Llynathawr And Catawrayannis

 

The Rebel Worlds, CHAPTER FOUR.

I love Poul Anderson's descriptions of the planet, Llynathawr, and its single city, Catawrayannis:

discovered and named by Cynthians;

bought by the Terran Empire;

seat of the civil authority of Sector Alpha Crucis;

close to naval sector headquarters on Ifri;

a brisk mart although with many non-human entrepreneurs;

a failed attempt to encourage further human colonization;

"...trafficless oceans, empty plains, a wilderness where lights gleamed rare and lonely after dark.

"Of course, this has the advantage of not turning the planet as a whole into still another cesspool, Flandry thought." (pp. 400-401)

Exactly. I like the idea of a planet with a busy city surrounded by trafficless oceans and empty plains.