Monday 4 March 2019

"To Seek Out..."

Poul Anderson, New America, "The Queen of Air and Darkness."

On Beowulf:

"'An expedition was being readied to make a swing around a number of colony worlds, especially those which didn't have the equipment to keep in laser contact. You'll recall its announced purpose, to seek out new ideas in science, arts, sociology, philosophy, whatever might prove valuable.'" (p. 194)

Sounds familiar? Publication dates make it possible that Star Trek influenced Anderson's phrasing. For other Star Trek comparisons, see here.

Visiting humanly colonized planets makes more sense than finding scores of humanoid-inhabited planets.

3 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

And also more PRACTICAL, I don't think ordinary TRADE at STL would ever be realistic. More likely, the sponsors of the Beowulf expedition hoped to buy or swap information and ideas. One example would be finding how Rustum discovered means of enabling anyone who wished to live in the lowlands. That would be useful for Beowulf!

Sean

David Birr said...

"Space ... source of the ultimate evil. These are the voyages of a battle cruiser in the navy of the Imperium of Man. Their never-ending mission: to destroy strange new worlds; to seek out and exterminate new life forms and new civilizations; to boldly go where only heretics, mutants, and aliens have gone before ...
"And kill them. Kill them. KILL THEM ALL!"
Warhammer Trek, a parody crossover of Star Trek with Warhammer 40000, the evil creation of my sick and twisted mind ("I'm such a genius!")

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, DAVID!

Ha, ha, ha!!!

Sean