Posted by Richard Simms on March 30, 1998 at 14:36:34:
In Reply to: The Gaean Reach posted by Jay Palmisano on March 29, 1998 at 17:13:17:
: NOTE: this post contains some info about "Ports of Call", but there are no plot details. All but purists may safely read on.
: All of JV's recent SF novels have been set in the Gaean Reach milieu (the Oikumene, Beyond, the IPCC, etc.). After reading PoC, I have become curious as to some of the continiuity details of these setting elements. Perhaps some of the savants out there could help me with the following:
: 1. The story where the Reach first appears. My guess is "Star King".
: 2. The timeline of the Reach especially as it relates to the stories. Do the events of the Demon Princes books occur before or after the Cadwal Chronicles, PoC, "Night Lamp," etc.? There is a reference in PoC to an IPCC action occuring "Thousands of years previously," so we can safely assume that the IPCC is at least several thousand years old. Some of the anthropological, and in some cases physical, adaptations on the various Reach planets would require a very long time to develop.
: 3. There is a quote by the mad poet Navarth in PoC. He was a major character in "The Palace of Love," and I know that he has been quoted in other stories. Which ones?
: 4. What happened to the Institute?
: I realize the only authoritative sources we have are the books themselves, but any erudite inference, enlightened speculation, or, perhaps, pronouncements from JV himself would be welcomed.
Well I know the Cadwal Chronicles are definetely set long after The Demon Princes series....for example there is mention of the ancient poet Navarth in Ecce and Old Earth ; and Navarth was of course a character in The Palace of Love.
I agree that Star King was probably the first book set in this future universe (the Oikumene seems a precursory name to The Gaean Reach).
Also interestingly The Gray Prince and Maske:Thaery are very much set in The Gaean Reach (SVU's etc).
The three Alastor Cluster novels can be said to be part of the same universe for there is mention in Galactic Effectuator and The Gray Prince of the Alastor Cluster and the starmentors.