In terms both of magazine publication and of fictional chronology, the first appearance of Ythrians was in "Wings of Victory" in Analog, April, 1972. The remaining six works to feature Ythrians were all published in 1973.
In terms of book publication, the sequence of works featuring Ythrians was:
The People Of The Wind, 1973;
The Day Of Their Return, 1973;
The Earth Book Of Stormgate, 1978, which includes the five relevant short stories.
- whereas the three novels that merely refer to Ythrians are:
A Knight Of Ghosts And Shadows, 1974;
Mirkheim, 1977;
A Stone In Heaven, 1979.
Before Baen Books collected the Technic History in chronological order of fictional events, the way to read the History in book form was:
the Polesotechnic League Tetralogy, culminating in Mirkheim;
the two Avalonian volumes, i.e., The People Of The Wind and the Earth Book;
the Flandry period, including The Day Of Their Return, A Knight Of Ghosts And Shadows and A Stone In Heaven;
the post-Imperial period which makes no reference to Ythrians.
In Baen Books' seven-volume The Technic Civilization Saga, compiled by Hank Davis:
Vol I presents eleven works, including seven from the Earth Book, each preceded by its Ythrian-authored introduction;
Vol II presents seven works, including three from the Earth Book with their introductions;
Vol III presents six works, including two from the Earth Book with their introductions and the single conclusion;
Vol III also begins with Mirkheim and ends with The People Of The Wind.
The Man Who Counts, included both in the Earth Book and in the Saga, Vol I, is about winged Diomedeans. A Knight Of Ghosts And Shadows briefly raises, only to dismiss, the question of an alliance between Diomedeans and Ythrians on the strength of their both being flying species.
4 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
And of course those Diomedeans who may have talked about an alliance with Ythri against the Empire were completely overlooking the fact the Domain had no interest at all in making trouble for Terra. In fact, the Domain was an ally of the Empire against a common enemy, Merseia, threatening them both.
Sean
Kaor, Paul!
One thing to remember about the name "Ythri" is that it's not found for the first time in "Wings of Victory" (1973). Rather, it goes far back in Anderson's writing career, to the original version of "Honorable Enemies" (FUTURE COMBINED WITH SCIENCE FICTION STORIES, May 1951). This is what I found on page 57 of the 1965 Chilton Books edition of AGENT OF THE TERRAN EMPIRE: "For a moment, as he looked at the ruddy moonlight and the thronging stars, Flandry felt a wave of discouragement. The Galaxy was too big. Even the four million stars of the Terrestrial Empire were too many for one man ever to know in a lifetime. And there were the rival imperia out in the darkness of space, Gorrazan and Ythri and Merseia, like a hungry beast of prey--"
And that is all we are told of Ythri in the first version of "Honorable Enemies." Nothing about the race which had evolved there. I think that while Anderson was writing "Wings of Victory," he searched thru stories he had already written for a name he could refuse. And hit on "Ythri" precisely because nothing had been said about a race using that name.
"Honorable Enemies" was later revised by Anderson to better fit into the
Technic Civilization series. The revised text first appeared in the 1979 Gregg Press edition of AGENT OF THE TERRAN EMPIRE. I'll quote the second version of the paragraph I quoted above (page 69): "Stars showed faint through the radiance. As he beheld them, Flandry felt daunted. Even the four million or so suns over which his Emperor claimed suzerainty were too many to know; most most had never been visited more than perhaps once, if that. Too many mutually alien races; rival imperia, too. Merseia before all." One thing to note is how Anderson omitted mention of Gorrazan and Ythri from this text.
Sean
Sean,
Thanks. That rings a bell but I was not sure of the precise textual sequence.
Paul.
Kaor,Paul!
It helps to have copies of the original texts of the stories decided needed to be revised. That way interested readers can compare and note the differences in the original and revised versions of a text.
Sean
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