Flandry's Legacy (Technic Civilization) by Anderson, Poul Reprint Edition

Flandry #8, 9

by Poul Anderson

Sir Dominic Flandry is now an Admiral, but takes little joy in his new rank. He sees the rot in the Terran Empire on every hand and knows that the Long Night will inevitably fall upon the galaxy. His consolation is that measures he has taken while doing what he can to postpone the Empire’s final collapse may shorten the coming galactic dark age and hasten the rise of a new interstellar civilization. In the meantime, he’ll enjoy the comforts of a decadent civilization—and he’ll always be ready for one more battle against the Empire’s enemies.

This concluding volume of the Technic Civilization saga, one of the milestones of modern science fiction includes two full-length



A Stone in Heaven—When the daughter of Flandry’s mentor asks for help, he intervenes, and finds he must thwart a would-be dictator’s plans to seize control of the Empire. The Game of Empire—The Merseians, alien enemies of the Empire, have put into motion an insidious plan to bring the Terran Empire down. Flandry’s daughter, Diana, and her feline-like alien friend have discovered the conspiracy, but can they stop it in time? Plus three novellas and a novelette set in the time of the Long Night and the renaissance of civilization which followed it, concluding one of the grandest adventure sagas in science fiction.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

Mass Market Paperback

First published March 29, 2011

About the author

Pseudonym A. A. Craig, Michael Karageorge, Winston P. Sanders, P. A. Kingsley.

Poul William Anderson was an American science fiction author who began his career during one of the Golden Ages of the genre and continued to write and remain popular into the 21st century. Anderson also authored several works of fantasy, historical novels, and a prodigious number of short stories. He received numerous awards for his writing, including seven Hugo Awards and three Nebula Awards.

Anderson received a degree in physics from the University of Minnesota in 1948. He married Karen Kruse in 1953. They had one daughter, Astrid, who is married to science fiction author Greg Bear. Anderson was the sixth President of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, taking office in 1972. He was a member of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America, a loose-knit group of Heroic Fantasy authors founded in the 1960s, some of whose works were anthologized in Lin Carter's Flashing Swords! anthologies. He was a founding member of the Society for Creative Anachronism. Robert A. Heinlein dedicated his 1985 novel The Cat Who Walks Through Walls to Anderson and eight of the other members of the Citizens' Advisory Council on National Space Policy.[2][3]

Poul Anderson died of cancer on July 31, 2001, after a month in the hospital. Several of his novels were published posthumously.


Series:
* Time Patrol
* Psychotechnic League
* Trygve Yamamura
* Harvest of Stars
* King of Ys
* Last Viking
* Hoka
* Future history of the Polesotechnic League
* Flandry

Reviews

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sadly--since I am such a fan of Poul Anderson's work, especially his Technic Civilization series, as re-collected recently by Hank Davis--this is the final volume not only of Flandry stories, but of the Terran Empire as a whole.

The opening novel, "A Stone in Heaven," is a pivotal episode not only in now-Vice Admiral Flandry's career but also his personal life. In coming to the aid of a primitive species who needs Imperial help against the cooling of their world, he uncovers a plot to start a civil war within the Empire. He also gets much more than he bargained for as a result of his action. Strangely though, Flandry himself is a relatively minor character for most of this story.

This is even more true in the next story, the long and wonderful "The Game of Empire," in which Flandry's illegitimate daughter Diana Crowfeather is the focus of the story (and she shows that she really is her father's daughter). There's all sorts of great closure in this, the last Flandry tale: a reappearance of Wodenites and Cynthians from the Commonwealth tales of the first volume, and Tigeries from the initial story of Ensign Flandry. Fleet Admiral Flandry himself has a very small role, not even appearing until the middle of the story and keeping a quite low profile until the very end. A most fitting passing of the torch, and an epic tale that reads like the most visually scenic James Cameron movie unfolding in the reader's head.

What follows gives a glimpse of how civilization slowly reemerges after the fall of the Long Night, which happens some decades after the close of "The Game of Empire." "A Tragedy of Errors" shows how language can drift when two sets of speakers are isolated for long enough, and the dire consequences it can have. "The Night Face" demonstrates how bizarre civilizations and moral codes can develop in the same way. "The Sharing of Flesh" is, as Davis says in his foreword, a "whydunit" rather than a "whodunit," and for some reason it reminds me of some of the great pulp fiction tales of the 1930s and 1940s. It also reminds us that we don't need to become barbarians ourselves, even when faced with the most naked barbarism in others. The final story, "Starfog," takes place at a time when human civilization has revived and spread even farther and more energetically than during the height of the Empire, a thousand years and more after its fall.

I can't express strongly enough how hard I wish that we had 10 times more stories of Technic Civilization than we do; but I'm so grateful for what we have. Anderson wrote some of the best, flawed, noble characters in all of science fiction; they inhabited a rational yet mysterious and awe-inspiring universe that his mastery of language brings to vivid life; and they face many choices and moral dilemmas that we face in our lives as well. I will now move on from the Technic Civilization series and re-read Anderson's other works--both fantasy and sci-fi--but these books with their amazing characters--Van Rijn, Falkayn, Flandry, Aycharaych, Adzel, Chee Lan, the Merseians--will always remain a touchstone for me, and a standard against which I measure all other science fiction.

[Phoenix · Rating 4 out of 5]

Flandry of Terra - End of an Era

This is the final volume of Baen Books' republication of Poul Anderson's Polesotechnic (Political Social Technologic) cycle and kudos once again to Hank Davis and Baen for bringing this collection back into print and making it available in digital form. It begins with the somewhat disappointing novella "A Stone in Heaven", which I'd give 3*. To be sure, Anderson's world building skills are in full play - he devotes a many pages to the development of the planet Ramnu and its intelligent inhabitants, but not enough effort on character development. The plot is formulaic: Miriam "Banner" Abrams, the daughter of Flandry's mentor, featured in Ensign Flandry, is a xenobiologist studying the intelligent life forms (sophonts) of Ramnu who are faced with an ice age threatening to wipe out their bronze age civilization. Technically the Terran Empire could help reverse the calamity but since the sector govenor Edwin Cairncross refuses Miriam's request for assistance she contacts Flandry whom she hopes has influence with the Emperor. There's some light cloak and dagger as Flandry suspects and uncovers a coup which of course the Merseians are involved and he and Banner fall into a relationship. There are pangs of memory recalling previous adventures and aide de camp Chives supplies some light banter but the usual twists of the grand game one usually hopes for are missing.

What follows is the novel length "Game of Empire". It's 3 years later and Flandry's daughter Diana Crowfeather is a 17 year old street waif who grew up on the planet Starkad, the locale of Ensign Flandry. However it takes a bit of time to establish that Diana is really the sidekick and the main character is really the Tigery Targovi, also from Starkad, and the son of Dragoika, Flandry's co-protagonist in t. Dianna gets herself hired as a guide to Axor, a Jesuit styled (Jerusalem Catholic of the Galilean Order) centauroid who's on a quest to discover archeological evidence about the Foredwellers, an ancient galactic civilization that vanished millions of years ago. Targovi convinces his companions, whom he uses for cover, to travel first to the river world Daedelus, and then the planet Zacharia, a world of human clones. Something is amiss and rebellion is afoot and no doubt Merseia is behind it. It's a good intrigue and Targovi+Dianna are supposed to be a composite replacement for Flandry, who shows up for a couple of cameos, but they lack the panache of the original.

The remaining 4 tales (two novellas and two shorts) take place during the Long Night after the fall of galactic civilization and all are worth 4+*. Each story is a puzzle involving the resolution of cultural differences and misunderstandings.

"A Tragedy of Errors" concerns the swashbuckler Roan Tom and his two wives Yasmin and Dagny who lack a common language. Down on his luck and in need of repairs they approach the planet Nike which has broken down to a collection of feudal kingdoms, each ruled by an engineer. The inhabitants are wary of outsiders due to a previous devastating attack, but the main conflict of the story is that the meaning of words in Anglic like "friend", "business" and "slave" has shifted so drastically that the Tom and the Nikeans misunderstand each other's intentions. The irony is that the two women who don't speak the same language understand each other better than the men who do.

"The Night Face" is about a joint expedition from Nueva America and Lochlana to the planet Gwydiona. The love triangle featured between 3 of the characters, one from each society, is a bit sudden and not quite believable, but the interplay and mystery between their cultures is. The Gwydionians, descendents of human colonists, possess a society w/o war and violence, familiar with science and technology but infused with symbolism of a quasi religious nature. And apparently, every five years, during "Bale Time" some event occurs bringing them either to collapse or ecstasy, and it's a taboo subject that cannot be discussed. As Bale Time approaches, both outworlders Raven and Tolteca are challenged to understand the causes and to come to terms with it's meaning.

In "The Sharing of Flesh" we again have a multicultural expedition in this case to primitive world where civilization has decayed to the the level of a stone age and a deficiency in food supply has led to a male puberty rite requiring cannibalism. When Evalyth's husband Donli is caught by surprise and eaten by some of the natives, she is forced to balance her own need for revenge with the goals of the expedition. Here Anderson does excellent work constructing an ecology with multiple social frameworks, and not at the expense of story or character.

Finally "Starfog" is a puzzle story with an economic resolution. The star ship Makt emerges from a globular cluster of stars and approaches the worlds of the Commonality. They are descendents of early Terran explorers who have rebuilt civilization on their home world of Kirkasant, and the first to travel far from it - but their navigation system has proven to be inadequate to find their way home. At first their story is not believed and there is an element of mistrust. Again cultural imperatives come into play. The Commonality could help but it's a loose federation without a central government and individually the members lack an incentive to incur such a costly project. However Anderson supplies an organization known as Rangers (no, this is not Babylon 5) which is empowered to look into the matter.

Enter the young Ranger Daven Laure and his intelligent but motherly ship Jaccavri. He decides to pursue their case and takes a small expedition into the cluster. Anderson creates believable stellar and cultural environments, though one does have to suspend one's belief that human life could be effectively shielded from the amount of radiation proposed. In a bit of space opera he falls in love with the Captain's daughter Graydal, risks his life and finally proposes an elegant solution, more Nicholas Van Rijn than Flandry.

Consistently solid and enjoyable writing from one of the great masters of science fiction.

Recommended.

[Martyn Vaughan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had not realised when I started reading this is that this is not a stand-alone novel but a compilation of novels and novellas taken from the same future history: That of the Technic Civilisation and The Terran Empire. They are: 1) The Wheel Turns 2) A Stone in Heaven 3) The Game of Empire 4) A Tragedy of Errors 5) The Night Face 6) The Sharing of the Flesh and 7) Star Fog. The early stories are about the Empire's confrontation with its great enemy: The Merseians. Flandry himself gradually fades away with his Empire and the last we actually see of him is when he is arrested by a rebel Terran general. The last stories are set after the Empire has fallen and fortunately the Merseians have too.
The best part of what I now see is a compendium, is Anderson's trademark attention to detail which includes telling us where the planet's sun lies on the Hertzsprung-Russel Sequence.
None of the stories are particularly thrilling but they are all well-crafted and give the illusion of being based on real science.

I therefore claim this as 5 books instead of 1.

[Franz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up at the latest library book sale, in October of 2022.

It is the last in a series of 7 books of the Technic Civilization Saga, and contains six stories (in Technic Civilization Saga chronological order) which were originally published between 1963 and 1985.

Overall, I enjoyed the stories in this book. The two longer Flandry novellas ("A Stone in Heaven" (1979) and "The Game of Empire" (1985)) were fine and entertaining, but I found the short(er) stories much more interesting.

These stories, all first published in the 1960s, mostly dealt with the themes of evolution and genetic drift amongst widely dispersed and isolated human populations on different planets etc. - no alien component. Of these, I particularly enjoyed "The Sharing of Flesh" (1968), a story that featured cannibalisms as a necessary means to survive as a species.

Enjoyable SF - if I can find the other six books in the series (not in our library) I will certainly plan to read them too.

[Karen-Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Stone in Heaven and The Game of Empire are two novels read previously. The rest of the book were not Flandry stories but include: A Tragedy of Errors with Roan Tom, The Night Face with a planet population that suffers periodic insanity when a certain plant blooms (Let the Spacemen Beware),
The Sharing of Flesh, Starfog and Chronology of Technic Civilization, and The Price of Buying Time. Each of these was interesting and a good reason for buying a book with two major, already read, novels.

[Jeff Roche · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Long Night arrives

A fitting finale for Andersons future history. Stories reflecting the end of Flanders struggle against the long night, and what comes after. The Long Night stories are a wonderful portrayal of humanities struggle through history.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The dramatic conclusion to Flandry's saga, with a few tales set in the Long Night (and one beyond). An interesting future history construction.

[Joe Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anthologies are tricky. At the most basic level, they boil down to a collection of stories. Sometimes, the stories are intended to go together. This can happen when an editor proposes a theme and solicits contributions, from multiple authors, structured around that theme. Sometimes the stories aren't intended to go to together. This can happen when stories from a single author, over time, are collected together.

Such it is with the The Technic Civilization Saga from Baen Books and Poul Anderson. This 5-volume series collects stories that were written over many years and that, combined, tell a future history of humanity. Many of these stories were written for magazines. They're meant to describe a common world but they weren't necessarily meant to be read one right after the other. Poul Anderson repeats himself a fair bit and, read consecutively, that can become wearying. That's the weakness of this volume and of this entire series. It wasn't meant to be read one right after another and it reveals that too much of a good thing can, in fact, just be too much.

For this volume, I decided to slow down and read the stories slowly, interspersed with other things that I wanted to read. I wanted to space out the stories and experience them as they were originally written: a universe to come back to again and again, over time.

Once I did that, I really started to enjoy this book. Their are some really good, moving stories in here. Stories of how humanity changes and yet the essence of humanity—hope, compassion, forgiveness, greed, envy, and more—remains the same. Poul Anderson is a good author and this is a collection worth reading.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

...And there we have it, Anderson's entire Technic Civilization sage. It's an impressive body of work. Although Anderson repeats himself a number of times, overall I enjoyed reading these stories. They range from rather pulpish (the 1950s Flandry short stories) to the poetic and slightly fantastical story The Saturn Game, which opens the entire saga (see The Van Rijn Method ). Reading through these collections, the various stages in Anderson's development as a write are clear to see. I can't say that I enjoyed very story on this long journey but it certainly is an achievement in 20th century science fiction that is not to be overlooked. Baen did us a service by collecting them all in this manner. For the real Poul Anderson fan this series is a treasure...

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