If Satan's World had succeeded in making its point, then it would have been a different book and "Lodestar," then Mirkheim, would have been unnecessary. However, we enjoy the unfolding of the series. These three works constitute the van Rijn-trader team series as opposed to either the van Rijn series of six installments or the trader team series of two installments.
Since "Lodestar" did not fully make its point, Anderson could either have lengthened/novelized it or written a longer sequel. Fortunately, he took the latter course. In "Lodestar," Falkayn refers to monopolists and Coya refers to laissez-faire capitalism whereas Mirkheim goes into detail about:
Much of this information is only in Mirkheim as also are details of the planet Hermes and of David Falkayn's Hermetian family. Van Rijn as the largest independent gains an unwanted leadership role. The single volume, Mirkheim, is a massive contribution to the Technic History.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I might also have mentioned the increased concentrating of power in the Commonwealth that we see in MIRKHEIM. That too was a bad sign, because it led to the cartelizing of the Home Companies.
Ad astra! Sean
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