The Easier It Looks
The Continent Makers
By L. Sprague de Camp

4 May, 2025
Because My Tears Are Delicious To You
L. Sprague de Camp’s 1953 The Continent Makers is a collection of his early Viagens Interplanetarias stories.
In the wake of World War Three, Brazil became Earth’s foremost power1. Thus, it fell to Brazil to deliver relativistic star flight. First contact with the surprisingly large number of alien civilizations in neighboring star systems was followed by the formation of the Interplanetary Council.
Why was the Interplanetary Council needed, when contact, being sublight, was a matter of years and decades? In part, so that technologically backward, aggressive cultures do not get their hands on starships and nuclear weapons. However, there is another consideration.
Let us discuss Planets of Hats.