Saturday 25 February 2023

Tiger And A Knight

In "Tiger by the Tail," the Terran Empire is a colourful setting for space opera: action-adventure fiction involving spaceships and sword fights. In A Knight of Ghosts and Shadows, that same Empire has become the setting for serious speculation about the causes of civilizational decline. Flandry now works for a usurper and the experienced Imperial administrator, Chunderban Desai, expounds a cyclical theory of history. 

In "Tiger...," Flandry does not stay with Gunli because in those days he did not stay with anyone. And indeed, in this case, it would have been difficult for them to stay together. In A Knight..., he cannot marry Kossara Vymezal because she is assassinated. Thus, however the author contrives it, Captain Flandry remains a series with rotating heroines. Only in A Stone in Heaven, the single novel to feature Admiral Flandry as its central character, does he finally settle down with his old mentor's daughter, an outcome that Anderson cannot have anticipated when he peripherally mentioned Miriam Abrams in Ensign Flandry. In fact, adult sons and daughters of various characters become major players in the later novels of the Flandry period. Then the narrative leaps across several centuries from the novel about Flandry's daughter and Dragoika's son to the short story set during the Long Night.

3 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I might have made more explicit what you only hinted at, Flandry did not stay with Queen Gunli because he did not think it was possible for two persons from different intelligent SPECIES to live together so intimately. No matter how outwardly similar to each other those races were.

Ad astra! Sean

S.M. Stirling said...

Sean: while he probably did think that, I don't think Flandry -wanted- to settle down then. That came rather late to him, possibly because of his early family situation.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Mr. Stirling!

Once you pointed that out I have to agree. Most of what too little we know of Flandry's antecedents comes from ENSIGN FLANDRY, illegitimate son of an opera singer/actress and a space captain of aristocratic origins. Flandry said they were conscientious parents who did their duty in raising him. But I get the impression they were just a bit remote or "detached" from Dominic.

Another tidbit can be found in THE REBEL WORLDS, where we see Flandry thinking Kathryn McCormac reminded him of his mother. It's a pity we know so little about his parents!

I think, at the very end of "Tiger By The Tail," we see Flandry tempted to stay with Queen Gunli. To quote from the original text of that story: "But it could never work out. Best to leave now, before a bright memory grew tarnished with the day-to-day clashing of personalities utterly foreign to each other. She would forget him in time, find someone else,..."

Ad astra! Sean