"Spans, Illuminates And Completes..."

I am only just starting to appreciate the accuracy of the "Spans, illuminates and completes..." blurb on the cover of The Earth Book Of Stormgate. Remember that, at that stage, the opening six volumes of the Technic History were:

Trader To The Stars
The Trouble Twisters
Satan's World
Mirkheim
The People Of The Wind
The Earth Book...

Of these six:

the first four cover the Polesotechnic League;

the fifth covers Avalon;

the sixth covers both and also the earlier Grand Survey.

In Trader To The Stars:

"Territory" is prefaced by an extract from "Margin of Profit," which is collected in the Earth Book;

"The Master Key" describes van Rijn as the conqueror of Borthu, Diomedes and t'Kela - Borthu and t'Kela are in Trader... whereas Diomedes is in The Man Who Counts which is collected in the Earth Book.

In The Trouble Twisters:

David Falkayn is first seen on Ivanhoe - later events on Ivanhoe are described in "The Season of Forgiveness," collected in the Earth Book;

reference is made to Adzel's student days on Earth, which are described in "How To Be Ethnic In One Easy Lesson," collected in the Earth Book.

The Baburites, who wage war for the supermetal-rich planet Mirkheim in Mirkheim, are first encountered in "Esau," collected in the Earth Book.

Mirkheim is discovered in "Lodestar," which is described as happening ten years after the Satan affair and is collected in the Earth Book.

The Merseians, whose interstellar empire is growing in The People Of The Wind, were first contacted during the Grand Survey and are visited in "Day of Burning," collected in the Earth Book.

The People Of The Wind is about human beings and Ythrians on Avalon - Ythrians are first contacted during the Grand Survey in "Wings of Victory," Avalon is explored in "The Problem of Pain" and settled in two other stories, all collected in the Earth Book.

Thus, we have referred to eleven of the twelve works collected in the Earth Book. The Grand Survey is the Star Trek of the Technic History. See here.