Monday 1 July 2024

Linear And Branching Series

Linear Future History Series by Poul Anderson
Psychotechnic: a Heinleinian time chart
Technic: historical cycles
Maurai: post-nuclear Earth
Flying Mountains: asteroid colonisation
Rustum: extra-solar colonisation
Kith: interstellar trade
Harvest Of Stars: human-AI interaction
Genesis: post-human AI

Linear Future History Series by James Blish
Cities In Flight: flying cities
The Seedling Stars: Adapted Men

Branching Future History Series by James Blish
Haertel Scholium: 
Lithia (a sinless planet);
"Angels" (energy beings); 
Dirac transmitter (an instantaneous communicator);
Galactic Cluster trilogy (microcosmic telepathy).

I am rereading A Case Of Conscience, about Lithia. This novel refers back to Haertel but is not and does have to be consistent with other Haertel Scholium works. 

When we reread a book decades later, it is like a different book.

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I think it should have been clarified that some of Anderson's series hypothesized STL space traveling while others used FTL.

Ad astra! Sean