Dominic Flandry and later his daughter are young in the old Terran Empire;
in her high old age, Judith Dalmady/Lundgren draws on fresh memories and a youthful hoverpoint for her last story in Morgana;
Coya Conyon is young when the Polesotechnic League no longer is.
"At first she had revelled in adventure. Everything was an excitement; every day offered a million discoveries to be made."
-"Lodestar," p. 641.
There is a generation gap between Coya and her grandfather. His generation seldom married. Her father's did. Hers is reviving patrilineal surnames. At the very end of the story:
"...Coya saw that [van Rijn] was indeed old." (p. 680)
He personifies the great days of the League which are gone.
Kaor, Paul!
ReplyDeleteBut don't forget that amusing moment in MIRKHEIM when Old Nick boisterously refused to be a pitiable old man when again meeting Grand Duchess Sandra!
I agree nations, empires, civilizations can become old and weary and start declining. But revivals and dramatic resurgences have also happened. A classic example being the astonishing revival of the Eastern Roman Empire, starting around AD 780 and lasting till the death of Basil II in 1025.
Happy New Year! Sean