Wednesday 17 May 2017

New Narratives And Multiple Generations

SM Stirling's The Sunrise Lands ends with betrayals and mysteries so what can we do but read the next volume which should arrive soon but meanwhile I am reading for the first time Poul Anderson's second Trygve Yamamura novel which is an interesting text because, as far as I have read into Chapter 2, Yamamura has been on-stage briefly but not yet as the viewpoint character.

How many generations of Emberversers will Stirling show us? Anderson condenses five generations of Goths into "The Sorrow of Odin the Goth." See here and here. In Anderson's Technic History, Nicholas van Rijn's granddaughter marries David Falkayn and their grandson is the central character of one short story. That is also five generations. We want to learn more about van Rijn's and Falkayn's descendants and in fact we do meet one later direct descendant, Tabitha Falkayn, who, despite her human ancestry, is adopted and raised by Ythrians and identifies herself as "Ythrian" when the Domain is at war with Terra.

The Emberverse, Yamamura, the Time Patrol and the Technic History are four very different and fascinating fictional series. I am still reading the first and second and rereading the third and fourth.

3 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

Stirling wrote at least one short story set in Britain more than fifty years after the Change, "Something for Yew." The story revolves partly around a now crucial resource, yew wood. Necessary for making high quality bows for archers.

Sean

S.M. Stirling said...

Poul threw off worlds the way flint strikes sparks.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Dear Mr. Stirling,

I absolutely agree! I've recently started rereading PA's OPERATION LUNA.

Sean