Isn the novel more about Earths political conflicts than about space?
Absolutely not. Some readers thought I used space fiction as a vehicle for political commentary, whereas in fact I used political melodrama to dramatize ideas about the importance of space. Beyond the obvious and uncontroversial premise that dictatorship is a bad thing and totalitarian rulers are motivated by desire for power, the story’s main reference to Earth’s affairs concerned the youth activism of the late 60s–some of which struck me as comparable to Randil’s well-meant but disastrous attempt to change the world overnight. This, however, was a side issue compared to my conviction that expansion into space is the only way of eliminating war on Earth.
