Dominic Flandry

Dominic Flandry, Poul Anderson’s secret agent of the far future Terran Empire, first appeared in 1951 in ‘Planet Stories.’ That puts him before James Bond, but the two arose from the same Cold War era and share many characteristics.

There is undoubtedly something of Flandry in my Jack McFee, protagonist of the three Jack Mack novels. As a teen, I read most of Anderson’s stories (there are quite a few) of him. Sure, there’s a bit of James Bond, too, but Jack is a much glibber and less serious sort than either, and more inclined to shoot off his mouth than his gun. One can find many examples of that type in literature, as well.

I could name, for example, Peter Whimsy or Simon Templar, except I had read neither when I first started with Jack. One might go to other science fiction authors, such as Vance or Zelazny, to find some of my inspirations. One could also look at Tom Jones for Jack’s relationship — or relationships — with women. The opposite sex likes him and he is rather too willing to reciprocate.

Yet remain detached. That is Jack McFee’s big flaw — every decent protagonist has one, you know. Without it, he would be something akin to a ‘Mary Sue,’ the character that is too competent to be true. He seeks that elusive connection to another, even while, perhaps, sabotaging it. At the end of the third Jack Mack novel, ‘Dim Distant Stars,’ he may have finally succeeded — or at least made a step in the proper direction.

I was just rereading that first Flandry story, ‘Tiger by the Tale.’ As most of Anderson’s work, it is written well enough to rise above the mediocrity of the average writer. It is really ‘science fantasy’ in the Burroughs vein. Definitely not ‘hard’ science fiction! Poul Anderson was really better at fantasy than SF, overall, and his best work (in my humble opinion, of course) often combines the two. He is also pretty much to thank (or blame) for creating the Chaos versus Order duality explored later by Moorcock and Zelazny and various lesser lights.

Some of the Dominic Flandry stories are available free from Project Gutenberg, as well as other Poul Anderson work. Maybe you’d like to take a look — but don’t forget my tales too! Available at Arachis Press in print or as free ebooks.