Wednesday, 14 October 2026

Proto-

By a proto-series, we mean a story that is potentially the opening installment of a series. Thus, Poul Anderson's "Time Patrol" was a proto-series until Anderson wrote a second Time Patrol story. Of the five items indicated in the immediately preceding post, each is a part of its respective future history series:

(i) the Psychotechnic History;
(ii) -(v) the Technic History.

However, there can also be sub-series within such a series. Thus:

(i) is a proto-sub-series about Coordinators;

(ii) is the opening installment of the trader team sub-series;

(iii) is a passage in a novel;

(iv) is a proto-sub-series about Targovi and Diana Crowfeather as Intelligence agents;

(v) is a proto-sub-series about a Ranger.

Some of us would have appreciated a longer and more detailed Technic History.

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I too would have loved it if Anderson had written one, two, or even three more Technic stories after THE GAME OF EMPIRE. The series contains gaps, lacunae, questions/mysteries crying out for answers. But I also sympathize with his wish, stated in one of his letters to me, to go on to other ideas and themes.

I believe Stirling did a very convincing Time Patrol pastiche for MULTIVERSE, "A Slip in Time." If there's ever a second MULTIVERSE he might do a Dominic Flandry pastiche. I appreciated how a "Fr. Flandry" was mentioned in BLACK CHAMBER!

Ad astra! Sean