Thursday, 6 February 2020

The Terran Empire In The Technic History

The Terran Empire is the single unifying factor in Poul Anderson's Technic History because:

the Empire is proclaimed at the midpoint of Volume III and endures until the midpoint of Vol VII;

however, The Earth Book Of Stormgate, which unites Vols I-III, is compiled during the early Imperial period;

Earth Book Introductions permeate Vols I-III, starting with the second story in Vol I;

the Empire is explicitly mentioned in the concluding story of Vol VII;

implicitly, in that last story, the Kirkasanters are descendants of rebels who fled from the Empire at the end of Vol III.

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I would argue that the Empire survived for at least two more centuries after THE GAME OF EMPIRE. Because we see Flandry hoping, near the end of GAME that would be the case. I might even go so far as to say, because of Flandry's struggles and triumphs, he may well have extended the lifespan of the Empire by at least 100 years. And his daughter Diana and her friends, by thwarting Merseia, made that more likely.

I think the Kirkasanters descend from only a small number of the McCormac rebels. We see mention of their ancestral records saying only one ship with humans settled on Kirkasant. Meaning we have no idea what happened to the other McCormac rebels.

Ad astra! Sean