Friday, 24 May 2019

Harleman

Satan's World.

There are two Harlemans (scroll down) in Poul Anderson's works, as I have just discovered by searching this blog for that name, but I want to focus on the one in Anderson's Technic History.

Van Rijn in "Hiding Place" refers to Juan Harleman of the Venusian Tea & Coffee Growers, Inc. (see here) and Thea Beldaniel in Satan's World refers to "'...Freeman Harleman of Venusian Tea & Coffee..." (II, p. 343) The same guy. A future history series is strengthened by every repeated background reference. Although Freeman Juan Harleman never appears and is mentioned only twice (I think), he is a brick in the wall of the Technic History along with all the other spear carriers and supporting cast. Not everyone is famous but everyone is part of the society that makes some of us famous.

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I recall Old Nick's comic deriding of Juan Harleman, which I think hides a deep professional respect for him by van Rijn.

Sean