Saturday 11 December 2021

Future Historical Simultaneity

I have said it recently but it bears repeating that a future history series should present not only many successive but also some simultaneous events. All ten stories in Robert Heinlein's Future History, Volume II, The Green Hills Of Earth, are set around 2000 A.D.

Poul Anderson's Technic History begins by proceeding through successive stages into the future:

early interplanetary exploration;
early interstellar exploration;
the centuries-later exploration of Avalon -

- but then:

Adzel studies on Earth while Nicholas van Rijn returns to space;

David Falkayn is a factor for van Rijn's company while Juan Hernandez is on Ivanhoe (earlier visited by Falkayn) and van Rijn is on Diomedes;

van Rijn's trader team of Falkayn, Adzel and Chee Lan is on Ikananka while van Rijn himself is on t'Kela;
 
the trader team is on Merseia while van Rijn solves the problem of Cain without leaving his lounger;

van Rijn and his trader team, splitting into two sub-teams, defeat the threat from Dathyna while other problems grow in the Polesotechnic League;

van Rijn's granddaughter, Coya Conyon, grows up on Earth while hearing about the adventures of the trader team.

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

But the Polesotechnic League arose, IMO, around AD 2200, centuries before Avalon was settled by Falkayn. And during its height it was the League that provided whatever cohesion Technic civilization then had. I think that should have been mentioned after "early interstellar exploration."

Ad astra! Sean