Unseen Planets

In Poul Anderson's Technic History, there are planets that we do not see, e.g., Kraken and Atheia, although important characters come from them. That Roan Tom's mother was from Hermes, which we have seen, is highly significant to readers of this series. Planets last longer than people and provide continuity over centuries of fictional history. Earth is entirely absent in these last few stories although space travellers refer to its place in the sky. To Roan Tom, Old Earth is two hundred light-years away, beyond Capella, of no practical significance. And there are human beings two hundred light-years away from Sol in every direction. Spread throughout such a volume of space, mankind will at least not become extinct any time soon. And they have spread much further and built several civilizations by the time of "Starfog." We have come a very long way from the earlier instalments in the series.