Desai And Ivar

The Day Of Their Return.

It is with a heavy heart that I turn from that pedestrian plodder, Chunderban Desai, to the charismatic criminal, Ivar Frederiksen, but we must follow the author's narrative. Ivar is the kind of fugitive action hero who is passed from pillar to post, in Ivar's case, from Windhome to the Hedin Freehold to the tinerans to the Riverfolk to the Orcans and finally, since he runs out of alternatives, to Desai and the Imperium. These formative experiences will make Ivar eventually an effective and empathetic Firstman of Ilion. In particular, he will aim to free the tinerans from their addiction to the telepathic parasites which in turn might explain the fate of the Ancients who were also the Chereionites. The Technic History is a single long narrative although its diverse details might obscure certain larger scale connections. In The Game of Empire, Axor investigates the Ancients while Tachwyr wonders about Aycharaych and, as in real history, not every question is answered. As Tolkien wrote about The Lord of the Rings, it is too short. However, Tolkien's Trilogy seems rushed - the characters depart on a long journey and, almost immediately, reach their destination. By contrast, a very great deal of time elapses between the opening Technic History instalment, "The Saturn Game," and the conclusion, "Starfog." Everything else that we read about, League, Empire etc, comes and goes between these end points.