John Ridenour compares the Freehold outbackers/Free People to:
Hyksos in Egypt
Lombards in Italy
Vikings in England
Crusaders in Syria
Mongols in China
Aztecs in Mexico
That is a great deal of historical knowledge to bring to bear in a futuristic sf story. The listed groups are subtle, powerful, skilful, dangerous barbarians.
The only way to defeat the outbackers would be to destroy all the wilderness areas with nuclear or bacteriological warfare but this would also destroy the Cities which alone transform Freehold from a useless, metal-poor planet into:
"...a center of population and industry on a disputed frontier." (p. 34)
The outbackers are well-informed and know what they are about.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
And the Outbackers were also betting on the caution and self restraint of the Empire, that it would be unwilling to take ruthlessly drastic measures if better alternatives were possible.
Ad astra! Sean
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