Robert Heinlein's Future History, Volume I (of V), The Man Who Sold The Moon, and Volume II, The Green Hills Of Earth;
Poul Anderson's The Technic Civilization Saga, Volume I (of VII), The Van Rijn Method, and Volume II, David Falkayn: Star Trader.
The Future History has one main historical figure, DD Harriman, the title character of Volume I, whereas the Technic History has three, Nicholas van Rijn, David Falkayn and Dominic Flandry.
In the Future History, Volume I, a still familiar world is affected by successive technological advances culminating in space travel and Volume II shows daily life during the first interplanetary period with a hint of problems to come.
In the Technic History, Volume I introduces Ythrians, the Polesotechnic League, van Rijn, Adzel, Falkayn, references to the planet Cynthia, Sandra Tamarin and several other details while Volume II shows two main developments:
van Rijn's trader team of Falkayn, Adzel and the Cynthian, Chee Lan;
the beginning of the end of the League.
Two authors who knew what they were doing, the difference being that Anderson continued to know what he was doing.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I agree, beginning with STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND Heinlein either discarded or forgot what he did best as an SF writer. He became mostly a bore, starting with STRANGER.
Ad astra! Sean
Kaor, Paul!
Reading STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND and I WILL FEAR NO EVIL, with the partial exception of THE MOON IS A HARSH MSTRESS, was enough to disillusion me about Heinlein's later works. I say "partial" about MOON because there were enough flashes of RAH's better days to make me find that book interesting.
Ad astra! Sean
I read "The Number of the Beast" and it was sitting around & my brother started reading it & wasn't impressed. I said it was a *long* way from being Heinlein's best work. I handed him "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" & he found that much more impressive.
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