barrel-chested;
wasp-waisted;
long, thin limbs;
sleek brown fur all over;
warm-blooded;
omnivorous;
bisexual;
giving live birth;
not a mammal;
slender neck;
bowling-ball head;
black ruff;
pale eyes;
donkeylike ears;
corvine beak;
bare padded feet;
three long toes gripping stirrups on the leaping bipedal zandara;
three sharp-nailed fingers and a thumb;
leather cuirass with iron shoulder pieces and a kinship symbol;
dagger and saber hanging from thick belt.
(In "The Trouble Twisters.")
Two Observations
(i) It reads to me as if the author starts with a human form, then tries to make the various details seem different and alien.
(ii) On screen, we would continually see the Ikranankans. While reading prose, I cannot maintain a mental image of what they look like.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
Again, I'm a bit puzzled. The impression I get is that you seem to somehow dislike the idea that non human intelligent races might be roughly "humanoid" in form. That is, one head, two arms with hands, and two legs, etc. I have argued before that evolution on other worlds might sometimes PARALLEL what we see on Earth. That is, it makes SENSE for a four limbed species to free up the forelimbs for other purposes than running. And it makes sense for the head to be on top of the body and be where senses like sight, hearing, taste, etc., is found.
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