"No Truce With Kings" is a science fiction short story by Poul Anderson. It won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story 1964.
In a post-apocalyptic United States the Pacific States of America are convulsed by a bloody civil war backed on one side by the "Espers", a movement that claims its followers can achieve great psychic powers. However the Espers are just a front for an even more unusual group.
The story explores the balance of social forms, fro...
more
"No Truce With Kings" is a science fiction short story by Poul Anderson. It won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story 1964.
In a post-apocalyptic United States the Pacific States of America are convulsed by a bloody civil war backed on one side by the "Espers", a movement that claims its followers can achieve great psychic powers. However the Espers are just a front for an even more unusual group.
The story explores the balance of social forms, from feudal to super-state, and warns of the dangers of nation-building. It begins with the Pacific coast divided into a collection of clans with a weak central government, following some form of global war and collapse. A war breaks out, generated by people who sincerely believe that replacing the clans with a strong, over-arching government is necessary for the future. Unknown to them, there are forces behind the scenes manipulating the situation through the pacifistic "esper" colonies. Eventually, the clan leaders discover that the "espers"...
less
