forty-three fictional narratives spanning fifty thousand years;
two or three long series of novels about prominent historical figures;
several short stories about everyday folk in different periods;
one story about communication problems and conflicts during the Dark Ages;
etc.
Might Anderson's many works set in various prehistorical and historical periods constitute such a series? They might have done if they all been set in (what was thought at the time to have been) the real past. However, these diverse works comprise four distinct genres:
heroic fantasy
historical fantasy
historical fiction
historical science fiction
There are several mutually incompatible sets of time travellers. One timeline has been experienced not by time travellers but by immortals. Odin is a real divine being in some narratives but a myth in others. All of these characters can meet in the inter-universal Old Phoenix but they cannot inhabit a single past history.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I immediately thought of ROGUE SWORD, a historical novel by Anderson set in the early 1300's as the Catalan Grand Company, betrayed by Andronicus II, was vengefully ravaging the decaying Eastern Empire. A fierce, dark, grim novel.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: though with a hopeful ending.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
True, I should have remembered this bit about Lucas Greco at the end of R0GUE SWORD: "He took her arm and they walked down toward their ship, the victorious knight and his lady."
Ad astra! Sean
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