Nerthus And Nomads

If the first eleven Psychotechnic History stories ending with "Brake" were to be collected in one volume and the remaining stories beginning with "Gypsy" were to be collected in a second volume, would a reader recognize these two volumes as covering successive periods of a single future history series or might he instead regard them as presenting two distinct series?

Although "Gypsy" presents a very different interstellar scenario from that shown in subsequent instalments, this story is clearly linked to those later instalments because it introduces the Nomads who reappear in The Peregrine. "The Green Thumb" introduces the native Nerthusians and ends ambiguously. Will the Nerthusians blackmail the Galaxy by threatening human settlers? If a story that is ambiguous when read in isolation is incorporated into a future history series, then the ambiguity can simply be left behind in subsequent episodes. In The Peregrine, a Nomad walks through the native quarter in Stellamont on Nerthus. He sees Nerthusians - tall, green and four-armed, like Joe - and their six-legged "ponies." The natives are friendly but live apart because they are uncomfortable in machine culture. In this context, the phrase, "native quarter," should not be taken to imply discrimination, inferiority etc.

Nerthus connects six instalments. Nomads connect two. The connections overlap.