How Bright the Stars - Leigh Brackett

Short Story

Number of words : 6000
Percent of complex words : 5.7
Average syllables per word : 1.4
Average words per sentence : 11.3


READABILITY INDICES

Fog : 6.8
Flesch : 79.2
Flesch-Kincaid : 5.0




SETTING

Barnard II

The second planet of Barnard's star. "Man had finally made the Big Jump
outward, with the Wenz-Boroda FTL (faster-than-light) drive". The Big Jump being a related novel about the development of interstellar travel, placing this story again in a common setting.

Alpha Centauri

A star previously visited by the Bairds.

Proxima Centauri

A star previously visited by the Bairds.

Beautiful Water

Grllan village.

Earth Base

Survey team's home.

Western Sea

Earth Base is around 20 miles from a river mouth emptying into this body.



CHARACTERS

Jerry Baird

Dr Baird's son and survey team chief cook and bottle washer.

Dr Baird

Jerry's father, survey team coordinator and physician.

Dr James Felter

Survey team vulcanologist.

Wainwright

Survey team xenobiologist.

Harding

Survey team anthropologist.

Soderman

Survey team geologist.

Souter

Survey team botanist.

Thompson

Survey team chemist.


ORGANISATIONS

Preliminary Planetary Survey

Sends teams to study other worlds.


RACES

Grllan

One clan of natives of Barnard II.

Hwyl

A clan of Barnard II whose presence induces a strange lethargic hedonism and lack of purpose in the Survey team, who stay with them.


PLOT

A young man tags along with his father on planetary survey mission, until they get to Barnard II. The older professionals discover an odd clan called the Hwyll. While staying in their village they seem to lose all desire to go or work further, but Jerry does not, and heads back to their base and the stars.


3.5 out of 5