"'The Nyanza business was a trifle wearing, y'know,' [Flandry] said, to remind her of yet another exploit of his on yet another exotic planet. 'I came Home for a rest.'" (I, p. 153)
That settles it. "Hunters of the Sky Cave" follows directly on the heels of "The Game of Glory." Therefore, the diptych of "A Message in Secret" and "The Plague of Masters" should not have been inserted between "The Game..." and "Hunters..." in the Chronology.
"Hunters..." refers back to "The Game..." which refers back to "Honorable Enemies" which refers back to "Tiger by the Tail." Therefore, these four works form a consecutive tetralogy around which the rest of Dominc Flandry series was subsequently constructed, the entire Young Flandry retroactively preceding "Tiger by the Tail," which had introduced Captain Flandry to a pulp sf magazine reading audience back in January, 1951, or maybe a bit earlier. Did those magazines go on sale to coincide with the date printed on their covers or two or three months earlier? (I ask because this became the practice with comic books.)
13 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I'm disgusted with myself for missing this obvious clue! It's plain I'm going to have to revise my article to bring it in line with what WE CLAIM THESE STARS says.
Ad astra! Sean
Kaor, Paul!
I've been thinking of how best to correct and revise my article about Sandra Miesel's Chronology of Technic Civilization. Based on this blog piece of yours, I came up with the following list of stories I hope are in the correct order, in terms of internal chronology.
"A Message In Secret"
THE PLAGUE OF MASTERS
"Tiger By The Tail"
"Honorable Enemies"
"The Game of Glory"
WE CLAIM THESE STARS
Next comes trying to determine the most correct possible dates for these stories.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
The order that you suggest is wrong. A KNIGHT OF GHOSTS AND SHADOWS tells us that Flandry was knighted for defeating the Scothani. He is not "Sir Dominic" in "Tiger By The Tail" or "Honorable Enemies" but is "Sir Dominic" in the other stories listed here and in "The Warriors From Nowhere."
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Dang! I should have remembered that Flandry's knighthood came from his undermining of Scotha. I hope the list below is more correctly arranged.
"Honorable Enemies"
"Tiger By The Tail"
"A Message In Secret"
THE PLAGUE OF MASTERS
"The Game Of Glory"
WE CLAIM THESE STARS
And "The Warriors From Nowhere" now has to be placed in Hans reign.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
"Honorable Enemies" refers back to "Tiger By The Tail." The events of "Honorable Enemies" occur within the period covered by the introductory section of "The Game of Glory."
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Thanks for helping me sort this out. Given what you said, I would list the stories as seen below:
"Tiger By The Tail"
"Honorable Enemies"
"A Message In Secret"
THE PLAGUE OF MASTERS
"The Game Of Glory"
WE CLAIM THESE STARS
Next comes wrestling with the dates for these stories in my revision of Sandra Miesel's Chronology.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
I do not think that the opening section of "The Game of Glory" allows time for "A Message In Secret" and THE PLAGUE OF MASTERS as well as "Honorable Enemies" between A'u's escape from Conjumar and Flandry's mission to Brae.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
But "A Message In Secret" definitely came before THE PLAGUE OF MASTERS. Because the latter story mentions Flandry as having recently left Altai. And "The Game Of Glory" was shortly before WE CLAIM THESE STARS. So, we get this partial list:
"A Message In Secret"
THE PLAGUE OF MASTERS
"The Game of Glory"
WE CLAIM THESE STARS
And we know "Tiger By The Tail" came before "Honorable Enemies." One reason why I argued for a slightly longer reign for Josip than the 19 years Miesel suggested was to allow more time for these stories to take place. Hence my view that Josip reigned for 20 years.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
"A Message In Secret" definitely comes before THE PLAGUE OF MASTERS.
"Tiger By The Tail" came before "Honorable Enemies."
"The Game Of Glory" is shortly before WE CLAIM THESE STARS.
But "Honorable Enemies" happens during the opening section of "The Game Of Glory." "Tiger By The Tail," as a result of which Flandry was knighted, happens before "Honorable Enemies." Flandry is "Sir Dominic" in "A Message In Secret" so "A Message In Secret" cannot have been before "Tiger By The Tail."
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I've been thinking about this, but I have to go to work now. I will get back to wrestling with this problem of the proper ordering of the stories when I come back.
Ad astra! Sean
Kaor, Paul!
I'm back to struggling with the proper ordering of the stories we have been discussing in this combox. Let me begin with the listing we have arrived at so far:
"Tiger By The Tail"
"Honorable Enemies"
"A Message In Secret"
THE PLAGUE OF MASTERS
"The Game Of Glory"
WE CLAIM THESE STARS
In "Honorable Enemies" we see Aline Chang-Lei trying to cheer up a worried Flandy: "Dominic Flandry, the single-handed conqueror of Scothania, brought down by that overgrown buzzard?" So, yes, this story came after "Tiger By The Tail." And since Flandry is a knight in "A Message In Secret," a story preceding THE PLAGUE OF MASTERS, that means "The Game Of Glory" and WE CLAIM THESE STARS ends this listing.
The beginning of "The Game Of Glory" has Aa'u escaping the Terrans on Conjumar in a damaged spaceship which soon forced him to hide on a frontier planet of the Empire. Two years went by, during which Flandry went to Betelgeuse for the events recorded in "Honorable Enemies." And then to Terra where he was a guest at that much discussed Perpetual Banquet of the Lyonid family. After which Flandry found himself on Brae, back to the beginning of "The Game Of Glory."
The question here is whether "A Message In Secret" and THE PLAGUE OF MASTERS also occurred during these two years. I think it could have if the events in "Honorable Enemies" did not take up too much time.
I think the listing of these stories, as given above, is as accurate as we can get. If so, next comes trying to find appropriate dates for them in my revision of Sandr Miesel's Chronology of Technic Civilization.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
I think that dates are impossible.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I agree it will be difficult and that it will probably be impossible to come up with wholly satisfactory dates. But I think at least an attempt should be made. If Anderson had said three years had gone by at the beginning of "The Game Of Glory," then finding dates probably could be done.
Ad astra! Sean
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