Wednesday 22 May 2019

Technic History Reading Orders II

See Technic History Reading Orders.

I should have mentioned that, by the end of Mirkheim, van Rijn has a son who will be the next Duke of Falkayn's home planet and that Falkayn has two children who are also van Rijn's great-grandchildren. Thus, several generations grow and pass although, as yet, the narrative remains within the lifetimes of the original characters. That will soon change.

The second stage in the growth of the Technic History as a series of novels and collections rather than of stories or serials published in magazines and anthologies:

the Polesotechnic League Tetralogy + 2 Avalonian volumes (1 novel + 1 collection) = a future history series although as yet it remains less than half the length of the eventual Technic History.

The novel, The People Of The Wind, about the planet Avalon colonized by Falkayn, is set centuries after Mirkheim. The collection, The Earth Book Of Stormgate, contains new interstitial passages derived from the Avalonian setting of The People of The Wind and most, although not all, of the relevant stories that had not been included in either Trader To The Stars or The Trouble Twisters.

These are:

two pre-League stories;
"Margin of Profit";
The Man Who Counts, with its proper title and text restored;
one more van Rijn story;
one more Falkayn story;
one story, "Lodestar," featuring both van Rijn and Falkayn and fitting between the two novels that also feature both these characters;
three other League stories;
two Avalonian stories.

This sequence of twelve works begins before and ends after the Polesotechnic League Tetralogy. Further, the Earth Book Introduction and interstitial passages are written after the events of The People Of The Wind. If we read these six volumes in this order, then, in the sixth volume, we read prequels to previously read narratives, e.g.:

Mirkheim is about Mirkheim whereas "Lodestar" is about the discovery of Mirkheim;

"Wingless," in the Earth Book, is about the first generation of Avalonians whereas The People Of The Wind is about Avalon centuries later.

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

One thing to remember about "Lodestar" and MIRKHEIM was the sense of regret and even guilt felt by Falkayn because he had hid his discovery of Mirkheim from Old Nick. Yes, Falkayn had reasons that he had believed were good for doing so, but it was still a breaking of the fealty he had pledged to Nicholas van Rijn. And that troubled Falkayn even after Old Nick forgave him.

Sean