Thursday, 4 December 2025

Many Planets

The richness of "Esau" (see the previous post) is demonstrated also by the number of planets to which it refers either directly or indirectly or by implication:

Earth
Avalon
Ythri
Altai
Suleiman
Babur
Mirkheim
Hermes (Falkayn's home planet)
Merseia

There are many more planets than these in the Technic History and most are vividly realized in one or more instalments. Both Falkayn and Flandry visit Merseia. Falkayn spends most of his time in space and on other planets but eventually we receive a detailed account of Hermes which becomes important again in the Flandry period. The two other members of van Rijn's first trader pioneer crew led by Falkayn are xenosophonts from Woden and Cynthia. Much that appears once reappears later in a historically changed context.

3 comments:

S.M. Stirling said...

I do think Poul sort of rushed the downfall of the League to include van Rijn in it.

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Of course, the Babur War was a terminal crisis but not yet the end.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Mr. Stirling and Paul!

Mr. Stirling: Once you pointed that out I agreed. It would have been less "rushed" if MIRKHEIM had been set 20 years later than it was in the book. I put that down to Anderson wanting van Rijn, at age 80, still being able to take an active part in the story. Anderson probably thought that, even with antisenescence, Old Nick would not be able to be as active at age 100 as he would be aged 80.

Paul: I think the decline of the League lasted another century after MIRIKHEIM before some humorless Napoleon type got rid of its remnants.

Ad astra! Sean