Three Men Who Succeed And Prosper Under Van Rijn

Eric Wace shares a novel with Nicholas van Rijn and is often the viewpoint character of that novel but is never seen by us again. However, because of his performance on Diomedes, van Rijn offers Wace an important job back on Earth.

Emil Dalmady is the hero of the short story, "Esau," which has the framing device of his report to his employer, van Rijn, who then invests in Dalmady as an entrepreneur. Dalmady subsequently soared high for many years, according to Hloch. Some of Dalmady's children moved with Falkayn to Avalon where his daughter, Judith, wrote stories for the periodical, Morgana, two of them based on incidents reported to her by her father. Thus, in the Earth Book, we read, in this order:

Hloch's Introduction to "Esau";
a confrontation between Dalmady and van Rijn;
Dalmady's experiences on an extrasolar planet;
the conclusion of the conversation between Dalmady and van Rijn;
Hloch's Introduction to "The Season of Forgiveness," which does not not involve Dalmady but nevertheless recounts a narrative that Dalmady had relayed to Judith;
"The Season of Forgiveness."

Stories originally published separately are relocated into a larger context.

David Falkayn soars much higher first as van Rijn's protege, then as an independent operator. We should revisit the early Falkayn stories.