"'Sir, you don't need the money. You stopped needing more money a long while back.'"
-Poul Anderson, "Lodestar" IN Anderson, David Falkayn: Star Trader (Riverdale, NY, 2010), pp. 631-682 AT p. 679.
"'Do you want a response? I deem best we let what is past stay dead.'"
-ibid., p. 680.
Coya converts him from promiscuity to monogamy:
"'I used to daydream about an infinity of women, all beautiful and accessible. But I found that you were plenty, and then some.'"
-Mirkheim, I, p. 32.
He accepts the full implications of his older brother's death:
"'I'm the new head of the family and president of the domain. That's where my first duty lies.'"
-XII, p. 180.
It turns out that he is not needed as domain president on Hermes but then he becomes acting CEO of SLL and, later again, Founder of the colony on Avalon.
5 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
But Falkayn still regretted how he handled the Mirkheim matter, because it was a betrayal of Old Nick. And he was grateful van Rijn forgave him.
True, because other Falkayns could step in as domain president. Succession to Hermetian domains does not seem to have been as strictly defined as British peerages are.
Since Falkayn does not seem to be aware of Grey's existence in MIRKHEIM, how did the planet that came to be named Avalon come to his attention?
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
There was livewell in Delfinburg in MIRKHEIM so there had been imports from Grey.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
But we see no mention of Falkayn being aware of the origins of those plants. At most, I would guess he had only casual knowledge of Grey's existence at the time.
Ad astra! Sean
That conversion from harem fantasies to monogamy is a sign of encroaching maturity in human males -- more common in some cultures than others.
The Western tradition that had men not marrying until their mid-twenties or later was probably a very good idea.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Well, in THAT sense, Old Nick never matured! We see him enjoying what amounts to a harem in Chapter 6 of SATAN'S WORLD. I think we read in "Lodestar" or MIRKHEIM how van Rijn's generation hadn't much bothered with marriage.
At least Old Nick had the means needed for supporting a harem!
Ad astra! Sean
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