The antithanatic was developed in his lifetime.
He shipped on the first starship.
He composes and sings songs.
He has soldiered now and then.
He joins exploratory spaceship crews as a gunner.
He never accepts a captaincy because he wants to be free to return to Earth every few years or decades.
He is nearly three thousand years old.
For four decades, he wages war on an intergalactic planet until he and his companions are able to build a spaceboat, contact a technological civilization on another planet in the same system and return home.
We want to know:
how long Valland lives;
what other galaxies he visits;
more about this amazing intergalactic civilization;
how many human beings live in "...timeless oneness..." (p. 8) with a planetary surface and how many rove like Valland.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
Yes, now that you've mentioned it, I would like to know the answers to many questions about Hugh Valland. Such as how long he lived, and whether he did go to other galaxies.
One thing I remember about the intergalactic race which evolved outside the Milky Way galaxy was how that people was unable to endure the higher radiation found inside the galaxy. The species had evolved under a red dwarf star in intergalactic space with a far "lighter" radiation background. Even with heavy shielding their space ships could barely enter the fringes of our galaxy.
It seems to me that, assuming indefinite lifespans are possible, human beings have two options: to seek either a contemplative life or a life of action.
Sean
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