Ilaloa will help some of the Peregrines to escape. They need a gale to cover their departure. Chapter XX begins:
"Two nights later a gale blew from the southeast, out of the sea and over the island and out to the water again." (p. 171)
So far, this is a physical description of weather at sea on another planet. However, since, in Poul Anderson's works, the wind often parallels, or seems to comment on, the action (see here), we expect the description to be followed by some suggestion of Pathetic Fallacy. Sure enough, the very next sentence reads:
"Trevelyan heard it whistle as if it were calling him." (ibid.)
The gale force wind almost becomes an interacting character as it has done in other works by Anderson. See here.
I quoted from the beginning of CHAPTER XX before but for a different purpose. See:
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
The thought I had was to think this kind of description of natural phenomena and using them as pathetic fallacies does not fit in with the tastes of many readers these days. I've seen complaints by some that Anderson (and Tolkien!) kept slowing down the action with these careful background descriptions.
I have nothing, per se, against rapid, fast paced, action adventure stories. When done well, they too are fun to read. But I disagree with the complaints against Anderson and Tolkien.* Their sometimes leisurely pace, with careful descriptions of backgrounds and characters, adds depth and nuance to their stories. Characteristics which makes them more likely to be reread over and over as time passes.
Ad astra! Sean
*I've seen esp. bitter complaints by some at Tolkien for inserting poems so many times into THE HOBBIT and THE LORD OF THE RINGS. Complaints I disagree with, for reasons analogous to what I wrote above.
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