# Haarland — Search the Sky character guide

> Haarland in Search the Sky by Frederik Pohl.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Mr. Haarland, old man Haarland, Mister Haarland, old Haarland

**First appearance:** 0000-i

## Snapshot

An old trader who guards a fourteen-hundred-year-old secret, he reveals to Ross that faster-than-light travel was buried because it could detonate suns.

## Who they are

Haarland is the keeper of a terrible inheritance: the knowledge that the nucleophoretic effect behind the F.T.L. drive is also a weapon that can annihilate solar systems, which is why humanity's colonizers erased it from every record but one man per planet. He speaks of the danger not to the uncaring galaxy but to 'the sparse fester of life that called itself humanity,' and his face goes queerly gray when he admits there are things worse than war. His confession sets Ross on the mission and gives the story its moral weight.

## Relationships

### [Ross](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/search_the_sky_se/characters/ross)

_friendship_

Haarland is a close friend or ally of Ross, with high interaction indicating camaraderie and mutual support.

### [Marconi](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/search_the_sky_se/characters/marconi)

_professional_

Haarland and Marconi work together, possibly as colleagues or in a hierarchical professional setting.

### [Ma](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/search_the_sky_se/characters/ma)

_friendship_

Haarland and Ma are friends, possibly bonding over their shared connection to Ross.

### [Ross](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/search_the_sky_se/characters/ross)

_friendship_

Haarland is a close friend or ally of Ross, with high interaction indicating camaraderie and mutual support.

### [Ross](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/search_the_sky_se/characters/ross)

_friendship_

Haarland is a close friend or ally of Ross, with high interaction indicating camaraderie and mutual support.

### [Marconi](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/search_the_sky_se/characters/marconi)

_professional_

Haarland and Marconi work together, possibly as colleagues or in a hierarchical professional setting.

### [Ma](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/search_the_sky_se/characters/ma)

_friendship_

Haarland and Ma are friends, possibly bonding over their shared connection to Ross.

### [Marconi](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/search_the_sky_se/characters/marconi)

_professional_

Haarland and Marconi work together, possibly as colleagues or in a hierarchical professional setting.

### [Ma](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/search_the_sky_se/characters/ma)

_friendship_

Haarland and Ma are friends, possibly bonding over their shared connection to Ross.

## In the story

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/search_the_sky_se/chapters/iii)

Reveals the longliner's log showing six planets out of communication, discusses decay, and recruits Ross for a mission vital to humanity.

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/search_the_sky_se/chapters/iv)

Drills Ross mercilessly, reveals the family tradition and his fears about war and gene loss; sends Ross off with the mission.

### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/search_the_sky_se/chapters/viii)

Mentioned as the source of the precise F.T.L. instructions Ross writes down.

### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/search_the_sky_se/chapters/ix)

Haarland is recalled by Ross as having told him that no F.T.L. ship ever returned from Earth.

### [XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/search_the_sky_se/chapters/xiv)

Haarland is mentioned as the one who wanted an answer; Ross declares he will bring the answer to Haarland.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/search_the_sky_se/characters/haarland
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/search_the_sky_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/search_the_sky_se/characters