I thought that Lars Rydberg was unusually shortsighted for a Poul Anderson character when he asked:
"Aside from science and industry, how much would [space] ever mean?" (p. 181)
- as if science and industry were unimportant.
When Rydberg tells his mother, Dagny Beynac, that his marriage did not last, she responds:
"'Pilots are dreadful marriage risks.'" (p. 189)
- which is the theme of Robert Heinlein's "Space Jockey," collected in The Green Hills Of Earth.
We will probably continue to find parallels between Heinlein's Future History and Anderson's future histories. John Ezra Dahlquist preventing a Space Patrol coup parallels Dominic Flandry defeating the McCormac Rebellion except that Flandry is a series character whereas Dahlquist dies at the end of his single story, "The Long Watch," also in The Green Hills Of Earth, and is mentioned again only once in the Scribner Juvenile novel, Space Cadet.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
But I understood Lars Lydberg to BE saying space would be important for science and industry.
And not just pilots, I think being police officers also has a high rate of marital failures, due to high stress, long hours, danger, etc.
And Flandry was instrumental in defeating not just the McCormac Rebellion but also, later, in aborting Duke Edwin of Hermes bid for the throne.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
"Aside from science and industry, how much would [space] ever mean?" (14, p. 181)
- as if science and industry were not very important.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
But, it was that "Aside" which made me think Lars was excepting science and industry from his too minimalist view of space.
Ad astra! Sean
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