Ages

In Mikheim, Prologue, Y minus 9, David Falkayn is forty one. He is also thirty years younger than Nicholas van Rijn and eighteen years older than Coya. Thus, van Rijn is seventy one and Coya is twenty three. (Have I got that right? Every time I publish calculations here, I reread them and find that I have got them wrong.) However, in "Lodestar," set slightly earlier, Coya was twenty five. A recently posted chronology shows that Poul Anderson exercised tight control over the chronological relationships between events in this crowded part of the Technic History. The stated numbers of years elapsed are usually consistent.

Falkayn is thirty three in the opening passage of "Lodestar." Thus, ten years later, when Coya is twenty five, he should be forty three which does make him eighteen years older.

Van Rijn is usually, not always, described as seen by another character. Trader team stories are narrated from Falkayn's point of view unless the characters separate. Thus, both Adzel and Chee Lan are alone at different times on Merseia. In accordance with these rules of thumb, "Lodestar" divides into a trader team passage narrated from Falkayn's point of view and a van Rijn passage narrated from the point of view of a new character, his granddaughter, Coya Conyon. Coya becomes a heroine of the series and I will reread the passages of Mirkheim in which she features.

When, in that Mirkheim Prologue passage, Hanny Lennart of the Home Companies warns van Rijn not to oppose the Garver bill, she says that, "The popular mood being what it is..." (Rise Of The Terran Empire, p. 15), he would be bound to fail. Here is another clue about social conditions on Earth. Sure, the Commonwealth government, the Home Companies and the media will manipulate the "popular mood." Nevertheless, that mood also represents a global population many of whom can think for themselves. I would want my union, not van Rijn, to control my pension fund. Van Rijn complains that the unions are tied in with government. I would want my union to be independent of the government. So there would be plenty to play for if we were citizens of the Solar Commonwealth.

Van Rijn does not want to discuss the unwelcome news but Coya suggests that he will feel better if he does. Thus, of course, the author through Coya's intervention informs the reader of current political developments.