How much of Poul Anderson's Technic History is fiction within the fiction? Quite a lot. Look through the contents of The Earth Book Of Stormgate plus "The Star Plunderer" and, of course, "Sargasso of Lost Starships." (The latter features some almost supernatural beings but demonic rather than angelic.)
This means that two kinds of additions to the Technic History are possible:
new instalments fitted between existing instalments;
rewrites, recounting what "really happened" when van Rijn was stranded on Diomedes, when Manuel Argos led a slave revolt and founded the Terran Empire etc.
Someone might even write The Sky Book Of Stormgate.
The Technic History is long but implies a literally endless narrative.
2 comments:
It's a contradiction with the history of the Roman empire. Rome went from strength to strength against outsiders -- it was the civil wars of the generals trying to seize power that racked Italy.
Kaor, Paul and Mr. Stirling!
Paul: Except the existence of the angels as real beings is taught as a matter of divine revelation in both the Scriptures and authoritative teachings of the Church (e.g., Lateran Council IV).
One thing that has puzzled me is how even some who say they believe in God also deny the angels are real. That does not make sense--if you believe in God then you also have to believe He has the power to create non-corporeal beings.
Mr. Stirling: I mostly agree, with me thinking of the civil wars of the Late Republic and then the even more disastrous civil wars of the Third Century Crisis of the Empire. But in your two pub. Antonine books you repeatedly stressed that the Marcomannic War, while not a civil war, was a first-class disaster for the Empire, with the barbarians ravaging the Pannonian provinces and parts if NE Italy in our history. Marcus Aurelius had to fight very hard before he was able to drive out the savages.
Ad astra! Sean
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