The Scothani, taught by others - possibly Merseians wanting to see Terra challenged -, overran the Alarri some of whom then attacked the Terran Empire, hoping that it would buy peace. Instead, the Navy smashed and scattered the invading fleets at the Battle of Mirzan when Flandry was a boy. That Battle should be in the Chronology of Technic Civilization.
The Scothani build a sizable empire (see here) unknown to Terra, then make the mistake of kidnapping Dominic Flandry for his information and advice.
8 comments:
Hi, Paul!
Interesting poing, what you said about the Battle of Mirzan. I'm rather surprised Sandra Miesel did not include it in her Chronology of Technic Civilization. I should have, in my revision of that timeline.
Flandry was a boy at the time of the Battle of Mirzan? If I had to guess, I would suggest he was aged 12 at the time, around AD 3112 in my version of the Chronology. I would like to request you adding this to my version: "Circa 3112, Battle of Mirzan, Alarri invasion crushed."
Sean
Hi Paul,
Having just read TIGER BY THE TAIL for the first time in the Baen book Technic History collection (CAPTAIN FLANDRY), I noticed that it seems to be the earlier, less polished version of the story than can be found, for example in this book: TIGER BY THE TAIL! Two Dominic Flandry adventures.
For example, from CAPTAIN FLANDRY edition: Flandry laughed into his stupefaction and told him: "My friend, you didn't study our decadence as thorougly as you should have. Archaism accompanies it. Scientific fencing is quite popular among us."
The TIGER BY THE TAIL! edition: Flandry laughed harshly and said:"My dear friend, you forget that deliberate archaism is one characteristic of a decadent society. There's hardly a noble in the Empire who hasn't studied scientific fencing."
I thought from the foreword that Baen had choesen the revised editions? Do you know when the revision was made?
Johan,
I don't know when the revision was made but I thought that Baen published the revised version.
Paul.
Well, so did I. But when i browsed the text in the TIGER BY THE TAIL! edition i felt more like the mature Poul Anderson of the 70s than young pulp hack Poul Anderson of 1951. Whereas from the CAPTAIN FLANDRY edition i derived the very opposite feeling.
I'd like to give another example, earlier in the fight between Flandry and Cerdic:
TIGER BY THE TAIL! edition: Steel rang in the great hall. Flandry parried the murderous slash and raked the prince's cheeck. Cerdic roared and plunged, his blade weaving a net of death before him. Flandry skipped back, sword on ringing sword, shoulders to the wall.
CAPTAIN FLANDRY (Baen) edition: Steel rang. Flandry parried a slash. He (sic) point raked the prince's brow. Cerdic bellowed and stormed forward. Flandry retreated.
Now, to me at least, the CAPTAIN FLANDRY version seems less alive, less descriptive, more suited to the requirements of a early 50s pulp magazine - with short sentences light on description. But maybe i'm simply not appreciating the revision the way I should?
Johan,
I still think that Baen has the revision. I will read the two versions comparatively but not right now. The revised version has more technical info about planetary colonization in it.
Paul.
Kaor, Johan!
I'm a bit rushed, but I'll offer a few comments. I compared the texts you quoted from the different versions of "Tiger By The Tail" in my copies of the Chilton editon of AGENT OF THE TERRAN EMPIRE (1965) and the revision found in the Gregg Press edition of 1979. By and large I favor the slightly terser version of the later text. In the strain and stress of the just concluded fight with Cerdic, it would seem more natural for Flandry to simply ironically say, for example, "My friend," instead of "My dear friend." Also, a misprint slipped into the Baen Books reprint: "Flandry parried a slash. HIS [NOT "He"] point raked the prince's brow."
Sean
Kaor Sean!
It would seem i have just revealed an unfortunate taste for purple prose then! Although in my defence, I could only compare small portions of the text, dure to owning only the Baen edition.
Kaor, Johan!
I don't mind purple prose, when done as well as Poul Anderson can do it. And it's good to have copies of the original and revised texts of the stories Anderson thought needed some reworking. Comparison of the differences in texts can lead to interesting discussions.
Sean
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