Near the beginning of this first Dominic Flandry novel, Brechdan Ironrede, Protector of the Roidhun's Grand Council, enunciates:
"'...the highest end of all - absolute freedom for our race, to make of the galaxy what they will.'" (p. 27)
However, very near the end of the last novel to feature Flandry, a later Protector begins to lose hope because, despite its continuing decline, the Terran Empire has inflicted a series of demoralizing defeats on the Merseian Roidhunate.
Similarly, in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, although Britain has declined, even "thrown away" its Empire, Bond repeatedly defeats his Russian adversaries. Although four later volumes focus instead on the independent threats of SPECTRE and Blofeld, in the posthumously published novel, Bond, KGB-controlled, fails to kill M, then, debrainwashed, does kill Hendriks of the KGB and Scaramanga, "The Man With The Golden Gun."
In both instances, these major defeats maybe contribute to the eventual collapse of the enemy power.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I agree, a series of defeats, disappointments, and setbacks inflicted on the Roidhunate by the "moribund" Empire caused a loss of hope in the Protector Tachwyr, despite him also trying to rally both himself and the Grand Council.
And I recall how, in his article about Kipling, Anderson was not happy about how quickly the British Empire disappeared after WW II.
I've started rereading some of the Bond novels, which included up some stuff online about Fleming and 007. Many critics did not like the posthumous Bond story, considering it weak, compared to its predecessors. A just view or not?
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
I think that the last novel is a superb conclusion with all the ingredients. It wraps up a continuous three-volume narrative that started with OHMSS. It returns Bond to Jamaica, now independent. It brings Leiter back. It gives us yet another villainous meeting - this one spied on by Bond and Leiter - with the top man, Scaramanga, murdering one of his colleagues. Like Blofeld, Scaramanga gets away but this time is tracked down within the book. The concluding sentence is a perfect epitaph for Bond. Fleming, at death's door, knew that he would write no more. I cannot see that the text lacks colorful details. A dramatic opening to the novel and a perfect conclusion to the series.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Iow, after Fleming's health started to fail in 1959, he strove to wrap up the Bond series in a satisfactory manner.
I esp. remember that report read by M from the medical officer who examined 007, commenting on his bad smoking, drinking, and eating habits! After reading a bit about Fleming's all too similar habits, I can see that was a near autobiographical touch. And it was amusing to see Bond sent to take the "cure" at a clinic designed to help break people of such habits.
Ad astra! Sean
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