"He had no need for recapitulating except to gloat..." (p. 302)
And also to inform the readers. Here is yet another pretext for a character to tell another character what the other character knows but the reader does not yet. Here also is a second story about non-series characters with a Polesotechnic League background. The first was "The Season of Forgiveness." In this case, the League background includes the public figure, Nicholas van Rijn. League agents shoot anyone that they find selling space technology to warlike cultures. However:
"'I saw once on a telescreen interview... Old Nick van Rijn said he wouldn't shoot that kind of offenders. He'd hang them. A rope is reusable.'" (p. 305)
Although certain series characters dominate the Technic History, there are no less than three major continuing characters, van Rijn, Falkayn and Flandry, with a strong cast of supporting characters and a good mix of one-off characters as in the present story. The Technic History cannot be faulted as a comprehensive future history series.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
No need to "recapitulate"? But it was necessary to impart needed information to readers of "A Little Knowledge." Hence we see the science fictional trope of "infodumps."
Ad astra! Sean
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