"'Admiral Fenross has been at work on the case for a long time.'" (p. 291)
The original version of "Honorable Enemies" was published in May, 1951. Fenross appears only in "The Warriors from Nowhere" (1954) and "Hunters of the Sky Cave" (1959). I deduced, therefore, that this reference to Fenross had been added when "Honorable Enemies" was revised. However, checking the original version reveals that it had contained even more Fenross references:
"'I've contacted Sol by courier robot and gotten in touch with Fenross.'"
-Poul Anderson, "Honorable Enemies" IN Anderson, Agent Of The Terran Empire (London, 1977), pp. 57-81 AT p. 72.
"'The Merseians think most of our strength is concentrated near Llynathawr, but that's just a brilliant piece of deception - Fenross' work.'" (ibid.)
(An early use of the place name, "Llynathawr.")
"'The capture of the leaders of an absolute monarchy is always a disastrous blow. Fenross and Walton think Betelgeuse will surrender before Merseia can get here.'" (ibid.)
Admiral Walton appears in "Tiger By The Tail" (January, 1951) and in "Hunters of the Sky Cave."
Thus, major aspects of this future history were present from the beginning.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
And I would have added that Anderson's revisions of "Honorable Enemies" improved the story. Esp. omitting that "courier robot." Even the fastest possible FTL courier torpedoes could not have reached Terra from Alfzar in anything less than weeks. It simply would not be practical for Fenross or the Policy Board to give detailed supervision of the Terran delegation at the Sartaz's court. Not when it took weeks for information to go back and forth each way.
However, I did find a mistake or omission by Anderson when comparing THE DAY OF THEIR RETURN with "Honorable Enemies," which I discussed in my "Finding An Unexpected Contradiction" article.
I liked Admiral Walton and I'm rather sorry we don't see even a mention of him in A KNIGHT OF GHOSTS AND SHADOWS, A STONE IN HEAVEN, or THE GAME OF EMPIRE.
Ad astra! Sean
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