Poul Anderson plants information early that will be important later.
Helen Tamberly tells Manse Everard:
"'We fell quite in love with archaic Japan, and have been back several times... We've taken up handicrafts; pottery, for example; that ashtray beside you is [Stephen's] work -'" (p. 674)
"'[Stephen] comes from an old California family. It has distant Peruvian connections. A great-grandfather of his was a sea captain who married a young lady in Lima and brought her home with him. Perhaps that helped interest him in early Peru.'" (p. 675)
We scarcely notice these details and instantly forget them but why are they there? We should get used to asking such questions. Stranded in South America in 2937 BC, Stephen Tamberly produces the Valdivia pottery and identifies himself to a time traveller who comes to investigate. The young lady in Lima is a descendant of the Conquistador who kidnaps Stephen and then Wanda Tamberly.
1 comment:
And my maternal grandparents ended up in Lima, because they sat down together with an atlas in England in 1918 and picked the place that looked to be furthest from England as a destination.
Nothing's more English than leaving England...
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