For a provisional entry in the Chronology of Technic Civilization, see below:
"3047 A Knight of Ghosts and Shadows...
"4444 /story on Flandry's old age planned/"
-Sandra Miesel, A CHRONOLOGY OF TECHNIC CIVILIZATION IN Poul Anderson, The Earth Book Of Stormgate (New York, 1979), pp. ix-xii AT p. xii.
"4444" is wrong, surely?
There were two subsequent novels with Flandry but he is not really old-aged, is he? In his sixties or seventies but still active and working, thanks to antisenescence, and possibly going to have more children? "Old age" would mean retired, no longer active and physically failing. Anderson never shows us his heroes like that.
His best bon voyage is that of van Rijn:
"'...maybe we will lead a little expedition quite outside of known space, for whatever we may find.'
"'...why you not come too?'
"'You take the Long Trail with me!'
"'A universe where all roads lead to roaming. Life never fails us. We fail it, unless we reach out.'"
-Poul Anderson, Mirkheim IN Anderson, Rise Of The Terran Empire (Riverdale, NY, 2011), pp. 1-291 AT XXI, p. 287.
2 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
of course AD 4444 was a typo or misprint!
True, granted antisenescence, we can someone as hard living as Nicholas van Rijn remaining active and vigorous as he entered his eighties (as we see in MIRKHEIM).
And I like and agree with the wisdom you quoted from Old Nick! Maybe YOU would have liked to join his expedition of exploration? Yes, live never fails us, unless WE fail it.
Ad astra! Sean
Oops. I meant "LIFE,not "live," never fails us, unless WE fail it."
Sean
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