Baburites (outwitted by a van Rijn employee in "Esau") seize Mirkheim (discovered by Falkayn in "Lodestar") and occupy Hermes (Falkayn's home planet);
Merseians (helped by Falkayn, Adzel and Chee Lan in "Day of Burning") have become disaffected from the Polesotechnic League;
Ivanhoans (seen in "The Three-Cornered Wheel" and "The Season of Forgiveness") and members of many other races, including Wodenites (Adzel's species), Cynthians (Chee Lan's species) and human beings have joined the Supermetals company founded by Falkayn to mine Mirkheim;
a Mirkheim miner from Vixen bears the same surname as two Vixenite women who will appear later in the Technic History;
Grand Duchess Sandra's son by van Rijn has grown to adulthood and will be the next Grand Duke of Hermes;
David and Coya Falkayn's son is born and named "Nicholas" - his son, Nat, will have been born on Avalon in "Wingless."
Thus, Mirkheim combines as many plot threads as possible. The equivalent novel in Robert Heinlein's Future History is Methuselah's Children.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I agree MIRKHEIM is an excellent novel. But I think Stirling made a good point when he suggested the decline of the League was a bit too rushed in that story. I in turn suggested that was partly because Anderson wanted Nicholas van Rijn not too be too implausibly old for taking an active role in MIRKHEIM. Even with anisenescence age 105 might have been a strain to accept in seeing Old Nick as active as he was at age 80 in the story.
Ad astra! Sean
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