Tuesday, 2 March 2021

The Onslaught

"Starkad rotated thrice more. Then the onslaught came."
-Ensign Flandry, CHAPTER SIX, p. 52.
 
On Starkad, two intelligent species are in conflict. This onslaught is an attack of sea-dwellers on land-dwellers.
 
"Then the blow fell. The Birds could not have timed their attack better."
-James Blish, Midsummer Century (London, 1975), 12, p. 102.
 
On Earth in 25,000 A.D., two intelligent species are in conflict. The blow is an attack of Birds on men.

Anderson's phraseology reminded me of Blish's, then I realized that the two situations were similar. Space travelers help the Starkadians and a time-projected personality helps the men.

During the onslaught, Flandry is in the seaport of Ujanka which is:

"...slashed by the broad brown Pechaniki River." (ibid.
 
How many broad brown rivers does Anderson have?
 
See:
 
The Lyubisha (Scroll down)

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

There's also the brown river Baranduin on the eastern borders of the Shire in Tolkien's Middle Earth. A name which the Hobbits turned into "Brandywine."

Ad astra! Seam