Secret, The-Jack Vance short story
Secret, The-Jack Vance short story The Secret is a 9 page short story that was written in 1951 and first published 15 years later in March, 1966 in the British magazine " Impulse ," also known as "Science Fantasy" and " SF Impulse ." It is pure fantasy rather than science fiction and takes place on an island that could be somewhere in Polynesia . It is inhabited by all younger people. As islanders grow older they are tempted to find out the " secret " by taking a solo voyage to the west. The secret is completely mysterious because nobody has ever returned to the island once they have left. Our main character, Rona ta Inga , is the oldest on the island. Many of the others have formed a group and pledged to never leave their little paradise of an island and ask him to join in the pledge. Rona, however, begins making a boat. What does he find and what is the secret? I’ve read this three times and rated it a 3 “Liked it.” Included...