Friday 21 July 2017

Carl And Van Rijn

Carl Farness travels to 300-372 and learns that he must betray his followers whereas Nicholas van Rijn travels to Mirkheim where he learns that he has been betrayed by David Falkayn. We see both Carl and van Rijn at their most vulnerable - which is unusual for van Rijn.

Are these comparisons fanciful? Yes. However, the point is that Poul Anderson wrote powerful stories about authentic characters in diverse and exotic spatiotemporal settings.

Another example: Daven Laure travels to the Cloud Universe where he learns that it will be impossible for him to marry the woman that he loves.

3 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

Yes, Poul Anderson wrote powerful stories about very authentic characters in fascinating and diverse settings. Yes, Carl and David did betray the Goths and Nicholas van Rijn.

I would argue that it would not be impossible for Daven Laure to marry the woman he had come to love (from the planet Kirkasant). It would simply be impossible for them to have children.

Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Sean,
But, for Kirkasanters, marriage is pointless without children.
Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

That is true, because Kirkasanters seem to have a very strong, inborn desire to have children. Because the high background radiation of Kirkasant caused the humans who first settled there to suffer from high infant mortality.

Sean