"'I've used you ill, as I've used many. It was from no will of mine. Oh, true, an art, a sport - yours too...'"
-Poul Anderson, A Knight Of Ghosts And Shadows IN Anderson, Sir Dominic Flandry: The Last Knight Of Terra (Riverdale, NY, June 2012), pp. 339-606 AT XX, p. 600.
Did Flandry regard his deadly profession as a sport? Well, yes. He said:
"'...it's an amusing game that the empires underwrite for us, no?'"
-"Honorable Enemies," p. 300.
- and:
"Was that always my real desire? Not to chase down enemies of the Empire so I could go on having fun in it, but to have fun chasing them down?
"No matter."
-A Knight Of Ghosts And Shadows, III, p. 382.
It matters.
2 comments:
The difference is that Flandry doesn't regard his work as -just- a game. It's a game, he enjoys it, but he's also holding off Chaos and Old Night.
I've known soldiers with pretty much the same attitude.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Exactly! For all his cynicism Flandry retained some wistful ideals and loyalties.
Ad astra! Sean
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