We have often read similar phrases. See The Milky Way Thread. However, this sentence was written not by Poul Anderson but by Ian Fleming:
-Ian Fleming, Dr No (London, 1989), VII, p. 63.
James Bond sees "...a dense bright carpet..." of stars and counts over a hundred in "...a finger's length..." (ibid.)
This passage highlights a difference between genres:
the sf cliche of FTL, faster than light interstellar travel;
more generally, any speculative fiction about future space travel technologies, preferably avoiding cliches;
most fiction and literature, simply reflecting the perennial human experience of stars as lights in the sky.
As we always say, Poul Anderson wrote all three. We have also noted that, in his detective novels, realms like the night sky and the ocean depths are described with the sensibilities of an sf writer.
James Bond will find that Dr. No is sabotaging American rockets but not that he is secretly developing an FTL drive. That can happen in sf but not in spy fiction!
2 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I finally finished Fleming's MOONRAKER yesterday. That story too has some SF overtones, featuring as it does a British built rocket which could reach a thousand miles into the skies.
Next comes the fourth of the James Bond stories, DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, but not till I make solid progress reading EXTRATERRESTRIALS IN THE CATHOLIC IMAGINATION (ed. by Rosato and Vincelette).
And I too have noticed how bright and numerous the stars can be on clear tropical nights in Hawaii (and near tropical nights in Florida).
And my dread fear is that space travel of any REAL kind will remain a cliche if fools and demagogues manage to keep mankind from getting off Earth! Will the horrible scenario seen in "Murphy's Hall" become a reality?
Ad astra! Sean
Kaor, Paul!
I dunno, I can see a secret project for building an actual, working FTL drive, whether by a gov't or in the private sector. And I can easily such a project becoming a matter of intense interest by any number of Intelligence agencies.
In Anderson's "Progress," we see an exactly analogous situation! Maurai Intelligence had discovered the Brahmard regime in India was secretly building a nuclear power plant in the Andaman Islands; and since the Maurai was opposed to that, a team was sent in to confirm that.
Ad astra! Sean
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