In "The Warriors from Nowhere":
the Terran Empire has a Taurian Sector;
the Sector Governor, Duke Alfred of Tauria, has his palace on Vor, the capital planet;
Varrak is another planet in the sector.
In A Knight Of Ghosts And Shadows, Dominic Flandry refers to "'...Duke Alfred of Varrak...'" (I, p. 349) (For full reference, see here.) So maybe the author has misremembered Alfred's title and confused Varrak with Vor?
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I checked my copy of A KNIGHT OF GHOSTS AND SHADOWS, Chapter I, and it too refers to the treacherous Alfred as Duke of VARRAK, not Vor. And since both the original and revised versions of "The Warriors From Nowhere" describes Alfred as Duke of Vor, I agree we have to conclude Anderson made a mistake in KNIGHT.
In that case I would argue that the editors of a hypothetical COMPLETE COLLECTED WORKS OF POUL ANDERSON should emend "Varrak" to "Vor" in A KNIGHT OF GHOSTS AND SHADOWS. With a note giving the reasoning in my first paragraph.
Sean
Sean,
Alfred is described as Duke of Taurus, based on Vor.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
That surprises me! I thought peerage titles in the Terran Empire referred only to single planets, or parts of single planets, such as the Dukedom of Mars or Viscounty of Ny Kalmar (on Terra). I recently reread the revised version of "The Warriors From Nowhere," and I'm chagrined to have missed seeing Alfred described as Duke of Taurus.
And, strictly from the POV of political prudence, I would have been chary of having a single man as duke of an entire sector of the Empire, even if that was largely nominal and of little real significance. After all, Alfred did scheme to break the Taurian sector away from the Empire. Under Merseian "protection," meaning POSSESSION.
Sean
Post a Comment