Saturday 8 June 2019

Middle Earth And The Technic History

(I hope to sort an image tomoz.) (Just did.)

See previous discussions here.

Two fictional histories about human beings interacting with other intelligent species: past fantasy and futuristic sf.

Tolkien's Middle Earth is undeniably longer and more complex than Poul Anderson's Technic History. However, this blog demonstrates that the Technic History is longer and more complex than many might think. Although I am not about to write it, one very long Wells-Stapledon model future historical volume could be created to record the entire History of Technic Civilization and its long aftermath and it should also become a very long screen series.

6 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I'm not sure I like the idea of Wells/Stapledon writing/incorporating Anderson's Technic Civilization stories into their own works. Largely from me thinking Anderson was a better writer than these two men.

Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Sean,
I meant a future historical text book on the model of THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME and LAST AND FIRST MEN. The content would be that of the Technic History.
Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I think I understood you had something like that in mind, even tho I have not read those particular works by Wells and Stapledon. Hmmm, when it comes to "recasting" the history of Anderson's Technic Civilization along those lines, it was J.B. Bury's HISTORY OF THE LATER ROMAN EMPIRE FROM THE DEATH OF THEODOSIUS I TO THE DEATH OF JUSTINIAN I which I thought of.

When it comes to narrative historians, I was pleased by Bury's works. Besides the work cited above I've also read his HISTORY OF GREECE. Bury's works were much better than Gibbons' DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE as both history and as works of literature.

I've also read and liked such chronicles as Thucydides HISTORY OF THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR, St. Gregory of Tours' misnamed HISTORY OF THE FRANKS, and St. Bede's HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH CHURCH AND PEOPLE, among others.

Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Sean,
In LAST AND FIRST MEN, we read about Martian Invasions of Earth as in a history book, like reading about the Norman Conquest of England.
Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

But in how much detail and background? Was Stapledon's book comparable to, say, Churchill's history of WW II?

When it comes to alien invasion stories I like Anderson's THE WAR OF TWO WORLDS and Niven/Pournelle's FOOTFALL.

Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Sean,
Enough detail for a convincing history. I think that Stapledon is worth reading.
Paul.