Captain Sir Dominic Flandry, one of the
Terran Empire's top field agents is a character created by
Poul Anderson. Flandry one of heroes of Anderson’s
Technic History series; is set in a time when the Terran Empire is crumbling under the weight of it’s own decadence and corruption and under constant threat from other empires. Flandry strives to delay the collapse of the Terran Empire, despite his sure knowledge of its many flaws.
Flandry seems almost a throwaway character in Anderson’s first stories to feature him; written for Planet Stories in the 1950’s they are Space Operas, well-written and entertaining Space Operas to be sure, featuring barbarians with spaceships and blasters. Flandry develops as a character as Anderson develops as a writer, becoming in my opinion one of the great characters of science fiction.
Flandry is many things, sophisticated, tough, cynical, he enjoys the pleasures of the flesh; he seems like a somewhat darker version of James Bond.
Poul Anderson novels to feature Dominic Flandry :
We Claim These Stars (1959)
Earthman, Go Home! (1960)
Mayday Orbit (1961)
Let the Spaceman Beware (1963)
Agent of the Terran Empire (1965)
Flandry of Terra (1965)
Ensign Flandry (1966)
The Rebel Worlds (1969)
A Circus of Hells (1970)
The Day of Their Return (1973)
A Knight of Ghosts and Shadows (1974)
A Stone in Heaven (1979)
The Long Night (1983)
The Game of Empire (1985)
Flandry (1993)