"...the single-handed conqueror of Borthu, Diomedes, and t'Kela!"
-Poul Anderson, "The Master Key" IN Anderson, Trader To The Stars (New York, 1964), pp. 115-159 AT p. 121 -
- thus explicitly referring to the contents both of the previous two stories in the collection and of the novel.
Why is "Esau," published in 1970, placed before "Hiding Place," published 1961, in the Chronology of Technic Civilization? This puts "Esau" between The Man Who Counts and "Hiding Place," the first story in Trader...
The first two volumes, Trader... and The Trouble Twisters, are specifically about van Rijn and Falkayn respectively and therefore would not have included any chronologically earlier stories about other characters which in any case were not written until later and therefore could not have been included.
Kaor, Paul!
ReplyDelete"Esau" is always going to remind me of the old custom of court dwarves, both in that story and in real history.
Merry Christmas! Sean
I think "War of the Wing-Men" was a first stab at Ythrians... 8-). Ultra-dense atmosphere!
ReplyDeleteKaor, Mr. Stirling!
ReplyDeleteI agree, altho when he was writing THE MAN WHO COUNTS*, Anderson was more directly inspired by Hal Clement. It was John Campbell who helped shape Anderson's conception of what became the Ythrians. And "Ythri" itself was taken from the original version of "Honorable Enemies."
Merry Christmas! Sean
*Anderson disliked the original title inflicted on the story, I prefer to use the one he wanted, THE MAN WHO COUNTS.
Yeah. Van Rijn isn't necessarily -smarter- than the Diomedians -- though he's very smart. But he has a broader range of background knowledge and uses it cunningly. Not to mention the bite on the arse!
ReplyDeleteLater treatments of Diomedes show the descendants of the sea-voyagers adapting well to Technic civilization, while the descendants of the migratory peoples are having problems.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
ReplyDeleteAgree, what you said about Old Nick's greater range of knowledge and experience. And the point about that "arse bite" was how human proteins were lethally poisonous to Diomedeans.
Fleet cultures on Diomedes were technologically oriented, meaning such Diomedeans were more mentally adaptable to Technic civilization, and willing to be loyal to the Empire in Flandry's time. Diomedeans from Flock cultures were more or less the opposite.
Merry Christmas! Sean
Sean: well, Fleet Diomedian cultures had constant sexuality -- and hence a mating and marriage pattern very similar to human beings. Flock ones didn't, and it would require a cultural revolution for them to do so.
ReplyDeleteKaor, Mr. Stirling!
ReplyDeleteTrue, I overlooked the psycho/sexual aspects seen in the two different dominant types of cultures seen on Diomedes. The kind of "cultural revolution" (ugh, that brings up loathsome Maoist associations!) Flock cultures would need to accept to adapt/survive is repulsive to them.
Merry Christmas! Sean