Tuesday 25 February 2014

Discussing The Time Patrol

I have not yet finished discussing Poul Anderson's Time Patrol series although clearly we have been through most of it by now. I feel privileged to be able to discuss the series at this length and in such depth, which would not be possible if there were not so much to be found in the texts. In fact, I am genuinely surprised at how much is to be found on rereading:

the languages, politics and religion of the divergent timeline in "Delenda Est";
the historical details of the two divergent timelines in The Shield Of Time;
the state of the world in 1280 AD;
Carl Farness' journey forward through time with Wodan;
Manse Everard's and Janne Floris' journey back through time with Veleda and Niaerdh;
the moment in a London hansom cab when the reality of time travel strikes home to Everard;
how much we can deduce from the minimal information about the Danellians;
the eventual emergence of a collective continuing villain, the Exaltationists, as against the less sophisticated Neldorians;
Anderson's clear statements of the temporal paradoxes which enable us to discuss them without immediately encountering glaring contradictions.

This feels like a culmination of Anderson's works although the later Dominic Flandry novels when reread with equal attention to detail can generate the same impression.

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