-Poul Anderson, "Margin of Profit" IN Anderson, The Van Rijn Method (Riverdale, NY, 2009), pp. 135-173 AT INTRODUCTION, p. 136.
A "play within the play" might have shown us van Rijn as rogue. Other planets will have their equivalents of The Earth Book Of Stormgate.
Similarly, scholars of the Long Night period regard Roan Tom either as a murderer and thief or as a leader and hero although he was primarily a survivor.
In the Psychotechnic History, "Much partisan nonsense..." makes the Psychotechnic Institute either "...the only savior of a reeling civilization..." or "...the tyrant which strangled man's right to be an individual."
-"The Snows of Ganymede," V, p. 175.
For disagreements about real world historical figures, I need only refer to recent combox discussions on this blog.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
By and large, I believe Nicholas van Rijn to be a GOOD man, as did, plainly, Poul Anderson. But it would have been interesting if we could have seen Old Nick from a wholly hostile POV.
Yes, Roan Tom did not think of himself as either a villain or hero. He was trying to survive and prosper in very BAD times, the chaos of the Long Night after the Empire fell. And he would far rather the Empire had NOT fallen.
Ad astra! Sean
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