Demands And Denunciations

Harvest Of Stars, 38.

Yet again Poul Anderson captures the feel of troubled times:

Fireball won't attack, wouldn't dare, Terrestrial governments would seize all their property!;

alliance with double-dealing Selenarchs? there may be no choice;

God's judgment;

no compromise;

why does Guthrie not call on the Chaotics to halt their rebellion?;

why does Fireball not help the Peace Authority against the Chaotics?

One thing that concerns me during troubled times is people who speak as if they know exactly what is happening somewhere else. Also, people are not asked what they think about a violent incident but told to denounce it and accused of supporting it if they don't denounce it. Hearing what someone else has to say goes out the window. Chaotics who surrender will be worked on by "...Sepo and the corrective psychotechnicians...," (p. 366) not something that Guthrie wants to support.

The psychotechnicians in the Psychotechnic History worked to prevent dictatorships, not to condition populations to accept them. Poul Anderson is the only sf writer whose works include so many alternative future histories that readers can compare and contrast with each other.