Two Texts Worth Rereading

We regarded "Terminal Quest" and "The Star Beast" as unpromising texts but reread them anyway. There is always more to be found in any Poul Anderson work.

In "Terminal Quest": Psychology

The dispossessed of Earth became exterminators on New Terra. (Parallels in Terrestrial history?)

Rugi:

is not human;

was orphaned when very young;

is ignorant of his own cultural heritage;

has been deprived and persecuted;

displays less resentment and hostility than we would usually expect from a human being - although our species varies considerably;

has become the last of his species;

dies saving the life of a human child that had tormented and wonders why he is doing it.

Will New Terrans respect Rugi after his death or deliberately forget him?

"The Star Beast": Psychology

Two cultures: militaristic and leisured.

Two attitudes to death: fear and acceptance.

The militaristic Procyonites are defeated by their own contempt for decadent Terrestrials. The Terrestrial Coordinator, Ramacan, easily disarms and stuns his single careless guard. This is yet another Andersonian "escape" sequence but a plausible one.