Yakow Harolsson, High Commander of the Companions of the Arena, Ivar Frederiksen, Firstling of Ilion, and Jaan the prophet fly out over the desert in an aircar to be sure of not being overheard. An enemy of the Aenean liberation movement would kill three birds with one stone by shooting down that aircar.
I checked to make sure that the text does specify "...aircar..." (p. 217)
We have words for kinds of transportation that do not (yet) exist:
aircar
FTL spaceship
teleporter/matter transmitter/in Star Trek, "transporter"
time machine (archaic terminology thanks to Wells)
ornithopter (an aeroplane that flaps its wings like a bird)
Ornithopters are used on Frank Herbert's Dune and on Boadacea in James Blish's "A Style in Treason." In the latter, submarines which break from the sea then fly on thrumming wings attack mounted troopers:
"The effect was like a raid by the twenty-fifth century on the thirteenth, as imagined by someone in the twentieth - a truly dreamlike sensation."
-James Blish, "A Style in Teason" IN Blish, Anywhen (New York, 1970), pp. 13-55 AT CHAPTER SEVEN, p. 43.
It is dreamlike to read this unexpected metafiction (the text acknowledging that it is fiction.)
Of the above list, Poul Anderson has written about everything except ornithopters - unless anyone out there knows better?
The Day Of Their Return is a volume of Anderson's Technic History.
Herbert's Dune series grew into a future history.
"A Style in Treason" is set within one branch of Blish's Haertel Scholium.
14 comments:
Orthinopters sound cool, but they're really not an efficient way to fly. Living creatures use flapping wings because they can't evolve propellors.
Just as organisms use legs because they can't evolve wheels. Wells' Martians hadn't invented wheels so they travelled in legged vehicles.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling and Paul!
Mr. Stirling: I think Leonardo da Vinci designed a theoretical flying machine using flapping winds, but I might be wrong. One of Anderson's stories mentions da Vinci designing a flying machine that could have worked given adequate power.
Paul: That might have been a weakness in Wells' story. I think most intelligent species would invent the wheel before trying out legged machines.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: well, -possibly- the Martians took that route because Mars' gravity is 1/3 of Earth's. But yeah, basically I agree with you.
Also, the Martian war machines are basically tanks... but on huge stilts and in full view of everyone.
In Wells' day, it hadn't yet sunk in that with modern weapons, visibility = death. It took painful experience for this to become generally understood.
We have mentioned THE TIME MACHINE, THE WAR OF THE WORLDS and THE FIRST MEN IN THE MOON recently.
One of the principles of this blog is: Remember Wells.
Somewhere in Anderson's works there is a mention of a veteran interstellar traveler telling a tall takes about life that had evolved to move via organic wheels.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling, Paul, and Dave!
Mr. Stirling: Thanks! I did find Wells' "tanks on stilts" a strain to believe. Besides, those stilt legged machines probably had circular gears and wheels. So, why not use wheels for transportation the way humans do?
Paul: And Jules Verne! I've also mentioned his FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON in this blog not long ago.
Dave: That one rings no bells to me. I don't recall that story.
Ad astra! Sean
Related to wheel vs legs for transport:
A book on why the middle east abandoned wheeled vehicles for over a millenium.
http://cup.columbia.edu/book/the-camel-and-the-wheel/9780231072359
and a short article summarizing the book
https://archive.aramcoworld.com/issue/197303/why.they.lost.the.wheel.htm
Kaor, Jim!
I find the notion of anyone abandoning use of the wheel after it was invented/known incredible!
Ad astra! Sean
Also relevant to a Poul Anderson story.
Kaor Sean :)
The article tells why it made economic sense under the circumstances.
Kaor, Jim and Paul!
Jim: I think I can guess, you need reasonably passable roads for wheels to really show their value.
Paul: Meaning the "Three-Cornered Wheel." The Consecrates of that story objected to using wheels for religious reasons.
Ad astra! Sean
Roads are part of it. Another factor is that carts are made of wood & the packs for loading stuff on camels aren't. Considering the deforestation of the middle east after a few millennia of agriculture & civilization, that was an important factor.
Kaor, Jim!
I agree lack of wood and hence the increased cost of wagons/carts would factor into how much wheeled vehicles could be used.
Also, after their domestication, camels did have advantages useful for long journeys. They needed a lot less water than did horses and mules. Camels could store water in their humps, for example.
Ad astra! Sean
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