Greater Treks

Years ago, at a Memorial Evening for James Blish in London, the British publisher, Charles Monteith, described Blish's Cities In Flight future history series as "a higher and greater Star Trek" (quoting from memory). This same description could also be applied to Poul Anderson's Technic History. "Wings of Victory" and "The Sharing of Flesh" could be adapted as Star Trek episodes. The Merseian Roidhunate is a higher and greater Klingon Empire. Aycharaych is like a more substantial Spock although on the wrong side.

One of the early Star Trek films was advertised with the slogan: "The adventure continues..." This phrase certainly applies to the Technic History. The comprehensive The Earth Book Of Stormgate completes an entire historical narrative stretching from the Star Trek-like Grand Survey to the aftermath of the Terran War on Avalon yet this same Earth Book is followed by the nine-volume Flandy period and its one-volume sequel. The Merseians are perhaps finally being worn down by the end of The Game Of Empire. The post-Flandry volume covers no less than four periods, millennia apart, and a new era of unprecedented interstellar wealth is just beginning at the end of the concluding installment when human civilizations have spread through several spiral arms of the galaxy. The adventure continues.