From "Tiger By The Tail" To "The Saturn Game"

Let's appreciate how Poul Anderson constructed the Technic History by comparing the first six written instalments with the first six in fictional chronological order.

The First Six Written

"Tiger by the Tail" (January, 1951; Flandry)

"Honorable Enemies" (May, 1951; Flandry)

"Sargasso of Lost Starships" (January, 1952)

"The Star Plunderer" (September, 1952; Manuel Argos)

"The Warriors from Nowhere" (Summer, 1954; Flandry)

"Margin of Profit" (September, 1956; van Rijn)

At this stage, these six works have not yet been pulled together into a single series:

the Empire founded by Argos and expanding in "Sargasso..." has not yet been identified with the Empire defended by Flandry;

van Rijn has not yet been located in an earlier period of the same timeline.

The First Six in Chronological Order

"The Saturn Game" (February, 1981)

"Wings of Victory" (April, 1972; Ythrians)

"The Problem of Pain" (February, 1973; Ythrians)

"Margin of Profit" (September, 1956; van Rijn)

"How To Be Ethnic In One Easy Lesson" (1974; Adzel)

"The Three-Cornered Wheel" (October, 1963; Falkayn)

Later, Adzel and Falkayn will work for van Rijn. Still later, Falkayn will found a human-Ythrian colony on the planet explored in "The Problem of Pain." Van Rijn is Catholic and "The Saturn Game" introduces the future Jerusalem Catholic Church. Argos, then Flandry, live centuries later.