"'Do please remember that battles have gone wrong, wars have been lost and the history of the world has been changed, because valour has outrun discretion and men have lost touch.'"
-Dornford Yates, Perishable Goods (London, 1928), CHAPTER IV, p. 105.
History changed recalls Poul Anderson's historical fiction, Time Patrol Series and main future history series. His character, Dominic Flandry, marked by both valor and discretion, two qualities necessary for an intelligence agent, was out of touch while on Scotha, Unan Besar and Talwin but nevertheless transformed defeat into victory.
Yates suddenly presents a historical perspective during the action of a contemporary thriller. Anderson's sf thrillers regularly remind us of their historical context. Both authors address social change.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
Incidentally, I'm rereading the first three stories in my Chilton Books copy of AGENT OF THE TERRAN EMPIRE, to see how the original texts of those stories will hold up. AGENT was the very first of Anderson's books to be read by me, nearly 51 years ago.
Sean
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