Rim Worlds John Grimes History

ALTERNATE REALITIES

Chandler is perhaps one of the least-known practioners of the art of 'the world-as-myth', the concept that when authors write, they are, in fact, spinning off 'real' alternate universes in which their characters exist as actual people. This was often expressed through the use of his time-and-space twisting Manschenn Drive (an FTL drive that moves a spaceship ahead in space while travelling astern in time, thus circumventing Einsteinian limitations. The drive often lands the ships it is used in in alternate time tracks and universes), but he used other devices as well - injecting himself into stories as a character (Hall of Fame), making characters out of his pseudonyms (George Whitley in The Pied Potter and in The Deep Reaches of Space) and crossing the alternate realities he himself created (Grimes and the Empress Irene, not to mention Anderson's Ensign Flandry, in The Dark Dimensions).

Its often very hard to determine exactly which time track one is reading about in a particular story, or where a story belongs in the overall history. For example, Operation Starquest deals with a Federation Survey Service expedtion to rescue a lost colony, while Another Red Skin Bit the Dust (part of The Far Traveller series) details John Grimes' own mission to the same lost colony. The stories may or may not be contradictory. If they are, then it is clear that the Rim Worlds universe of Operation Starquest is not the same as the one inhabited by Grimes. In Rim Ghost, the main characters encounter an alternate reality version of themselves and their ship, Rim Girl. It is not clear at all which of the ships belongs to the Rim Worlds Universe of John Grimes, or if, in fact, either of them do. It may be, in fact, that every single time a Manschenn Drive is activated, the ship and its crew cross over into a new alternate reality, one that resembles their point of origin so closely that it is virtually impossible to tell the difference.

The following chart is the beginnings of my attempt to string all of them together and graphically illustrate the relationships between them. Please note that the only timeline that runs in sequential order is our own - the one inhabited by the sea captain and author A. Bertram 'Jack' Chandler. Below the graphical presentation is a tabular presentation with additional detail, particularly that related to our own - and Chandler's - timeline.

Colors used in the graphic are only used for clarity. Colors in the tabular information are for - Chandler biographical information, Story titles, items of historical interest and key information relating to various timelines.