As sunrise approaches on Mercury, solar energy strengthens zodiacal light which rises above the horizon although:
"The galactic belt outshone it, an ice-bright river from worldedge to worldedge." (p. 20)
This is a description of the Milky Way and I think that it is one that we have not had before.
Meanwhile, what is happening on Mercury is a stage in the development toward conscious artificial intelligence. Genesis is Poul Anderson's second future history on this theme and, in my opinion, is superior to its predecessor, the Harvest of Stars Tetralogy. However, a reminder of exactly what happens next is going to have to wait until tomorrow.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I dissent with your last paragraph here. Excellent as GENESIS is, the HARVEST OF STARS books are superior in this way: four volumes allowed Anderson to examine ideas and concepts in far greater detail than was possible in a single volume work like GENESIS.
Ad astra! Sean
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