Starkadian land-dwellers owe nothing to the place where they live. A ship is ruled but a town or island is not. Instead, females are organized into Sisterhoods whose members live anywhere. Through their Sisterhoods, females own all the important property, make all the important decisions and even have distinctive languages.
Merseians of the Roidhunate want to conquer the galaxy but then to rule it through autonomous realms, not centrally from Merseia. For them, it is the race that matters.
In sf, it is important that aliens not only look different but also think and live differently. We expect and appreciate this in Poul Anderson's works.
Addendum: Cynthians have not nations or tribes but treetop trade routes. Members of just one trade route become spacefarers in Technic civilization.
2 comments:
Merseians are unusually humanlike by Poul's standards -- but then, his treatment of aliens got more sophisticated as his career went on.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
True, but his treatment of Merseians also became more sophisticated, even in ENSIGN FLANDRY. Simply compare the Mereseians in that book with the Merseians seen in the much earlier, unrevised version of "Honorable Enemies." And his treatment of that race became even more nuanced in A CIRCUS OF HELLS.
Ad astra! Sean
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