Sunday, 11 January 2026

Meet Brander

Poul Anderson, "The Master Key" IN Anderson, Trader To The Stars (New York, 1966), pp. 115-159.

Brander:

during a survey towards Pegasus, discovered a G-9 dwarf star half as bright as Sol with eight planets, including one inhabited terrestroid;

stayed on the planet long enough to tape one local language and to study planetography and bionics;

learned about furs and herbs which is why Solar Spice & Liquors sent Per Stenvik to establish a trading post;

named the planet Cain;

wrote reports later read by van Rijn.

An unsung hero of Technic civilization.

And maybe that is enough for today. We want to read some Sherlock Holmes.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Kaor, Paul!

And by choosing "Cain" as the planet's name Brander was giving readers of something not quite right there.

Ad astra! Sean

Jim Baerg said...

Maybe just an indication that Brander didn't think it a very pleasant place to live.

Jacques Cartier described the north shore of the Gulf of St Lawrence as "The Land God Gave to Cain".
The same history book I first saw that in, noted that Cartier thought Prince Edward Island, near the south shore of that Gulf, was pleasant enough that it wouldn't have been assigned to Cain, so claiming it for the King of France would be reasonable.

Anonymous said...

Kaor, Jim!

I agree, it was natural for Frenchmen and Englishmen of that time to use Biblical metaphors. I can also see Brander finding the Cainites unpleasant people.

Ad astra! Sean

S.M. Stirling said...

Well, the Canites are not really social animals in the sense that we are. Their 'domesticated' H. Erectus equivalents fulfill that role for them.

Anonymous said...

Kaor, Mr. Stirling!

I remember that! It reminded me of how the Draka "domesticated" conquered non-Draka humans into Homo servus by the time of DRAKON. I've wondered if it might be possible to liberate the Lugals from their owners.

Ad astra! Sean