Does the mutable timeline guarded by Poul Anderson's Time Patrol coexist with the multiple timelines accessible from Anderson's Old Phoenix Inn? Sherlock Holmes exists in the mutable timeline and visits the Old Phoenix but these could be alternative versions of Holmes. There could be several versions of Holmes with access to the Old Phoenix. Holmes also existed in the past of Anderson's Rustum History timeline.
Does the Nicholas van Rijn who visits the Old Phoenix come from Anderson's Technic History or from the alternative future of the original version of Anderson's "Margin of Profit"? Both of these van Rijns and more could meet in the Old Phoenix.
After Manchester yesterday, I will be at the monastery in Northumberland today so there will be no more posts until this evening or tomorrow.
6 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I think alternate worlds or universes to be more "likely" than the mutable time line guarded by the Time Patrol. So I'm willing to think some universes might have a real Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. In those cases I'm inclined to think of Arthur Conan Doyle as the editor who advised Watson on how best to make his mss. publishable.
I don't think Eric Sherrinford claimed to be descended from a real Sherlock Holmes in "The Queen of Air and Darkness." My recollection is that he was skeptical of such notions. And I recalled suggesting in another combox that Holmes brother Mycroft was probably more likely to have descendants than Sherlock.
I'm inclined to think that when Anderson inserted Nicholas van Rijn in "House Rule" he was thinking of how Old Nick came from his Technic Civilization series.
Sean
Sean,
Anderson probably thought of the Technic History but it is always possible to speculate about other possibilities. A good sequel is one that overturns our assumptions derived from the first work.
Paul.
Paul and Sean:
Nicholas Meyer, in one of his Holmes novels — I believe it was The West End Horror — portrayed Holmes telling Watson that he'd gotten advice on using tinted contact lenses to disguise eye color from (approximate quote): "...your friend Doctor Doyle. He is so caught up in his literary whirl these days that we forget he is an M.D." So Meyer, at least, agreed with Sean's notion of Doyle as Watson's editor.
Kaor, Paul and DAVID!
Paul: I agree, we can think about alternate possibilities, including unlikely ones!
David: good point! Arthur Conan Doyle BEGAN as an MD specializing in treating eye disorders. And I have read some pastiches about Holmes, one of my favorites being Sterling Lanier's "A Father's Tale."
Sean
I had a "Donan Coyle" in the Emberverse history, since "The White Company" is 'true' and descendants of its characters really live in England. Coyle wrote -similar- books to Doyle's, in a nod to the theory that the marketplace calls forth the supplier.
Modesty Blaise is factual in that world too.
Dear Mr. Stirling,
Dang! Somehow I missed mention of that "Donan Coyle"! I suspect you had Sir Nigel Loring being one of those descendants of members of the White Company.
Sean
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