Re: John Grimes (A Bertram Chandler) - a little help?

In article <10085kh$f7h$1@reader1.panix.com>,
 jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll) wrote:

In article <10083hn$3s9qp$1@dont-email.me>,
Tony Nance  <tnusenet17@gmail.com> wrote:

>
I was looking at my shelves for something to read next, and I realized I
have roughly a dozen novels set in the Rim universe. A few feature Derek
Calver, set before John Grimes emerges as the main protagonist; and
almost all of my Grimes novels are set early in his career.
>
Both isfdb and wikipedia give a pretty good in-universe chronological
order, and of course it's pretty easy to figure out publication order as
well.
>
Any advice on how to go about reading this series? Is it important to
read the Calver stories first? Anything I should be aware of that can't
be deduced from isfdb?
>

As I recall, they were written out of order in an era when books were
expected to stand on their own. For the most part, each volume tells
you what you needed to know to enjoy that book. Actually, I don't
remember any that do not.
 
That said, some do reference previous events. I would not read
the Far Traveller or Star Courier before The Big Black Mark.

In my case, I have not read _The Big Black Mark_ (though I have heard of
it - was it inspired by Bligh's first mutiny?*), but I have read _The
Far Traveller_ and _Star Courier_.

*IIRC, _The Anarch Lords_ was inspired by Bligh's third mutiny. Since I
haven't read all of the Grimes stories, I don't know if there is one
inspired by Bligh's second mutiny.

--
"We have advanced to new and surprising levels of bafflement."
Imperial Auditor Miles Vorkosigan describes progress in _Komarr_.
�-----------------------------------------------------
Robert Woodward robertaw@drizzle.com