Thursday 27 October 2016

"A Godland"


(Chicago at night.)

"He could scarcely believe that human beings dwelt yonder, not elves or Gods." (p. 104)
-copied from here.

"Seen from an activated transparency in Nicholas van Rijn's penthouse atop the Winged Cross, Chicago Integrate was a godland..." (Rise Of The Terran Empire, p. 11)

We see the Winged Cross penthouse three times.

The "godland" comprises:

spires;
towers;
multicolored walls;
crystalline vitryl;
gracefully curving trafficways;
flickering emblems;
trees;
lawns;
glittering movement in the sky and on the lake as well as on the ground.

Chicago Integrate is another Great City.

In the second sentence, we are told that the Falkayns never tire of the view. The next two sentences confirm that the Falkayns are David and Coya. Coya, van Rijn's granddaughter, first appeared in the previous story, "Lodestar," and has married David since. She is about to join the trader team but there are no stories set in the period when she is a member. The following installment, Mirkheim, moves the action to a considerably later stage of the characters' lives and careers and concludes this sub-series of the Technic History.

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I was also reminded of the descriptions we are given of Admiralty Center in THE REBEL WORLDS and WE CLAIM THESE STARS. That began as simply an administrative center for the Imperial Navy and became a city in its own right. And we get far too brief glimpses of Archopolis as well. True, these were merely parts of the worldwide city which had spread around Terra.

Sean