Monday 24 November 2014

The Escape And Birthright

I found this image on the Internet. Does anyone know what "The Escape" by Poul Anderson is about?

Next, I will reread all or parts of Anderson's "Birthright"/"Esau," the purpose being to answer certain questions:

What was the Solar Spice & Liquor Company's trade deal on Suleiman?
How did the Baburites threaten this deal?
How did the Altaian factor, Emil Dalmady, turn the tables on the Baburites?
Why did Nicholas van Rijn agree to interview Dalmady?
Why did Dalmady immobilize the Baburites' robots instead of reprogramming them to work for SSL?
Why did van Rijn agree that this was the best action that Dalmady could have taken?

I already know the answers to most of these questions but it will be helpful to list the answers in a blog post. However, it is too much to ask right now since I got up early this morning and it is getting late now. Since we are contemplating not the Terran Empire but the Polesotechnic League, the appropriate sign-off is not "Glory to the Emperor!" but "All the traffic will bear!"

3 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Hi, Paul!

I checked a couple of bibliographies of the works of Poul Anderson and this is what I found in the April 1971 special Poul Anderson issue of the MAGAZINE OF FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION: ' "The Escape," SPACE SCIENCE-FICTION, Sept. [1953] (Early version of BRAIN WAVE. This magazine folded after publishing one installment.) ' A French bibliography of PA's works seems to indicate "The Escape" was the first part of BRAIN WAVE.

Sean

Paul Shackley said...

Sean,
Freaking far out! Brilliant! Thanks!
Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Hi, Paul!

Many thanks! I did not include "The Escape" in my essay discussing and listing the uncollected works of Poul Anderson, almost certainly because I noticed how the story became part of BRAIN WAVE.

Sean