This story contributes minimally to Poul Anderson's Psychotechnic History. It discloses that human beings have colonized a frontier planet called Nerthus, where they have built the city of Stellamont, but does not mention the Stellar Union and implies that human beings and their allies have access to the entire Galaxy, not just to a spatial volume this side of Sagittarius.
Wilson Pete has had "...training in self-integration...," (p. 18) a reference to the Psychotechnic Institute techniques introduced in earlier installments of this future history series.
Nerthus is said to have grass although not quite like Terrestrial grass.
"The Acolytes" was published in "A magazine of science-fantasy fiction." The nighttime Nerthusian landscape is described as:
"...a fairyland of streaming moonlight and whispering trees..." (p. 9)
Elf-like "tinklers" lure young Pete into the woods where he is nearly eaten by a tentacled, lake-dwelling monster. The narrative reads like a Ray Bradbury story intended to express and evoke strong emotions - and nothing else.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Perhaps too "juvenile" a story for your taste? I mean, "The Acolytes" might have been intended by Anderson for younger readers, before he had quite mastered the art of writing such stories so well that older readers could also enjoy them (such as VAULT OF THE AGES).
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
Deffo a "juvenile," like some in the Technic History.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Such as "How To Be Ethnic In One Easy Lesson" or "The Season of Forgiveness," except these two stories were much better written than "The Acolytes." As was only to be expected, given how much more EXPERIENCED Anderson was by the time he wrote them.
Ad astra! Sean
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