characters;
places;
planets;
flora;
fauna;
etc -
- with a reference for each entry.
He updated these lists when adding new stories and also kept planning notes covering:
astronomy;
planetology;
life forms;
cultures;
character biographies;
etc.
"I wrote out the entire historical scheme explicitly, with a time chart, star maps, and related aids. (How to represent a three-dimensional galactic region on a flat sheet of paper is left as an exercise for the student.)
"Cross references multiplied, with one story often suggesting another."
-Poul Anderson, "Concerning Future Histories," SFWA Bulletin, Fall, 1979, p. 10. (see image)
John W. Campbell published Robert Heinlein's Time Chart. We want someone to publish Anderson's "entire historical scheme."
3 comments:
Paul:
Of H. Beam Piper, it's known that he'd likewise compiled notes for HIS future history in "a well-organized set of looseleaf notebooks, with entries color-coded; a star map of Federation and Empire; a history of the System States War; and other materials..." (Jerry Pournelle, 1981). Unfortunately, all of these disappeared when he died, and apparently have never been found.
* The System States War was what overstrained the Terran Federation to the point that it fell about two centuries later, bringing on Piper's version of the Long Night, from which the (First) Galactic Empire rose roughly 800 years afterward....
Poul was always extremely conscientious.
Gentlemen,
Paul: Yes, I too have read that article you quoted from. And I ardently hope that overflowing loose leaf binder has been preserved by the heirs of Poul Anderson. I would love to know what he jotted down about characters we see only a few times or not at all. Such as Emperor Georgios, Leon Ammon, Fr. Axor, etc.
David: that was horrifying, H. Beam Piper's notes and papers disappearing like that! Alas, I don't think it's likely, after all this time since Piper's death, that they still exist.
Mr. Stirling: I personally experienced a bit of that admirable conscientiousness of Poul Anderson! He replied to every single one of my frequently too long and argumentative letters, and almost always within two weeks of my writing to him.
Sean
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