Poul Anderson's Time Patrol series, published from 1955 to 1995, tells us nothing to contradict the course of world events during that period.
In 1954, Manse Everard says that he has not gone as hysterical as the rest of the country. In 1987, Shalten refers to Gorbachev's glasnost. Those are perhaps the only two topical references, reflecting very different periods in some of our memories. Everard would have known of glasnost after he had joined the Patrol in '54 but did not happen to mention it...
"It was a peculiar feeling to read the headlines and know, more or less, what was coming next. It took the edge off, but added a sadness, for this was a tragic era."
-Poul Anderson, "Time Patrol" IN Anderson, Time Patrol (Riverdale, NY, 2010), pp. 1-53 AT 3, p. 17.
We last see Everard in 1990. His Time Patrol "milieu" ends in 2000. We do not know what comes after that.
5 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I think we see another topical reference in "Ivory, and Apes, and Peacocks." Albeit, rather vaguely.
Everard was probably either promoted to the Middle Command or assigned to another milieu after AD 2000.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
We do.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I recall it being rather a vague reference and Everard being skeptical of the validity of the sentiment expressed there.
Ad astra! Sean
Or, alternately, he could just relocate somewhere else in the 20th century with a new cover identity. Since learning a language is trivial, and the Patrol can furnish an identity, which would be easy enough as long as it's a largish city where people come and go regularly.
Recall how Karl/Wodan and his wife relocate to 1930's New York?
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Yes, Everard COULD have been reassigned/relocated elsewhere in the 20th century.
Ad astra! Sean
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