Thursday, 9 April 2020

Mysterious Motivations

"The Big Rain," II.

In Poul Anderson's Technic History, Erannath, spying on Aeaneas, has to learn why so many Aeneans are anti-Imperial although the Terran Empire does not treat their planet badly.

In "The Big Rain," Hollister, spying on Venus, realizes that the colonials are committed to working for a paradisal Venus that they will never live to see even though there is no longer any compulsion on them to stay there so why do they do it? I have read this story more than once but do not remember the answer to that question and it needs to be a good one.

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

A near religious devotion to an end or ideal they believe bigger than themselves explains why the Venusian colonists were so eager to terraform Venus.

Ad astra! Sean