Three Culminations

 

"The Chapter Ends" is presented as the concluding story of Poul Anderson's Psychotechnic History.

"Starfog" is definitely the concluding story of his Technic History.

"The Horn of Time the Hunter"/"Homo Aquaticus" is definitely the concluding story of the earlier version of his much shorter Kith History.

Having recently reread "The Chapter Ends" and "Starfog," we are now drawn back toward "The Horn..." because it exemplifies our newfound theme of Anderson's marine sf and fantasy.

Each of these three stories transports its readers much further into the future than the rest of its future history series. In each case, old narratives have been completed and a new narrative is about to begin. We have previously drawn parallels with the concluding installments of future histories by James Blish and Larry Niven.