Three Terrestroid Planets In The Stellar Union Period Of Poul Anderson's Psychotechnic Future History Series (Sometimes I Like A Long Title)

The Psychotechnic Institute reads like an improved version of the Second Foundation and the Terran Empire reads like an improved version of the Galactic Empire so these two future history series by Poul Anderson trump one by Isaac Asimov. I could make further such comparisons but they would take us away from our current focus on Anderson's Psychotechnic and Technic Histories.

The three planets referred to in the title of this post are Nerthus, Harbor and Rendezvous. The discoverers of Nerthus followed the traditional practice of naming celestial bodies after mythological figures (see Nerthus) whereas the discoverers of Harbor and Rendezvous bestowed meaningful, relevant names in their language, Basic, which is translated into English for our benefit in Anderson's texts.

Nerthus is described in "The Acolytes" and its sequel, "The Green Thumb," and in The Peregrine/Star Ways. Having so far read the first two stories only once, in The Complete Psychotechnic League: Volume 3, I will shortly reread them.

Harbor is:

"...a shining blue shield blazoned with clouds and continents, rolling against a limitless dark and the bitterly burning stars."

-"Gypsy," p. 12.

 

("The stars burn bitterly clear..." in another work by Anderson.)

The colonists are still exploring and mapping Harbor. That and interplanetary trade occupy Thorkild Erling's time before he becomes the captain of the first Nomad ship. The colonists also eat, and begin to domesticate, some local animals. Will any extraterrestrial ecology be that compatible with the human organism?

Harbor is also:

 

"...almost a duplicate of Earth but without a native intelligent race..." (p. 21)

 

Rendezvous, "...beyond the edge of the known...," is:

 

"...a sapphire shield banded with clouds, blurred with rain and wind and mountain mists."

-Poul Anderson, The Peregrine (New York, 1979), CHAPTER I, p.1.

 

This planet is lovely to human eyes but cannot be mistaken for Earth:

 

its trees are not oak etc;

the wind in their leaves makes an alien sound;

their fruits are sweet but with a previously unknown taste;

the six-legged animals have green-tinged fur;

the constellations are strange;

there are four moons.

 

The Nomads emanated from Harbor and rendezvous on Rendezvous.Thus, these two planets represent the beginning and the culmination of their history.