Mark <-- redeacted --> writes:

> On Tuesday, October 07, 1997 4:01 PM, David Johnson
> >
> > I'm suggesting that the pseudo-Greek names for the Freyan characters
> > in "When in the Course--" are possible remnants of their "Aryan"
> > origins in Paratime. In other words, that the idea was originally
> > a Paratime story which was converted to TFH (and, perhaps, later
> > reconverted and/or expanded to the Lord Kalvan stories and, eventually,
> > *LKoO*)..
>
> That's an interesting speculation, but it beggars my imagination that
> Piper wrote it as a Paratime story, converted it into an implausible
> Terran Federation story and then *rewrote* it to be Paratime again.

I admit it's implausible.  It's not my explanation of choice.  (See
below.)

> (Had
> the Lord Kalvan story been there from the beginning, he would never have
> had to make it a TF story -- it would have sold as is.

Not necessarily.  This is actually my explanation.  Beam submitted an
early draft of a Lord Kalvan Paratime story which, for some editorial
reason, was changed to the TFH version we see in "When in the Course--."
Keep in mind that this version never saw print until *Federation*.
Apparently, Campbell or Beam wasn't happy with the TFH version.  Later,
at some subsequent date, the "original" Lord Kalvan Paratime version
was published.

> I'd say it's a lot more likely that the Greek-like names were invented for
> the TF story because Piper knew that consistant-sounding names are an
> important part of the feeling of realism.

I considered that, but all you have to do is look at the rest of Beam's
work--both TFH and Paratime--to see that he was quite adept at *inventing*
consistent-sounding names.

> When he converted it to
> Paratim, it immediately suggested the Aryan-Transpacific explanation.
>  This is not better attested a speculation than yours, but I think it
> shows that the names aren't good evidence one way or the other for the
> order of writing.

Again, I believe Beam's facility with creating names makes the pseudo-
Greek names stand out as part of his intention of making them part of
the Aryan-Transpacific timeline.  (Unless, of course, we could establish
"When in the Course--" as such an early piece that Beam hadn't honed
his name-inventing skills yet, or that some editor balked at his made-
up names and thus he resorted to the pseudo-Greek ones--which later may
have suggested "Aryan-Transpacific" as you propose.)

> There's no proof that it was written as a TF story and then turned into a
> Paratime story, but the evidence points strongly in that direction, and
> against all suggested alternatives.

I'm less certain.  Of course, we'll probably never know for sure.  It
would help a great deal--in this and in other situations--if we knew
*when* each piece was *written* (as opposed to merely when they were
published).

David Johnson                        Net: -- redeacted --
Arlington, Virginia, North America   Web: http://gwis2.circ.gwu.edu/~david
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
"[W]hen a man tells you something you don't understand, don't tell him
he's crazy.  Ask him what he means." -Capt. Otto Harkaman (H. Beam Piper)
                                     *Space Viking*