Senior And Masquerade

The Boat Of A Million Years, XVIII, 15.

When the immortals confer, Hanno, "...the senior...," asks:

"'...shall we continue our masquerade...?'" (p. 477)

The Senior and the Masquerade, both capitalized, are two key terms for the long-lived Howard Families in Robert Heinlein's Future History, Volume IV, Methuselah's Children. Although the Howards have been selected for longevity since the nineteenth century and now live without visibly aging well into their second century, their Senior, Lazarus Long, is also a mutant since he just remains alive indefinitely like Hanno and his group. It is a coincidence that such a mutant showed up in an early generation of Howards. The Howards have been alive throughout the Future History although they are not revealed until Volume IV whereas Poul Anderson's immortals have been alive throughout history and we see the oldest, Hanno, from 310 B.C. Methuselah's Children is a culminating volume of the Future History whereas Boat is a single-volume fictional history. James Blish's future history, Cities In Flight, begins with the discovery of antiagathics. Different authors, different narratives.