However, since the events of "Death and the Knight" occur immediately after the events of The Shield Of Time, I think that "Death..." should, in future editions, be republished at the end of The Shield..., not of Time Patrol. Then, since The Shield... is a tripartite novel, the complete series would comprise nine installments in the first volume and four in the second.
This makes for an interesting comparison with Anderson's Technic History series, which has been collected in seven volumes by Baen Books. Volume I is The Van Rijn Method although I suggest that a more appropriate title would be Rise Of The Polesotechnic League. This Volume collects eleven works although I think that the last two would be better placed in Volume II. In that case, Volume I would collect nine works, including one novel.
Differences Between The Proposed Time Patrol And The Proposed Rise Of The Polesotechnic League
(i) Manson Everard is in every Time Patrol story whereas Nicholas van Rijn is in only two of the nine works to be collected in Rise... (Despite Everard's ubiquity, his series also features in greater or lesser roles many other Time Patrollers.)
(ii) Time Patrol would be followed by four installments in one further volume whereas Rise... would be followed by thirty four installments in six further volumes.
Length is the most obvious difference. The Time Patrol is long but the Technic History is longer. But both are important. Two other substantial series are the Harvest of Stars tetralogy and the King of Ys tetralogy, the latter co-written with Karen Anderson. Any one of these series would have made Poul Anderson significant but, of course, his total output is vaster than the four combined.
14 comments:
Hi, Paul!
I agree that it makes good sense to place "Death and the Knight" after the text of THE SHIELD OF TIME in future editions of that work. And that it's better to stick with the nine shorter works we see in THE TIME PATROL. If we ever see a COMPLETE COLLECTED WORKS OF POUL ANDERSON, two volumes arranged like that would very satisfactorily collect the Time Patrol stories with a minimum of difficulty.
Sean
Hi, Paul!
And what about ancillary volumes placed after a complete collecting of the works of Poul Anderson? That is, I've thought a volume should include the essays about PA's works written by Sandra Miesel, Patrick McGuire (author of "Her Strong Enchantments Failing") and yourself). Another volume or volumes should collect the surviving letters of Poul Anderson (preferably included with the letters of the persons he responded to, for context and background).
Sean
Sean,
And "Ivory, And Apes, And Peacocks" should conclude TIME PATROL.
I would like at least an Appendix listing references, including addresses of relevant blogs and websites!
Paul.
Hi, Paul!
I'm not sure, but wouldn't "The Year of the Ransom," featuring Wanda Tamberly, more logically end a volume collecting the nine shorter Time Patrol stories? It would lead on to THE SHIELD OF TIME.
And while I agree an Appendix listing references, blogs, and websites about or relating to Poul Anderson is a good idea, blogs and websites can disappear, along with their contents. Therefore, a volume collecting the most substantial or interesting articles and essays about PA's works should be included in a COMPLETE WORKS.
Sean
Sean,
No, "The Year of the Ransom" precedes "Ivory...," which immediately precedes THE SHIELD...
Paul.
Hi, Paul!
Oops! Then I sit corrected! Very well, "Ivory, and Apes, and Peacocks" should end a volume collecting the nine shorter Time Patrol stories.
Sean
Sean,
THE SHIELD... begins with Everard just arrived back in New York from his mission to Tyre, where had captured Varagan who was still at large at the end of "...Ransom."
Paul.
Hi, Paul!
Yes, now I remember that. And "Ivory, and Apes, and Peacocks" was about how Everard and Pum managed to prevent the Exaltationists from wrecking the Tyre of King Hiram. And, yes, I remember as well how Varagan had escaped being captured and arrested by the Patrol in "Ransom."
Sean
Hi, Paul!
I am not sure the four HARVEST OF STARS books together form a tetralogy. That is, a single work in four volumes. They do share a common timeline and background but can still be read independently of one another. SATAN'S WORLD and ENSIGN FLANDRY also share the same background and timeline, but can be read independently of each other.
THE KING OF YS, however, is a single novel in four volumes, a true tetralogy. It was simply more practical to divide that novel into four volumes: ROMA MATER, GALLICENAE, DAHUT, and THE DOG AND THE WOLF. Another example being how THE LORD OF THE RINGS was divided into three volumes for similar reasons. Multiple volumes, but still one work.
Sean
Sean,
I think a trilogy is either one work in three parts, like LORD OF THE RINGS, or three related works, like Blish's AFTER SUCH KNOWLEDGE. A tetralogy would be the same but four.
Paul.
Hi, Paul!
I agree with the analogy you made using THE LORD OF THE RINGS, that work is a single novel in three volumes, hence a trilogy. But Blish's AFTER SUCH KNOWLEDGE books are so different from one another that I find it difficult to consider them as forming a trilogy.
Sean
Sean,
ASK is an extreme case but the three works are all about the consequences of seeking knowledge. I discuss them on my James Blish blog. The expectation of Armageddon is palpable in all three.
Paul.
Hi, Paul!
In other words, Blish's ASK books share a THEMATIC connection, rather than actually being a single work divided into volumes, or even being contributions to a series sharing a common timeline. I think I understand now, even if, as you said, this is an extreme case!
Sean
Sean,
Yes. I think I would have seen a connection between the three works even if Blish had not claimed one. When I read A CASE OF CONSCIENCE, I thought, "There ought to be a further book about Armageddon," then Blish wrote BLACK EASTER. In DOCTOR MIRABILIS, Bacon has a vision of the Anti-Christ. In BLACK EASTER, the Goat says, "WE WILL DO WITHOUT THE ANTI-CHRIST. HE WAS NEVER NECESSARY. MEN HAVE ALWAYS LED THEMSELVES UNTO ME." (Powerful stuff.) In THE DAY AFTER JUDGMENT, Domenico perceives the newly elected demon Pope as the Anti-Christ. So there is plenty of thematic unity. And all this is very unlike Blish's other, more secularist, works - although they contain quite a few scientifically explained ends of the world.
Bob Shaw once advised Blish, "Jim, don't worry so much about Armageddon. It's not the end of the world!"
Paul.
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