"...ruined landscapes lay underneath skies gone strange."
-Poul Anderson, INTRODUCTION WINGS OF VICTORY IN Anderson, The Van Rijn Method (Riverdale, NY, 2009), pp. 75-77 AT p. 76.
The Terran Empire had waged war to adjust its border with the Domain of Ythri. Terra won, Ythri was defeated and hostilities ceased. Consequently, several planets, including Avalon, were to be transferred from the Domain to the Empire. However, Avalon refused to yield. Renewed hostilities focused on this single planet. Terra invaded Avalon but was badly defeated on the planetary surface and obliged to accept a truce. Consequently, Avalon remained within the Domain. Thus, Terra won its war against Ythri but lost its subsequent war against Avalon.
In "Wings of Victory," Terrans came to the as yet unindustrialized planet, Ythri, as explorers. In The People Of The Wind, they returned as belligerents. That is how history unfolds.
2 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Anderson was inspired by the siege of Belfort during the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71 for how he wrote THE PEOPLE OF THE WIND. Belfort was not ceded by a defeated France to Germany (along with the rest of Alsace-Lorraine) because of the long and stubborn defense of the city by the French garrison.
Ad astra! Sean
Kaor, Paul!
I should have added that, after the war between Terra and Ythri, we see the Empire and the Domain becoming allies by the time of THE DAY OF THEIR RETURN. Because the terrifying rise of Merseia was a threat to both of them.
Ad astra! Sean
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