In
The Technic Civilization Saga, Volume III,
Rise Of The Terran Empire, we find the third reference to Gorzun which, in publication order, was the first. Gorzuni sack Earth and enslave human beings but Manuel Argos leads a slave revolt, attacks Gorzun itself and founds the Terran Empire. Next, still in Volume III, an Imperial governor and a Fleet Admiral's daughter are guarded/chaperoned by a Gorzunian mercenary. The Gorzuni have been forced back down into the hireling role that they had held in
Satan's World. In Volume IV,
Young Flandry, an Imperial governor has four Gorzunian mercenary guards and a vice boss on Irumclaw is guarded by one statue-like Gorzunian mercenary.
In Volume VI, Sir Dominic Flandry: The Last Knight Of Terra, Chunderban Desai tells Dominic Flandry that the true menace to the Terran Empire is not the barbarian rabble, the realistic Ythri or the pathetic Gorrazanian remnant but Merseia. Gorzun has become "Gorrazan." In Volume VII, Flandry's Legacy, Merseia attacks Gorrazan as a diversionary measure during the (Merseian-inspired) Magnusson Rebellion within the Terran Empire.
Thus, the Gorzuni/Gorrazani stay with us through most of the Technic History.
5 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
This discussion of the Gorzuni/Gorrazani also reminded me of the Shalmuans. Members of the latter species also seem to get around quite widely, but mostly as space hands on freighters.
And some, like Chives could have done, seems to have specialized in opening high end restaurants.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
Do we read many references to Shalmuan space hands?
Paul.
Shalumans seem to have acute senses of taste and smell.
The Gorzuni seem to be good at -fighting-, but bad at actually -winning wars-. These are related, but not the same thing.
Kaor, Paul and Mr. Stirling!
Paul: Not as many as I thought, I've only found two that seems relevant. First, on page 265 of Baen Books RISE OF THE TERRAN EMPIRE, at the very beginning of "Sargasso of Lost Starships," I found this: "The long, smoky-raftered taproom was full--stolid burghers and peasants of Lanstad, discharged spacemen still in their worn uniforms, a couple of tailed greenies from the neighbor planet Shalmu."
We have discussed the likelihood that the best way to understand "Sargasso" is to think of the story as a fiction within the fiction. So it's probably best not to put much stress on that mention of Shalmu and the "greenies."
A more convincing example is from Chapter 1 of THE GAME OF EMPIRE: "Otherwise she [Diana] spied a centauroid Donarrian, the shiny integuments of three Irumclagians, a couple of tailed, green-skinned Shalmuans..."
Actually, I've seen more mention of Irumclagians as space hands or even Imperial Marines than Shalmuans!
Mr. Stirling: Given Chives' expert, appreciative knowledge of wines both from Terra and those made from grapes grown on some of the colonial worlds, I think you are right.
As for the Gorzuni, that seems to be the case! Gorzun seems to have resigned itself to being a client ally of the Empire, and letting the Imperium do the strategic thinking for both of them.
Ad astra! Sean
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