The first eight-installment Polesotechnic League series culminates in Mirkheim, the novel about the planet Mirkheim, whereas the second such series culminates appropriately in "Lodestar," the short story that had introduced Mirkheim, as yet unnamed. The story is a mini-Mirkheim. In "Lodestar," the nature of Mirkheim causes a potential conflict between van Rijn and Falkayn whereas, in Mirkheim, it causes an actual conflict involving several interstellar powers, including Falkayn's home planet, Hermes.
In Baen Books' The Technic Civilization Saga, "Lodestar" is the culmination of Volume II and Mirkheim is the first installment collected in Volume III whereas, in the original reading order, we read Mirkheim as the culmination of the Polesotechnic League Tetralogy, then, in the Earth Book, we read the previously suppressed story of how van Rijn had come to the planet later called Mirkheim. Either way, it is good. Maybe everyone should read the series one way, then reread it the other way.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
For both of us, of course, and other older readers like us, we did not first any of the Technic stories in such neatly schematic ways. For me, the very first of these stories I read was the Chilton Books edition of AGENT OF THE TERRAN EMPIRE in about 1968. Next might have been paperback editions of SATAN'S WORLD and ENSIGN FLANDRY.
The point being I read the Technic stories totally out of order in terms of internal chronology.
Ad astra! Sean
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