All The Narrative Layers

By finally collecting the entire Technic History in a uniform edition, Baen Books' The Technic Civilization Saga, compiled by Hank Davis, combines several narrative layers. In The Technic Civilization Saga, Volume I, The Van Rijn Method, "How To Be Ethnic In One Easy Lesson," still introduced by Hloch of Stormgate Choth, is followed by:

"The Three-Cornered Wheel," introduced by an extract from Commentaries on the Philosophy of Noah Arkwright by Vance Hall;

"A Sun Invisible," introduced by an extract from An Introduction to Sophontology by Noah Arkwright;

"The Season of Forgiveness," introduced by Hloch who explains that this story was written by Judith Dalmady/Lundgren, was based on a story relayed to her by her father and was published in Morgana.

In terms of content:

"The Three-Cornered Wheel" introduces David Falkayn, working as an apprentice on the planet Ivanhoe;

"A Sun Invisible" shows Falkayn working for van Rijn's company although not yet in personal contact with van Rijn;

"The Season of Forgiveness" recounts later events on Ivanhoe.

The Arkwrightian "introductions" (really independent essays) to the first two Falkayn stories had been added in the collection, The Trouble Twisters, just as Hlochian introductions were added in the Earth Book.

Thus, there were three stages of publication:

original publication of stories or serialized novels in sf magazines, notably Analog;

collection of shorter works in Trader To The Stars, The Trouble Twisters and the Earth Book as well as in the two Flandry collections and also book publication of novels;

finally, the complete Saga.

What Hloch Does

Again, let's be clear about how much Hloch does and does not do. Of course it is Jim Ching who tells us that he is presenting his first person account of his dealings with Adzel and that Adzel helped him to become a spaceman. However, it is Hloch who adds that:

Jim wrote reminiscences throughout his life;

he settled in Carawrayannis on Llynathawr;

his descendants kept his notebooks;

they made them available to Rennhi.

Thus, the resources available to Hloch when compiling The Earth Book of Stormgate included Rennhi's copies of Jim's notebooks. "How To Be Ethnic In One Easy Lesson" is an excerpt from an early notebook. We would have known nothing of Jim Ching's life after his single story if not for Hloch's much later written introduction to it.

By contrast, "Margin of Profit," the earliest published van Rijn story but collected later in the Earth Book, is a third person account by an omniscient narrator. It is only Hloch that informs us that this story is an excerpt from Tales of the Great Frontier by A. A. Craig. Hloch states that folk tales of van Rijn exist on many inhabited planets and that there are also many accounts of him in Library Central on Avalon although such accounts are no longer widely read because Avalonians focus instead on their Founder, David Falkayn. It seems then that, for this particular inclusion in the Earth Book, Hloch needed only to lift a text directly from Library Central whereas some of the other instalments, like "Lodestar," required considerable research.

The rationale for including three stories specifically about Nicholas van Rijn is as follows. Falkayn founded Avalon. Van Rijn had been Falkayn's mentor. Therefore, to understand their Founder, Avalonians need to be informed about van Rijn. In real life, Poul Anderson was collecting most of the remaining Technic History stories and Hloch's placing of these stories in the context of the founding of Avalon was an excellent framing device that qualitatively enriches the History.

Narrative Layers

There are multiple layers of narration in Poul Anderson's The Earth Book of Stormgate. 

In the opening story, the first person narrator, having remained in orbit, presents a third person account of the activities of the landing party on the surface of Ythri. Thus, she is not the viewpoint character. Next, immediately after the text of the story, Hloch names her as Maeve Downey, planetologist. This is an addition to the story as originally published.

In the second story, "The Problem of Pain," an unnamed first person narrator recounts his conversations with Peter Berg on the planet Lucifer. Berg begins to describe his earlier experiences on the planet Gray/Avalon. However, with the change of scene from Lucifer to Avalon, we read a third person account of Berg's experiences. The story returns us to the unnamed first person at the end. Then, after the end, the Earth Book returns us to Hloch who next introduces Jim Ching's first person account of his dealings with Adzel, then A. A. Craig's third person account of Nicholas van Rijn.

Rich, complicated and worthy of multiple rereadings.

In The Frame

The framing device is a brilliant literary invention. We read about pilgrims in an inn. The pilgrims tell stories. We read the stories. There are at least two layers of narrative. There can be more layers because stories can be told within stories. When reading fiction, we sit comfortably while reading about other people having a hard time somewhere else. With a framing device, we sit comfortably while reading about someone sitting comfortably hearing about someone else having a hard time. A narrator's survival is (usually) guaranteed if he has survived to tell the story - although fantasy allows for a hereafter. In fact, a hereafter, even better a hereafter coupled with pre-existence, would be the ultimate framing device. Dominic Flandry hints at such when he reflects that Emperor Hans Molitor:

"...either appalled Manuel Argos or won a grudging approval, in whatever hypothetical hell or Valhalla the Founder dwelt."

-Poul Anderson, A Knight of Ghosts and Shadows IN Anderson, Sir Dominic Flandry: The Last Knight of Terra (Riverdale, NY, March 2012), pp. 339-606 AT III, p. 380.

A supernatural hereafter has to remain hypothetical in hard sf. However, by way of contrast, see Anderson's War Of The Gods. The opening Chapter I and the concluding Chapter XXXV are set in the realm of the gods. In XXXV, the hero Hadding has died and realized that he was the god Njord. Thus, the divine story frames the human story.

Pivotal Volume

As I have said at least twice before (!), Poul Anderson's The Earth Book of Stormgate:

completes the story of the Polesotechnic League;

almost completes the story of human-Ythrian interactions;

refers to the Terran Empire although not to Dominic Flandry.

Thus, this collection is the pivotal volume of the entire Technic History. The Earth Book looks both backward and forward. In particular, it collects "Day of Burning" which:

on the one hand, features Nicholas van Rijn's first trade pioneer crew led by David Falkayn;

on the other hand, explains the anti-Terran hostility displayed by the Merseian Roidhunate throughout the entire nine-volume Flandry period of the Terran Empire. 

What could be more comprehensive?

Early Technic History

The Chaos

interplanetary exploration

energy from space

the hyperdrive

the Breakup

the Solar Commonwealth

colonization of Hermes

the first Grand Survey

discoveries of Ythri, Merseia, Avalon and Paradox

the Polesotechnic League

colonization of Aeneas and Altai 

These early developments set the scene for much that follows from the third instalment, "The Problem of Pain," onwards. In "The Problem of Pain," Ythrians and human beings explore the planet that will be called Avalon and an Aenean Christian has a painful encounter with the Ythrian New Faith. In his introduction to "The Problem of Pain," Hloch discusses the Solar Commonwealth and tries to explain the human concept of "nation" to his fellow Ythrians.

What Is New In The Earth Book?

In Poul Anderson's The Earth Book of Stormgate, how much history does the editor Hloch himself impart? On Earth Real. all twelve Earth Book instalments had been published previously. Thus, in our reality, only Hloch's contributions are new. In the Technic History, however, only seven of the instalments had been published previously:

"Wings of Victory" in Far Adventure by Maeve Downey;

"Esau," "The Season of Forgiveness" and "Wingless" by Judith Dalmady/Lundgren, all published in the Avalonian periodical, Morgana;

"Margin of Profit" and "Rescue on Avalon" in Tales of the Great Frontier by A.A. Craig;

The Man Who Counts, a historical novel originally published on either Terra or Hermes.

By contrast 

"The Problem of Pain" was part of a private correspondence preserved in the University of Fleurville on Esperance;

"How To Be Ethnic In One Easy Lesson" was part of the private reminiscences of James Ching;

"A Little Knowledge," "Day of Burning" and "Lodestar" were specially written for the Earth Book, the latter two co-written by the editor.

Hloch's Bio

Hloch's father, Ferranian, was an engineer who often dealt with human beings in their cities, Gray and Centauri. His mother was Rennhi, a historian and the author of The Sky Book of Stormgate, the history of Stormgate Choth from the ancestors on Ythri to the founders and their descendants on Avalon. Ferranian's and Rennhi's Ythrian and human guests roamed and hunted in the country that the couple held around Spearhead Lake near Gray. Because of its proximity to Gray, Stormgate accepts more human members than other choths. Thus, Hloch and his contemporaries grew up knowing members of that species. Hloch served in space during the Terran War, then visited Imperial planets as a member of a merchant crew. When he returned to Avalon, his Wyvan Tariat asked him to complete the second history that his late mother had left unfinished. This work, the Earth Book, begins with the human discovery of Ythri.

And this summary informs us where Hloch had been and what he had been doing during the events of The People of the Wind even though, as a newly created character, he does not appear in that novel.

56 Texts

Poul Anderson's History of Technic Civilization comprises a total of fifty-six texts:

43 instalments of a future history series;

12 introductions and one afterword fictitiously written by Hloch of Stormgate Choth in The Earth Book of Stormgate.

Hloch not only (fictitiously) edits and introduces the Earth Book but also (fictitiously) co-writes two of its twelve instalments. His co-author is Arinnian of Stormgate/Christopher Holm, the difference being that Arinnian is a major character in The People of the Wind, the companion volume to the Earth Book, whereas Hloch is before us only in his thirteen short texts. Thus, Hloch is to be found only in this collection - or dispersed through The Technic Civilization Saga, Volumes I-III (of VII), depending on the order in which we read the Technic History. The Earth Book has another companion volume, The Sky Book of Stormgate, but that is about Ythrians and not read by us. 

Our biographical information about Hloch, if any, is to be found only in his thirteen short texts which, however, also present a wealth of additional information about some other prominent characters and therefore repay close study.  

The Magnusson Rebellion Aftermath

The Game of Empire, CHAPTERs TWENTY-TWO-TWENTY-THREE.

The Commandant of the Patrician System sends an escadrille of corvettes to Zacharia but the Merseians who are there evade arrest by taking off and crashing. The truth is announced. Magnusson's men kill him. The insurrection disintegrates. Merseia denies involvement. The Zacharians are forcibly dispersed. Some might go over to Merseia. Flandry philosophises about the game of empire or life. He arranges training and backing for Diana and Targovi and funds Axor's research. End of narrative.