Eutopia (short story)

"Eutopia" is a short story by American writer Poul Anderson, originally appeared in Harlan Ellison's 1967 science fiction anthology Dangerous Visions. It later appeared in Anderson's 1981 collection The Dark Between the Stars[1] and the showcase The Best Alternate History Stories of the 20th Century (2001).

Plot

At the beginning of the story, the protagonist (Iason Philippou) is exploring various parallel universes. After encountering a version of Earth which is split into hundreds of minor city-states, Iason is now on the run. He makes his way to a town whose inhabitants help him, as he is their guest. They arrange a transport to take him home. While Iason stays there, one of the women in the town attempts to seduce him, but he refuses, stating that he is "under vow." On the day before the transport arrives, the mayor of the town tells Iason that after talking with his pursuers, he regrets helping him, but cannot renege his hospitality. When Iason returns to his home universe - the self-styled "Eutopia" which gives the story its name, an Earth where classical Greece came to dominate the planet - he checks in with a superior (Daimonax) and complains of the barbarism of the people he has encountered, but Daimonax contradicts him, stating that people have different views on what it means to be civilized, and that Eutopia's carefully planned society may have lost the simple pleasures of life. The story ends as it is revealed that Iason had seduced and slept with a young boy (the son of his earlier host) before the opening of the story and his arrival in the town that had given him refuge, and that the "Niki" to whom the protagonist's thoughts keep turning is the nickname of Nikias, a young boy in Eutopia who is Iason's lover.

Characters

  • Iason Philippou - Trader (main character)
  • Ottar Thorklesson - His host
  • Leif Ottarsson - Ottar's son
  • Nikias Demostheneou - Iason's lover
  • Daimonax Aristides - Iason's superior, in charge of the project which allows Iason to explore the various universes

Reception

Algis Budrys said that Anderson wrote better "when he is not also attempting to shock people. I think he could do best by contenting himself to lead people to think, as he has been doing for many years now. That's usually shock enough".[2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Wagner, Thomas M. (1997). "SF Review: The Dark Between the Stars (1981)". SFReviews.net. Archived from the original on June 20, 2002.
  2. ↑ Budrys, Algis (April 1968). "Galaxy Bookshelf". Galaxy Science Fiction. pp. 155–163.


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