Could a fictional series about an individual character like Dominic Flandry by continued indefinitely? Yes. When we last read about Flandry, he is approaching seventy and benefiting from antisenescence. Seventy years means seventy personal birthdays, seventy Emperor's Birthdays, seventy Christmases if they still have them, over fifty annual salary increases (we hope) and so on for every other yearly occasion. If, for example, Flandry attends a particular monthly social gathering for five decades, then that amounts to six hundred such gatherings, any one of which could at any time become the subject-matter of a new short story. Although each particular human life is finite, any single life presents infinite possibilities for an author of fiction: "infinite" in the sense that he will never exhaust them. His own life will not last long enough.
6 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Technic antisenescence could enable people to live in good health for about 100/110 years. Not too implausible a lifespan!
We see quite a few Christians in the Technic stories, in the eras of both the League and the Empire. And "The Season of Forgiveness" shows Christmas being celebrated.
Flandry was often away from Terra for months at a time, so he could not always attend a regular social event.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
I thought of that, Flandry away from months at a time, but you know what I mean: a man's life is enough material for an endless fictional series.
Paul.
Came across an interesting Anderson recently; "Epilogue" in a 1980s Analog; human space travelers return to an very deep time Earth after a nuclear holocaust and find robotic life has "evolved" from low-end assistance robots to full AI, mobile, with a society that parallels human society before the war; hijinks ensue.
Anderson certainly could cover the bases, from silliness like the Hoka stories (which he basically fesses up to being a paycheck in one of the stories) to work that although not New Wave SF, certainly had some thoughts that went beyond "Astounding-ish" standards.
As entertaining as the Technic series is, especially the van Rijn and Flandry elements, it's to Anderson's credit he kept trying different things, and did not simply default to "Flandy, Dominic Flandy. And you are?" formulae.
Kaor, Paul and Dave!
Paul: I do, but I fear I was also being literal minded.
Dave: "Epilogue" was a great story by Anderson, ingenious working out of what might be done using von Neumann machines. One bit that sticks in my mind was how Zero and his AI wife prayed using an AI version of the Pater Noster.
I was a bit peeved however, at you dismissing Anderson and Dickson's Hoka stories as mere "silliness." I enjoyed them and I'm sure many other readers did as well. I urge you to consider that SF has room for comedy and even slap-stick. Not all SF has to be grimly serious!
While I would have been glad if Anderson had written one or two more Technic stories, I am glad he went on to other ideas and themes after THE GAME OF EMPIRE.
Ad astra! Sean
Nothing wrong with silliness; just simply they were not very "serious" in comparison with much of his output.
Kaor, Dave!
Exactly! The Hoka stories Anderson co-authored with Dickson were simply meant to be lighthearted fun, a relaxation from being serious.
Ad astra! Sean
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