"Eutopia" is a short story by American writer Poul Anderson that 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).
At the beginning of the story, the protagonist (Iason Philippou) is exploring various parallel universes. Before the story began, he had visited our world's United States of which he had a very bad impression, considering it "a sick culture". He then came to the timeline where most of the plot is set. In that timeline, Christian Western Europe was overwhelmed in the tenth century by the combined onslaught of the Scandinavian Vikings from the north, the Magyars from the east and the Arabs from the south. Afterwards, the Arab Caliphate disintegrated in internal discord while the Vikings and Magyars, who kept their original religions, dominated Europe and eventually colonized North America. They developed a high technology, including nuclear energy, while keeping much of their Medieval culture and social structures. This North America, divided into numerous independent principalities, is much more sparsely populated than in our world, with large tracts of virtually untouched nature. While being social inferiors to the Scandinavians and Magyars, Native Americans in this timeline seem to have fared better than in our history.
The story beings with Iason on the run, wanted in a Scandinavian realm where he had been a guest and where he had committed an unspecified offence serious enough to justify his being killed out of hand if caught. He makes his way to a Magyar realm where he asks for refuge. While Iason stays there, a Native American woman attempts to seduce him – but he refuses, stating that he is "under vow." In fact, he is in hurry to meet the local Magyar ruler and receive his firm vow that he would not be extradited, before his Scandinavian pursuers had the chance to talk to the Magyar. This caution was well founded – after talking to his Scandinavian counterpart, the Magyar ruler is furious with Iason, saying "You have sucked my vow out of me, if I had known what you had done I would have killed you myself!". However, the vow is unbreakable, and Iason receives transport to where he could finally get to back 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 Scandinavian earlier host) before the opening of the story. The Scandinavian and Magyar culture have a strong taboo against homosexuality while Iason's world has kept the Classical Greek attitudes. At the conclusion it turns out 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.
Charactersedit
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
Receptionedit
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]
eutopia, short, story, other, uses, eutopia, disambiguation, eutopia, short, story, american, writer, poul, anderson, that, originally, appeared, harlan, ellison, 1967, science, fiction, anthology, dangerous, visions, later, appeared, anderson, 1981, collectio. For other uses see Eutopia disambiguation Eutopia is a short story by American writer Poul Anderson that 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 Contents 1 Plot 2 Characters 3 Reception 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksPlot editAt the beginning of the story the protagonist Iason Philippou is exploring various parallel universes Before the story began he had visited our world s United States of which he had a very bad impression considering it a sick culture He then came to the timeline where most of the plot is set In that timeline Christian Western Europe was overwhelmed in the tenth century by the combined onslaught of the Scandinavian Vikings from the north the Magyars from the east and the Arabs from the south Afterwards the Arab Caliphate disintegrated in internal discord while the Vikings and Magyars who kept their original religions dominated Europe and eventually colonized North America They developed a high technology including nuclear energy while keeping much of their Medieval culture and social structures This North America divided into numerous independent principalities is much more sparsely populated than in our world with large tracts of virtually untouched nature While being social inferiors to the Scandinavians and Magyars Native Americans in this timeline seem to have fared better than in our history The story beings with Iason on the run wanted in a Scandinavian realm where he had been a guest and where he had committed an unspecified offence serious enough to justify his being killed out of hand if caught He makes his way to a Magyar realm where he asks for refuge While Iason stays there a Native American woman attempts to seduce him but he refuses stating that he is under vow In fact he is in hurry to meet the local Magyar ruler and receive his firm vow that he would not be extradited before his Scandinavian pursuers had the chance to talk to the Magyar This caution was well founded after talking to his Scandinavian counterpart the Magyar ruler is furious with Iason saying You have sucked my vow out of me if I had known what you had done I would have killed you myself However the vow is unbreakable and Iason receives transport to where he could finally get to back 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 Scandinavian earlier host before the opening of the story The Scandinavian and Magyar culture have a strong taboo against homosexuality while Iason s world has kept the Classical Greek attitudes At the conclusion it turns out 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 editIason 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 universesReception editAlgis 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 editUtopiaReferences edit Wagner Thomas M 1997 SF Review The Dark Between the Stars 1981 SFReviews net Archived from the original on June 20 2002 Budrys Algis April 1968 Galaxy Bookshelf Galaxy Science Fiction pp 155 163 External links editEutopia title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database nbsp This article about a science fiction short story or stories published in the 1960s is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Eutopia short story amp oldid 1188644594, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
