Like Poul Anderson's World Without Stars and The Rebel Worlds, his A Stone In Heaven begins with an alien point of view. This is familiar Andersonian sf which does not immediately tell us that it is part of his Technic History.
In Baen Books' Flandry's Legacy:
p. i is an extract from the last story, "Starfog";
p. ii is a list of Baen Books titles by Poul Anderson;
p. iii is the title page;
p. iv is publishing information;
p. v is the Contents;
p. vi is Acknowledgments;
pp. vii-xii are an Introduction, "The Wheel Turns," by the Compiler, Hank Davis;
p. 1 is an internal title page for A Stone In Heaven;
p. 2 is the dedication to John K. Hord;
pp. 3-16 are Chapter I of XIV.
P. 3 introduces the Kulembarach clan who deal with "...the strangers from the stars."
P. 4 introduces the viewpoint character, Yewwl, while she is hunting with her husband, Robreng, and their three youngest children. A human being called Banner shares Yewwl's sensory experiences through a collar worn by Yewwl and has done so for eighteen years.
On p. 12, we learn that Banner is Miriam Abrams based in Wainwright Station as she becomes our viewpoint character. We might remember that, in Ensign Flandry, Max Abrams had referred to his young daughter, Miriam.
On p. 13, Banner, now referred to as "Abrams," says that she is from the planet Dayan and we might remember that Max Abrams was from there.
On p. 14, she describes Yewwl as a Ramnuan and mentions the Terran Empire.
At the very bottom of p. 15, she refers to the Grand Duke of Hermes! (We move closer and closer to familiar territory.)
on p. 16, Abrams will go to Terra to appeal to what she calls "'...the very top...,'" not, in the first instance, the Emperor but:
"'...have you ever perchance heard of Admiral Flandry?'"
End of chapter. We knew of a Dominic Flandry but had not yet known that he had become an Admiral. He himself will not come on-stage until p. 28 and the beginning of Chapter III.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
Your choice of illustration, the Ace Books edition of A STONE IN HEAVEN, reminded me of how heavily illustrated that version was. For the first time ever, I came across depictions of Flandry and other characters which made sense and MATCHED how Anderson described them. A pity the Baen Books edition did not include at least some of them.
Ad astra! Sean
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