Poul Anderson 42 min read

Outlaw Rikard has always defied the warlords of Coper City, until Rayth offers him freedom for a single killing, and he begins to learn the long-buried History of Earth.

Poul Anderson's 1953 story is an atmospheric post-apocalyptic adventure. Vivid, thoughtful golden-age SF. Read it for an early Anderson tale set on a ruined future Moon, where an outlaw's dangerous bargain draws him toward forgotten truths about humanity's past, in a colorful adventure charged with real ideas.

In its time

Published in 1953, during the 1950s, post-war optimism meets cold war anxiety.

Reading it

42 min read (a novelette, room for a turn or two).

Illustrated by

Paul Orban