Tuesday 28 July 2020

Kzinti Salutes

In "The Warriors" by Larry Niven, a kzinti Weapons Officer salutes his Captain but we are not told how.

In "Iron" by Poul Anderson, a kzinti guard salutes his captain by sweeping his claws before his face. See Inter-Species Respect.

In "The Children's Hour" by Jerry Pournelle and SM Stirling, household troopers salute the governor of the Alpha Centauri system by drawing claws before eyes.

This is the order in which these stories were written and published. Thus, it seems that it was Anderson who invented the kzinti salute - unless it had first appeared in some other Known Space installment by Niven?

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

My guess is that it was Anderson who invented the Kzinti salute.

Ad astra! Sean