Four Senses On Beta

The Avatar, XI.

Two Terrestrials walk by a Betan shore:

heat

sea salt

odors sweet, sulfurous, rosy, cheesy, spicy, indescribable

booming surf

skirling wind

a fluting flier

deep purple blue sky

the sun, Centrum, a dim orange disc, smaller than Sol

immense red- and gold-edged clouds, lightning winking in dark depths

white-capped, gunmetal ocean crashing on shingle

rattling canebrakes

fluttering fronds

wildly whipping branches

shades of brown, sorrel, ruby, apricot, ocher and gold

"...a somber, Rembrantesque richness." (p. 106)

Is that rich enough for us? Beta is the second extra-solar planet described in this novel.

(Lewis' The Cosmic Trilogy was not on a bookshelf because it was on top of the bookshelves. "Difficult things have simple explanations. Discuss." There should still be a copy of Voyage To Venus somewhere.)