Orion Shall Rise ends with a ship questing for the Southern Cross whereas Dominic Flandry's adventure in The Rebel Worlds begins with Vice Admiral Kheraskov briefing Flandry about Sector Alpha Crucis of the Terran Empire and showing him a projection of:
"..twinned Alpha and bachelor Beta of the Southern Cross." (p. 20)
For the significance of this constellation in Poul Anderson's works, see here. (Scroll down.) See also "The Astronomy Of The Technic Civilization Saga" by Johan Ortiz here.
These are real places and Anderson invites his readers to imagine an Empire that operates on that scale. Kherakov, described as:
"...the master of perhaps a million agents through the Empire and beyond." (p. 17)
- does not expect Flandry to "'...contribute more than a quantum to our effort.'" (p. 18)
However, Flandry, an Andersonian hero who has already come to the attention of upper echelons because of the Starkad affair, will single-handedly resolve the conflict in Sector Alpha Crucis. (This parallels Falkayn's earliest exploits bringing him to van Rijn's attention.)
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
Vice Admiral Kheraskov's expectation that Lt. Com. Flandry would only be able to contribute a "quantum" of what was necessary to resolve the crisis in Sector Alpha Crucis was a reasonable one to make. But Flandry, like Winston Churchill long before, was one of those individuals who really was able to CHANGE how history would develop.
Ad astra! Sean
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