POV Cop

The Enemy Stars.

Each of the four opening chapters introduces one of the four men who will be mattercasted into the Southern Cross as it approaches the black star:

1 Terangi Maclaren

2 David Ryerson

3 Seiichi Nakamura

4 Chang Svedlov

Each of these characters is the third person viewpoint character of his introductory chapter. In 5, Maclaren and Ryerson meet and converse as they travel to a mattercaster station on the Moon. Characters can converse indefinitely without revealing a point of view (pov):

"David Ryerson remarked..." (p. 31)

"...said Maclaren." (ibid.)

"...said Ryerson shyly." (ibid.)

(This could just mean that he looks and sounds shy.)

"Maclaren nodded." (ibid.)

"'And...No. Forgive me.'" Ryerson shook his blond head." (ibid.)

We gather that Ryerson feels uncomfortable in the conversation but so far our clues are all external. We have not yet been told directly how he is feeling. Then, suddenly, Maclaren agrees with us:

"He thought he knew Ryerson's type, serious, gifted, ambitious, but awe-smitten at the gimcrack fact of someone's hereditary technic rank." (ibid.)

We are told what Maclaren thinks so he becomes our pov character.

"Ryerson looked alarmed..." (p. 32)

Looked, not felt: confirmation that Ryerson is not pov.

"...thought Maclaren." (ibid.)

"Ryerson was bewildered..." (p. 34)

We seem to be wandering into Ryerson as pov. Sure enough, we are told that he is "...irrationally afraid..." (ibid.) on the Lunar monorail and that:

"It took him a while to hunt down the reason: the ghost of his father's God, ranting at pride and sloth from the tomb which the son had erected." (ibid.)

Maclaren's dark face grinned. Now we see Maclaren from Ryerson's pov. The latter thinks something at the bottom of p. 34. Then, after two pages that are unequivocally Ryerson's pov, we are back with Maclaren who:

"...had sometimes thought..." (p. 37)

But, right at the end of the chapter:

"...Ryerson felt..." (p. 40)

It is unusual for Anderson's narrative point of view to zig zag in a single chapter.