Flandry In The Technic Civilization Saga

 

OK. We are contemplating how Poul Anderson's Dominic Flandry series sprawls across four of the seven volumes of Baen Books' The Technic Civilization Saga. Although Merseia is introduced in Volume II and the Terran Empire in Volume III, Flandry, who defends the Empire against Merseia, does not come on-stage until the beginning of Volume IV but then remains on-stage almost continuously until somewhere in Volume VII.

Volume IV, Young Flandry

Ensign Flandry

A Circus Of Hells

The Rebel Worlds

 

Comments 

The introductory trilogy, written as a prequel to the earlier-written Captain Flandry series.

Flandry advances from Ensign to Commander.

Ensign Flandry introduces John Ridenour and A Circus Of Hells mentions Aycharaych.

Volume V, Captain Flandry: Defender Of The Terran Empire

"Outpost of Empire"

The Day Of Their Return

"Tiger by the Tail"

"Honorable Enemies"

"The Game of Glory"

"A Message in Secret"

Comments

"Outpost of Empire" features Ridenour but does not mention Flandry.

The Day Of Their Return is a sequel to The Rebel Worlds, mentions Flandry and introduces Aycharaych.

Those two works do not belong in a volume entitled Captain Flandry...

The following three stories are an introductory Captain Flandry trilogy.

Flandry finally meets Aycharaych in "Honorable Enemies."

Flandry has been knighted in "The Game of Glory."

The opening story of Volume VI is a direct sequel to the concluding story of Volume V.

Volume VI, Sir Dominic Flandry, The Last Knight Of Terra

"The Plague of Masters"

"Hunters of the Sky Cave"

"The Warriors from Nowhere"

A Knight Of Ghosts And Shadows

 

Comments

"A Message in Secret" and "The Plague of Masters" belong in the same volume.

The remaining three works in Volume VI and the opening installment in Volume VII form a Flandry and Chives tetralogy.

In "Hunters of the Sky Cave," Flandry captures Aycharaych who, however, is released in a prisoner exchange.

"Hunters of the Sky Cave" introduces the planet Vixen.

A Knight Of Ghosts And Shadows climaxes with the final Flandry-Aycharaych confrontation.

Volume VII, Flandry's Legacy

A Stone In Heaven.

The Game Of Empire.

"A Tragedy of Errors."

The Night Face

"The Sharing of Flesh"

"Starfog"

Comments 

Flandry is an Admiral in A Stone In Heaven and The Game Of Empire.

The Game Of Empire features Flandry's daughter and cameos Flandry.

The remaining four works in Volume VII are set long after Flandry's death, indeed after the Empire.

"Starfog" mentions the planet New Vixen and features remote descendants of the The Rebels World rebels.

 

Conclusions

There is a three-stage Flandry series.

The Saga is comprehensive but the volumes could have been organized differently.