Friday 9 April 2021

A Series Becomes A History

A sufficiently long future history series can include several installments that do not progress the fictional history but merely elaborate a single period within it, like the various Moon stories in Robert Heinlein's Future History.

The future historical aspect of Poul Anderson's Technic History is powerful because gradual. The opening three installments are set long before the birth of Nicholas van Rijn and the concluding four installments are set long after the death of Dominic Flandry but there are forty three installments in total!

The first five novels (see Eighteen Volumes) demonstrate the gradual transformation of the series into a future history -

The Man Who Counts: van Rijn and the Polesotechnic League;
Satan's World: van Rijn, Falkayn and the League;
Mirkheim: van Rijn, Falkayn and the beginning of the end of the League;
The People Of The Wind: a descendant of van Rijn and Falkayn post-League, in the Empire period, but before Flandry;
Ensign Flandry: the opening volume about Flandry defending the Empire.

At last a historical era has elapsed although at an appropriately leisurely pace.

5 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

This is a bit embarassing, but you made repeated mistakes in the last part of this blog piece.

Take another look!

Ad astra! Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Sean,

OK. I have mixed up Falkayn and Flandry before.

Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I think you mentioned having some trouble with names that look alike to you.

Ad astra! Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Sean,

In Britain, we have had Tony Robinson (Labour Party) and Tommy Robinson (English Defence League). I disagree with both but not in the same way!

Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

And sometimes you might get the two Robinsons mixed up? That can happen!

Ad astra! Sean