This story is another total change of pace, narrated from the point of view of a young boy who has traveled from Sol in a spaceship, which has a "steward," to visit his uncle and aunt on their farm on a frontier planet called Nerthus:
"And Uncle Gunnar was an old explorer himself. He'd been all over the Galaxy before he settled down on Nerthus." (p. 3)
Have human beings been "...all over the Galaxy..." this soon? That phrase does not really fit with the idea that this future history series is still in an early period of interstellar travel. Saving the appearances, we can suggest that a young boy's understanding of the size of the galaxy is somewhat vague.
6 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Exactly, we should not generally expect a lad of, say 12, being strictly accurate. It would have been truer to say Uncle Gunnar had been over PART of the galaxy.
One reason to look forward to reading the Pyschotechnic stories again is because Baen Books repub. three stories by Anderson I've never before read: "The Acolytes," "The Green Thumb," and "Entity."
But Baen Books should have included the longer, expanded version of VIRGIN PLANET after the original, shorter text of that story. It would have been convenient to have the shorter and longer texts of VIRGIN PLANET in the same volume for easier comparison.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
However, in "The Green Thumb," Gunnar himself refers to an inhabited Galaxy.
Paul.
Pete is only 10.
Kaor, Paul!
So that boy in "The Acolytes" was even younger than I thought.
By definition, the galaxy was already inhabited, by at least human beings. Altho we also see non-humans in these stories.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
I mean it sounds as if there is travel throughout the Galaxy.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
That clarifies what you meant!
Ad astra! Sean
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