I want to thank the regular combox commentators. They know who they are. We have discussed (what I regard as) all the major issues and there has been more knowledge of history in the comments than in the posts. History is important in Poul Anderson's fiction.
Not for the first time, I cordially invite other blog readers to add their comments. A subject like Poul Anderson Appreciation is bound to generate differences of opinion. Is the Time Patrol right? Is Nicholas van Rijn right? Is the Terran Empire right? Is Gaia right (to recreate extinct humanity)? More discussion and disagreement must be possible. If Heinlein could cause controversy with Starship Troopers, then what can Anderson do with his many better written accounts of interstellar warfare? How much democracy, if any, is there on Earth in the Terran Empire? What kind of extrasolar colony would you like to live in? Will history repeat itself on such a vast scale? Will technology and alien contacts not make events even more unpredictable that they already are? (Tired and becoming incoherent.)
2 comments:
There are a lot of great songs about that area. "The Witch of the Westmoreland" for instance.
Kaor, Paul!
According to the terms of its premises, yes the Time Patrol was right to struggle to preserve the "history" that would lead to the Danellians. A better question might be: are the Danellians at least mostly beneficial?
I'm not sure how to answer your question about Nicholas van Rijn, because he had the good luck to spend most of his life during the optimistic, expansionist phase of Technic Civilization. The problems Old Nick faced were real and serious, but not exactly of transcendental importance. Nothing wrong with that, btw!
Yes, the Terran Empire too was right, because SOMETHING had to arise to restore order during the Time of Troubles if the first human interstellar civilization was not going to come to a premature end.
I'm of mixed mind about Gaia. One part of me says that if mankind voluntarily chose to become extinct, what business was it of Gaia to bring back the human race? Another part of me is REVOLTED by the idea of extinction and is glad Gaia did bring back the human species. Esp. if, this time around, Gaia would leave human beings, to find solutions to their problems without interference by even the most benign AIs.
I hope this blogs helps to reinspire interest in the works of Poul Anderson, inclusing consideration and debate over the questions and issues posed in his stories. I would not be quite so dismissive of all of Heinlein's works--esp. his pre-STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND stories. Heinlein, after all, was one of Anderson's inspirations.
I thought Anderson very good in his speculations about how wars in space might be fought. Albeit, he gives us comparatively few speculations about how wars on planetary surfaces will be carried out. Niven/Pournelle/Stirling gives some good stories about that in GO TELL THE SPARTANS and PRINCE OF MERCENARIES.
I don't know how much "democracy" there was on Terra in the days of the Empire. Or whether most people on the planet even cared. We don't know enough to be able to comment on what political conditions were like at local and regional levels on Terra.
What extrasolar colonized planets would I liked to have lived on in Imperial times? Aeneas, Nyanza, Dennitza, Daedalus all have their points (the gravity of Imhotep would be too much for me, I think). But I think I would pick Dennitza.
Human beings what they are, good and bad, I think many very similar patterns recorded in actual history wold be repeated, even on an interstellar scale. Yes, both an advanced technology and contact with non human beings will affect how human societies develop, in both good and bad ways. AND help to make events unpredictable!
Sean
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