"Tamberly had proposed taking Lorenzo back in time and making him decline the proffered marriage at the outset. Everard had responded, 'Don't you understand yet how precarious the balance of events is? You've talked me into the biggest gamble I can possibly square with my conscience.'" (p. 426)
But Wanda's proposal would not have worked! Lorenzo is about to accept a proffered marriage when his future self arrives to decline it? They would simply have duplicated Lorenzo - unless they first kidnapped or assassinated the younger Lorenzo which is precisely what they are trying to avoid. There are times when Anderson seems to forget the logic of the premises of the Time Patrol series.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
Considering how DIFFICULT it is to make sure a story about time traveling is not hopelessly bogged down in contradictions and inconsistencies, it's amazing how few of them are found in Anderson's Time Patrol stories. So an occasional lapse like the one you discussed here is eminently pardonable!
Any COMPLETE COLLECTED WORKS OF POUL ANDERSON should include annotations discussing obscurities or difficulties to be found in his stories, such as the one you mentioned.
Ad astra! Sean
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