Path: news.eternal-september.org!eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail
From: Tony Nance <tnusenet17@gmail.com>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: John Grimes (A Bertram Chandler) - a little help?
Date: Sat, 17 May 2025 12:46:32 -0400
Organization: A noiseless patient Spider
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On 5/16/25 6:04 PM, Ted Nolan <tednolan> 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?
>>
>> Thanks for any help,
>> Tony
> 
> IIRC Calver was a bit of a sad sack and Grimes was much more entertaining.
> Assuming I am recalling correctly, I would say you can skip those
> with no ill effects.
> 
> The later, DAW, books let Chandler use a higher page count and were, I think,
> better for it.  _The Big Black Mark_ is probably the most pivotal book
> in the series, explaining how the older Grimes came to be a big-shot in
> a threadbare pond.

Oh cool - all of that is good to know. Thanks.
Tony