Thursday 13 July 2017

In An Ythrian Ship II

See "In An Ythrian Ship" here.

Quetlan, the sun of Ythri, is yellower than Sol. In the Ythrian ship, Gaiian, Nicholas van Rijn keeps his quarters at Earth-standard illumination whereas his granddaughter, Coya Conyon, does not. Because of his spacefaring experiences, van Rijn is "...used to abrupt transitions..." (p. 381) whereas Coya blinks when she enters his luxurious stateroom. She also coughs in the tobacco haze of his churchwarden pipe. I did not know that "churchwarden meant "long-stemmed" until I googled it. Which other Poul Anderson character smokes a churchwarden? Van Rijn has hired the Gaiian for a perilous journey and imposes his enormous presence on its internal environment. He sprawls with the pipe in one hand and a two-litre tankard in the other. A spout at his elbow gives instant refills. The reader vicariously enjoys both van Rijn's hedonism and the mysterious danger that Gaiian approaches. We know that great events are afoot for van Rijn and Technic civilization.

7 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

Off the top of my head, wasn't it the Hoka "Sherlock Holmes" who smoked a churchwarden pipe in Anderson/Dickson's "The Adventure Of The Misplaced Hound"?

Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Sean,
There is another.
Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

Prince Rupert in Anderson's A MIDSUMMER TEMPEST? Or Syaloch in "The Martian Crown Jewels"?

Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Someone else.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

Drat! I'll have to stop depending on just my memory and start poring over my Anderson books! (Smiles)

Sean

David Birr said...

Paul:
Eric Sherrinford smokes a pipe in "The Queen of Air and Darkness." I can't, though, find any indication of whether or not it's notably long-stemmed.

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Someone else.