbling; religious and political factions vie for supremacy; kin fight kin, in a bitter struggle for England's future; and ordinary folk struggle to get by, in a world turned upside down...
"...if we were going to do history, even alternate history, we needed to get the history right, before going on to change it."
-Peter Cakebread, The Apprentice's Revenge (Swindon, 2013), pp. 214-215.
Right on.
6 comments:
Many thanks for making the effort to write these pieces, Paul. I'm really enjoying your take on my work and the contrasts/similarities with A Midsummer Tempest you've highlighted.
You might like to know that the C&C background came out of me doing a degree in the history, philosophy and sociology of science, and Pete's extensive knowledge of the ECW. I'm not sure if it's mentioned in the novel, but in the RPG it's explained that in this universe, Galileo proved that the sun goes round the Earth, and Francis Bacon discovered the scientific principles behind the four elements.
Peter and Ken,
Thank you for commenting. it is always good to hear from authors on the blog.
Paul.
Hi, Paul!
Huzzah!!! You are getting some comments here from others beside me and Nicholas! And I hope S.M. Stirling drops by again.
I suggest as well that OUR world co-exists alongside the Carolingian milieu we see in THREE HEARTS AND THREE LIONS. Holger Carlsen was sent, after all, by Morgan Le Fay to be discovered and raised from infancy in our world. And I suspect as well that we are supposed to think Steven Matuchek somehow made contact with our milieu in OPERATION CHAOS.
Sean
Sean,
Agreed. Also, of course, Technic Civilization is linked to the Old Phoenix because Nick van Rijn is seen in the Phoenix.
Paul.
Hi, Paul!
Darn! I forgot about how we see Nicholas van Rijn in "House Rule." Yes, that does connect the Technich History to the other worlds, times, and milieus we see making contact with each other at the Old Phoenix Inn.
Sean
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