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"We [science fiction writers] always wanted to believe in "private sector" space -- hucksters make better characters than a government does."
- Larry Niven
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| Rogue World | ||
| A celestial nomad, a planetary body that is not tied to a particular sun. |
| A rogue, an aimless wanderer, creation's castaway; this world was all those things.
For uncounted centuries it had been falling, alone, without purpose, falling through the cold lonely places betweenthe suns. Generations of stars had succeeded each other in stately sweeps across its barren skies. It belonged to none of them. It was a world in and of itself, entire. In a sense it was not even part of the galaxy; its tumbling path cut through the galactic plane like a nail driven through a round wooden tabletop. It was part of nothing. And nothing was very close at hand. In the dawn of human history, the rogue world pierced a curtain of interstellar dust that covered a trifling small area near the up-edge of the galaxy's great lens. A handful of stars lay beyond-thirty or so, a mere handful. Then emptiness, a night greater than any the wandering world had known. |
| From Dying of the Light,
by George RR Martin. Published by Baen in 1977 Additional resources -
|
The earliest use of the concept is probably When Worlds Collide, a 1932 novel by Edwin Balmer and Phillip Wylie (see the entry for wandering worlds). The first use of the term "rogue planet" for nomad worlds is probably in Poul Anderson's 1967 novel Satan's World (see the entry for rogue planet).
Another use of the idea occurs in the 1967 Star Trek: TOS episode "The Squire of Gothos" is set on a rogue planet.
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'Merton... placed the electrodes of the sleep-inducer on his forehead.'
'... we can descend and live down there at one of those year-round aquatic resorts.'
'...she would have to be coaxed by another series of pats into a circular orbit.'
'The sleek, tapered space shuttle lay immobile upon the private landing field...'
Yes, people of the future, robots will dress you.
