Perhaps the most powerful single passage in Poul Anderson's History of Technic Civilization comes when David Falkayn confronts Nicholas van Rijn:
"'Sir, you don't need the money. You stopped needing more money a long while back. To you it's nothing but a counter in a game. Maybe, for you, the only game in town. Those beings aft of us, however - they are not playing.'
"'What do they do, then?'" (p. 407)
Does van Rijn really need to ask that question? There could be no clearer expression of the alienation between very rich and very poor. Poul Anderson is able to show us, first, the successes and splendors of the Polesotechnic League and of those who can rise within it and then the other side of the coin. "Something is rotten..." (See here.)
The phrase, "...the only game in town...," is a powerful echo of the Time Patrol story in which Manse Everard learns (part of) the truth about the Patrol. (See here.)
Other powerful passages in the Technic History are:
Flandry's Testament;
"Where the mighty Sagittarius flows into the Gulf of Centaurs..." (see here);
the opening passage of The Earth Book Of Stormgate -
"To those who read, good flight.
"It is Hloch of the Stormgate Choth who writes, on the peak of Mount Anrovil in the Weathermother."
-Poul Anderson, The Earth Book Of Stormgate (New York, 1979), p. 1;
the closing passage of the Earth Book (see here);
the very end of "Lodestar" -
"He moved to pour from a bottle, and Coya saw that he was indeed old." (p. 408)
We want to stay with Coya and can only turn to Mirkheim.
6 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I agree a TRILLIONAIRE (surely he was a trillionaire?) like Old Nick did not NEED the money to be gained from Mirkheim. But it's been a long since I last read "Lodestar" so I'm not sure what van Rijn hoped to gain at Mirkheim. Was it just the thrill of hunting down a mystery? Or did he hope to gain control of Mirkheim? Or just a cut of the profits?
But, however altruistic Falkayn's motives were in setting out to discover Mirkheim and setting up the Supermetals Company, it was done in violation of his oath of fealty to Nicholas van Rijn, who had treated him generously and plainly wanted Falkayn to succeed him as CEO of Solar Spice & Liquors. And that bothered both of them, and continued to bother Falkayn even after van Rijn forgave him.
And I still wonder why, in the years before Mirkheim and its location was exposed, no effort seems to have been made by the Supermetals Company to join the Polesotechnic League. Even if the League was showing signs of decline, nothing like the Mirkheim/Babur crisis had torn gaping holes in it. Wouldn't joiing the League before such a crisis strengthened its legal and hence political position? Or did Falkayn and Old Nick already think Mirkheim was too rich a prize for other companies and nations with unscrupulouse leaders to keep their hands off it?
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
Van Rijn wanted a cut.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
And that's basically what I thought. Nor do I think Old Nick would have objected to Supermetals using most profits for helping less fortunate peoples and planets within the ambit covered by Technic civilization. What grieved van Rijn was discovering Falkayn had broken his oath of fealty to him.
Ad astra! Sean
Kaor, Paul!
I forgot to add that WE CLAIM THESE STARS contains several passages I found esp. "powerful." One being Flandry's anxious reflections about Admiralty Center and how the fall of the Empire would mean something of beauty and gallantry had departed the universe. Another was his discussion with Kit on how Manuel's Empire was merely the Indian summer of Technic civilization and the Terran nobles shivering as they pondered the approaching fall of the Empire.
Truth to say, I've thought people like Flandry were being too hard on the Empire! By Flandry's time the order and peace the Empire had achieved for most peoples within its sphere had lasted for over 400 years. That is not such a small achievement!
Ad astra! Sean
Kaor, Sean!
I seem to recall mention in “Lodestar” of why Supermetals did not join the Polesotechnic League: doing so would have required it to make public its ownership, which would have shown that it was not obtaining supermetals from a mysterious civilization with advanced technology, and, one can fill in, enabled other people t9 figure out that Supermetals must be mining its high-atomic-number elements somewhere, which would have enabled other corporations or governments to find Mirkheim and grab its treasures for themselves.
I’m behind on the weblog; I’ve been busy, and I’m recovering from oral surgery nine days ago.
Best Regards,
Nicholas
Kaor, Nicholas!
I'm sorry you have not been well lately! I hope you will completely recover.
I agree with your suggestions on why the Supermetals Company did not join the League in the years before the Mirkheim/Babur crisis. The socio/political situation had changed so much for the worse that men like Old Nick and Falkayn did not think other companies and nations would respect the rights of discovery and hence ownership held by Supermetals.
Get well fast!
Best regards and Merry Christmas! Sean
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