Saturday, 4 February 2023

The Venturers Beyond

Any spacefaring civilization has a permanent frontier in every direction whether that frontier is Earth orbit or further away. Sf writers can tell us about those who live within the civilization or about those who venture beyond its frontier. Astutely, Nicholas van Rijn in Poul Anderson's Technic History sends robot probes and trade pioneer crews not beyond the frontier but into unexplored volumes within known space. 

Anderson's Psychotechnic History presents an impressive list of venturers beyond the frontier:

colonists
explorers
Nomads
a Trader
an interstellar voortrekker
a stellagraphic surveyor
Cordies

Let me explain. An agent of the Stellar Union Coordination Service is a Coordinator. "Coordinator" is abbreviated to "Cordy." Anderson renders the plural of "Cordy" as "Cordys." I think that "Cordys" looks as if it should be pronounced like "Cordis" so I spell it "Cordies."

Today, real life and other reading have been two major interference factors, blog-wise.

3 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

And I hope so much we soon see the beginnings of a real space frontier!

I agree, "cordies" looks and feels more satisfactory as a shortened plural for "coordinators."

Real life has been slowing down your blogging? That gives me a chance to catch up as I strive to both continue my recovery and take on more post-convalescent activities!

Ad astra! Sean

S.M. Stirling said...

We were dreamers, dreaming greatly, in the man-stifled town;
We yearned beyond the sky-line where the strange roads go down.
Came the Whisper, came the Vision, came the Power with the Need,
Till the Soul that is not man's soul was lent us to lead.

As the deer breaks -- as the steer breaks -- from the herd where they graze,
In the faith of little children we went on our ways.

Then the wood failed -- then the food failed -- then the last water dried.
In the faith of little children we lay down and died.

On the sand-drift -- on the veldt-side -- in the fern-scrub we lay,
That our sons might follow after by the bones on the way.

Follow after-follow after! We have watered the root,
And the bud has come to blossom that ripens for fruit!

Follow after -- we are waiting, by the trails that we lost,
For the sounds of many footsteps, for the tread of a host.

Follow after-follow after -- for the harvest is sown:
By the bones about the wayside ye shall come to your own!

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Mr. Stirling!

Amen! And I also thought of Kipling's poem "We have fed our sea" (or "Admiralty"), quoted by Anderson in THE ENEMY STARS.

Ad astra! Sean