Saturday 4 May 2019

A Hostile Environment

Poul Anderson, "Territory" IN Anderson, David Falkayn: Star Trader (Riverdale, NY, 2010), pp. 1-76.

(The contents page classifies "Territory" as a "novella": longer than a short story but shorter than a novel.)

There are many terrestroid planets in sf but Anderson also shows us some that are different, e.g.: t'Kela:

temperature 60 below;
enough nitrogen to induce narcosis;
enough ammonia to burn lungs;
no water vapor;
enough oxygen to sustain life for several minutes.

Human beings have several kinds of business on t'Kela but must be permanenetly protected from its environment. Would you want to spend any time there? And why is van Rijn without a helmet in that cover illustration?

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I can recall why some humans went to t'Kela! For reasons ranging from altruistic idealism to pragmatic investigations of commercial possibilities.

And one small detail I recall with interest was how Anderson began "Territory" with a small musical note or score.

And we'll find out why Old Nick was not wearing a protective helmet!

Sean