Real And Fictional Changes

Technic civilization lasts from the end of the Chaos until the Fall of the Terran Empire. Thus, it encompasses the periods of the Solar Commonwealth, the Troubles and the Empire. Mirkheim describes sociopolitical changes on Earth and Hermes toward the end of the Commonwealth period. After Mirkheim, Falkayn, having assessed what is happening in human space, leads a group of colonists into Ythrian space.

How do these fictional changes connect or compare with the real global changes that occurred during the twentieth century when Poul Anderson was writing the Technic History series? Regular blog correspondent, Sean, thinks that the Chaos began at Sarajevo in 1914. It culminates in major upheavals in the early twenty first century.

We have seen in recent posts that some people who lived comfortably before 1914 thought that civilization was coming to an end after 1945. (See also here.) In this sense, their predicament was that of David Falkayn except that they were not able to emigrate to another planet. Big changes can be unpalatable but life continues until it stops.

In the Lake District just north from here, large buildings that were built as private residences are now appreciated and enjoyed by larger numbers of people because they are preserved by the National Trust or adapted as outdoor sports centers etc. I hope that we will solve current problems but also that we will not restore the social values that prevailed before 1914.