tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35385028285543729172024-03-18T22:03:20.097+00:00Poul Anderson AppreciationKetlanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08588156788583883454noreply@blogger.comBlogger18808125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post-48748076410789661612024-03-18T22:02:00.004+00:002024-03-18T22:02:40.227+00:00Unique?<p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg-A7mDfSI36LsC-rRppQdkwJrIov9wOWEsWUM3W3z6rb8kYUUnOkE2RELvL6Bj-VvvjdqHB8Eb324DxYvUm_U5lz9JUg7E1rL4V_LbZbmGXOw-8JEnQ1ishs-uenzE7fgmBhhBWEjMriFNFMKPwNWriCgWtFBHYJkjo8V4Eja6SIuk3j4xI7XCIr8tNcqM" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="245" data-original-width="184" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg-A7mDfSI36LsC-rRppQdkwJrIov9wOWEsWUM3W3z6rb8kYUUnOkE2RELvL6Bj-VvvjdqHB8Eb324DxYvUm_U5lz9JUg7E1rL4V_LbZbmGXOw-8JEnQ1ishs-uenzE7fgmBhhBWEjMriFNFMKPwNWriCgWtFBHYJkjo8V4Eja6SIuk3j4xI7XCIr8tNcqM" width="180" /></a></i></div><i>Dune</i> is praised in such extravagant terms that I think that a comparison with Poul Anderson is valid. <p></p><div style="text-align: left;">"DUNE is the finest, most widely acclaimed science fiction novel of this century. Huge in scope, towering in concept, it is a work that will live in the reader's imagination for the rest of his life."</div><div style="text-align: left;">-back cover blurb on Frank Herbert, <i>Dune </i>(London, 1974).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">"DUNE seems to me unique among SF novels in the depth of its characterization and the extraordinary detail of the world it creates. I know nothing comparable to it except THE LORD OF THE RINGS."</div><div style="text-align: left;">-Arthur C. Clarke, quoted on the back cover of <i>Dune </i>(see above).</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Dune might </i>be the "most widely acclaimed" sf novel but I think that every other statement above is way over the top.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">At SciCon '70 in London, Guest of Honour James Blish and his wife, Judy, wore Muslim and Hindu garb for the Fancy Dress event. When Brian Aldiss (I think) asked Blish about this "mixed marriage," Blish replied, "What I represent is Frank Herbert trying to work out what he is doing." When I asked Blish about this, he pointed to a difference between the settings of Arrakis and Giedi Prime although, since these are two different planets, maybe that is ok? But I think that Blish's point was that, instead of being shown a coherent interstellar civilization, we are just seeing discordant settings that are really from different parts of Earth's past.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But I think that there are valid points to be made about incoherence in <i>Dune. </i>Herbert ignores the rule - or at least the soundly based literary convention - that any continuous narrative passage should be narrated from a single point of view. When two or three characters converse, Herbert's text jumps back and forth between each of their viewpoints. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Whereas Poul Anderson sympathetically presents the viewpoints of religious believers, in <i>Dune </i>religion<i> </i>seems to be merely a cynical instrument of social control and also involves unexplained syncretistic terminology: Zensunni; Buddislamic; Orange Catholic. We expect substance but get only these labels.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u>Scenery on the planet Caladan</u></div><div style="text-align: left;">Castle Caladan is "...the ancient pile of stone that had served the Atreides family as home for twenty-six generations..." (<i>Dune</i>, <i>BOOK ONE</i>, p. 9)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">"Jessica crossed to the window, flung wide the draperies, stared across the river orchards towards Mount Syubi." (p. 11)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">"Windows on each side of her overlooked the curving southern bend of the river and the green farmlands of the Atreides family holding..." (p. 12)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">"She saw and yet did not see the evening's banked colours across the meadow and river." (pp. 26-27)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">These are stage settings in no way comparable to the detailed descriptions regularly given by Poul Anderson.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><u>Mentats</u></div><div style="text-align: left;">Computers have been banned. Human beings called Mentats have been specially trained to perform some computational functions. One Mentat says of the ancient thinking machines:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">"'They were toys compared to me,' Piter snarled. 'You yourself, Baron, could outperform those <i>machines.</i>'" (p. 23)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Surely Piter's claims are absurd, particularly the one about the Baron?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Here's the deal. I will see how far I can get with rereading <i>Dune. </i>Inspired by films and hype, I am giving it a chance. This might result in further blog posts.</div>paulshackley2017@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704115766930975286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post-44287161442809496892024-03-18T18:06:00.004+00:002024-03-18T19:11:35.252+00:00A Philosophy For The Terran Empire<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgrKS49dHlH9uIT517fSBIOYrwlK-fIUB7ap_lru3jrOn1qGl_xUjcmTyd_pfxuY0uZBSdNwSNghIgl4-Mz412vKnaspviR-YRv4SyEISzvvINHUClahs0ZJcytvbJjmDnz9tH2uCgbLDhYD2_lqoKc_0WwYIynvOhCzoA-EhNJ1-WnLktnl_p_jG3qOZ0Y" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="138" data-original-width="184" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgrKS49dHlH9uIT517fSBIOYrwlK-fIUB7ap_lru3jrOn1qGl_xUjcmTyd_pfxuY0uZBSdNwSNghIgl4-Mz412vKnaspviR-YRv4SyEISzvvINHUClahs0ZJcytvbJjmDnz9tH2uCgbLDhYD2_lqoKc_0WwYIynvOhCzoA-EhNJ1-WnLktnl_p_jG3qOZ0Y" width="320" /></a></div>If I lived in Poul Anderson's Terran Empire and was asked to philosophise about it, what might I say?<p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><u>Seven Theses For The Empire</u></div><div style="text-align: left;">(i) Everything that exists is both interconnected and changing.</div><div style="text-align: left;">(Expressed negatively: nothing is isolated or static.)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">(ii) Even when powerful forces resist change, no set of social relationships can remain unchanged indefinitely while everything else changes around it. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">(iii) Delayed change seems sudden but is the culmination of many unnoticed changes.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">(iv) Imperial rule is a temporary set of changing relationships.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">(v) Every civilized planet must be strengthened in preparation for the eventual withdrawal of Imperial protection.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">(vi) Civilizations built in diverse environments and interacting with different intelligent species will be neither uniform nor predictable.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">(vii) Each civilization needs to approach a collective self-understanding with the help of planetary social philosophers.</div>paulshackley2017@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704115766930975286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post-16515113892518778912024-03-18T17:36:00.002+00:002024-03-18T17:38:04.160+00:00Emperors In DUNE And The Technic History<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi81F7MlgO9NQAYoC20PI035YPYmIGEdeb6bKFVc4uYHmPBr-U6qfxNfXGRY2fRGxtSZG52AoSEnToE_0eoOHhv7WEp2vJrWPfSHm1c_kEOOWAHov420JNywIck-DxH-7HWQGQs9HTb5ZNjbv3I9LpZJXzN8nbS9qHNA7LUUHxGihg0AcwoWhxe6SjKkbgF" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="115" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi81F7MlgO9NQAYoC20PI035YPYmIGEdeb6bKFVc4uYHmPBr-U6qfxNfXGRY2fRGxtSZG52AoSEnToE_0eoOHhv7WEp2vJrWPfSHm1c_kEOOWAHov420JNywIck-DxH-7HWQGQs9HTb5ZNjbv3I9LpZJXzN8nbS9qHNA7LUUHxGihg0AcwoWhxe6SjKkbgF" width="153" /></a></div>A spectacular film has an undeniable visual impact at least. Having seen <i>Dune</i>, Part 2, will I reread <i>Dune</i>? Will I compare and contrast it with Poul Anderson's History of Technic Civilization? Will that draw disagreement from defenders of Frank Herbert's works? A major theme of this blog is that anything that can be found in <i>Foundation</i>, <i>Dune</i>, the Future History, <i>Star Trek</i> or <i>Star Wars </i>can be found better in the Technic History.<p></p><p>One obvious comparison is that both series have not only an interstellar Empire but also an individual Emperor. In <i>Dune</i>, Part 2, Paul Atreides confronts and subordinates the Emperor. What does Poul Anderson give us? First, a history with the Terran Empire beginning, developing through at least two discrete stages and eventually ending. In addition, there are several different characters:</p><p>(i) the Founder of the Empire in "The Star Plunderer."</p><p>(ii) In <i>Ensign Flandry</i>, Emperor Georgios' birthday. Georgios does not appear in the novel but a film could cameo him during the birthday celebrations in the opening scenes.</p><p>(iii) Also in <i>Ensign Flandry</i>, Crown Prince Josip, the future Emperor, receives guests at the Coral Palace.</p><p>(iv) In <i>A Knight Of Ghosts And Shadows</i>, Crown Prince Dietrich, a future Emperor, receives while his younger brother, Gerhart, another future Emperor, gets imperially drunk with cronies. Later, Emperor Hans, the first of the Emperors to appear while Emperor, confers with Dominic Flandry.</p><p>(v) In <i>A Stone In Heaven</i>, Emperor Gerhart confers with Edwin Cairncross.</p><p>That is all but it is a lot, considering the biographies and impacts of these individuals.</p>paulshackley2017@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704115766930975286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post-62440930568274867642024-03-17T15:12:00.002+00:002024-03-17T15:15:08.779+00:00Question And Answer, Chapter I<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgKWlth2dvrtfNKmwgTU6rkqh75nPB6Z2RdWMu_a1cLmc7jpx2bwoYMtEJUJbZZ8Ob7fOXdlHx5A7dgky0mWuDV5S1mDW3sp9NosRCcx97c1aKp1qlUoh3mKHuo_QYUF4WXFHjjhOYdG1gOH-gyS8_yt3GQDnjn9qaNEHl0bIblSLdo557MIDt0WD05zUFX" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="275" data-original-width="184" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgKWlth2dvrtfNKmwgTU6rkqh75nPB6Z2RdWMu_a1cLmc7jpx2bwoYMtEJUJbZZ8Ob7fOXdlHx5A7dgky0mWuDV5S1mDW3sp9NosRCcx97c1aKp1qlUoh3mKHuo_QYUF4WXFHjjhOYdG1gOH-gyS8_yt3GQDnjn9qaNEHl0bIblSLdo557MIDt0WD05zUFX" width="161" /></a></div>Poul Anderson's <i>After Doomsday</i>, Chapter 1, begins with <i>Ecclesiastes</i>, ix, 12. <p></p><p>Anderson's <i>Question And Answer </i>(New York, 1978) begins with <i>Ecclesiastes</i>, ix. 16-18, which we discussed <a href="https://poulandersonappreciation.blogspot.com/2018/09/ecclesiastes-ix-16-18.html">here</a>.</p><p>The alternative title, <i>Planet Of No Return</i>, identified the latter novel as sf whereas <i>Question And Answer </i>is genre-neutral. An opening Biblical quotation does not identify genre so how soon in the text do we realize that we are reading sf? The novel is copyright 1956. The opening sentence refers to "...a robot..." (CHAPTER I, p. 1). When alarm lights flash red and a siren hoots:</p><p>"Three of the techs dropped what they were doing and shoved for a purchase against the nearest wall." (<i>ibid.</i>)</p><p>They shove for purchase because they are in free-fall. They are in space which, in 1956, was sf. The techs flee from gamma radiation which alone is enough to locate the narrative in a science-based context. We all remember phrases from books that we have read in the past. In the 1960s, I read an sf paperback, title and author's name long since forgotten, that began by informing us that its protagonist's hair was receding so fast that you would think that his nose was radioactive. This amusing opening immediately established a scientifically oriented setting. In <i>Question And Answer</i>, CHAPTER I, the viewpoint character, named Kemmel Gummus-lugil, must cope with the radiation threat after the techs have fled. We do not yet know much else about the background.</p>paulshackley2017@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704115766930975286noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post-15741528667739997022024-03-17T12:29:00.003+00:002024-03-17T12:31:18.976+00:00Many Details<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi2mXZfFiqZLGz4sKnut1Opc1HTP6dV2wUxaGhJXySQyr9Gw9M6bv3nG-lHC3lGKFKEVJe4wz_nwaIiqXw4OFgp8H629A3urjQvgnCWnsFWKmmfwDpUBhkCuD-tcbGQqfaGl9rXJZk0b8eEVgNVBEWWh2fNUbmQXY1YtdsMNZXLDK7OO6BfFTNcO1-zJ5uI" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="241" data-original-width="184" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi2mXZfFiqZLGz4sKnut1Opc1HTP6dV2wUxaGhJXySQyr9Gw9M6bv3nG-lHC3lGKFKEVJe4wz_nwaIiqXw4OFgp8H629A3urjQvgnCWnsFWKmmfwDpUBhkCuD-tcbGQqfaGl9rXJZk0b8eEVgNVBEWWh2fNUbmQXY1YtdsMNZXLDK7OO6BfFTNcO1-zJ5uI" width="183" /></a></div>I have just, not for the first time, reread and blogged about Poul Anderson's <i>After Doomsday. </i>Surprisingly, such a short book carries a great deal of content. I have posted about those details that came to my attention on this occasion. However, searching the blog reveals many other such details, e.g., <p></p><p><a href="https://poulandersonappreciation.blogspot.com/search?q=Monwaingi+Societies">Monwaingi Societies</a>; </p><p><a href="https://poulandersonappreciation.blogspot.com/2019/01/the-quotations-in-after-doomsday_6.html">The Quotations In After Doomsday</a>; </p><p><a href="https://poulandersonappreciation.blogspot.com/2019/01/after-doomsday-some-details.html">After Doomsday: Some Details</a>.</p><p>Next to be reread is <i>Question And Answer</i>, also known as <i>Planet Of No Return</i>, yet another one-off novel of faster than light interstellar travel and alien contact. I remember very little about it.</p>paulshackley2017@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704115766930975286noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post-26632672573376502282024-03-17T11:11:00.002+00:002024-03-17T13:01:24.833+00:00Three Years<p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiup0gsP24j2tsNeAlrQD8Ex5BbaiB7NIOs9cyqHpEkGvbkEkUgJysN1seIavL0pCuCnMsvqEjLC6W_PSDp86vm0b-3AoSDa05D58sXRj4rWRrjhdGjFPttfix4cQ1KItBfpAI8OHmAqQ79mYzH-KWzMDYu9qhVNUZufvHF3yChH2Nw8pdQBffofZlMmHkq" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="275" data-original-width="184" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiup0gsP24j2tsNeAlrQD8Ex5BbaiB7NIOs9cyqHpEkGvbkEkUgJysN1seIavL0pCuCnMsvqEjLC6W_PSDp86vm0b-3AoSDa05D58sXRj4rWRrjhdGjFPttfix4cQ1KItBfpAI8OHmAqQ79mYzH-KWzMDYu9qhVNUZufvHF3yChH2Nw8pdQBffofZlMmHkq" width="161" /></a></i></div><i><a href="https://poulandersonappreciation.blogspot.com/2024/03/no-cities.html">After Doomsday.</a></i><p></p><p>The text is very condensed. Three years pass between two chapters. In that time, human beings have led their allies to victory in the war against Kandemir. Grateful freed beings have let Donnan make his base on their planet. There has been time for the "The Battle of Brandobar" ballad to be composed and to be sung in another civilization-cluster where it is heard by the women of Terran Traders. </p><p>Several TV series could be set in those three years (a "three year mission"):</p><div style="text-align: left;">the War against Kamdemir</div><div style="text-align: left;">Terran Traders</div><div style="text-align: left;">Songs sung and tales told in Yotl's Nest</div><div style="text-align: left;">What happened to the Russian ship</div><div style="text-align: left;">What happened to the Chinese ship with its sexually mixed crew</div><div style="text-align: left;">the British Commonwealth ship</div><div style="text-align: left;">Other human ships</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Very like the way <i>Star Trek </i>developed.</div>paulshackley2017@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704115766930975286noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post-9429787339107151782024-03-16T21:28:00.001+00:002024-03-16T21:28:47.958+00:00Loud In The Trees<p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi79LiZewovPEQdYUSfyuro8qiwTh7x-RZ8YXL9VSNo2OSzUsROvCCexUdoyRp_faIu9TUCkX7qJPWWnAfmBpVycLaiQeLg7SFdZlGUm5NrTbI3VGi8YXj4Pkx_MikQXvBuHrfXd9PsJ9nr7EZX9SLhW6JabZ5ofFg3VHMzd2D_3Yt2yS_0H5DFhEKBaYfp" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="189" data-original-width="118" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi79LiZewovPEQdYUSfyuro8qiwTh7x-RZ8YXL9VSNo2OSzUsROvCCexUdoyRp_faIu9TUCkX7qJPWWnAfmBpVycLaiQeLg7SFdZlGUm5NrTbI3VGi8YXj4Pkx_MikQXvBuHrfXd9PsJ9nr7EZX9SLhW6JabZ5ofFg3VHMzd2D_3Yt2yS_0H5DFhEKBaYfp" width="150" /></a></i></div><i><a href="https://poulandersonappreciation.blogspot.com/2024/03/no-cities.html">After Doomsday.</a></i><p></p><p>A song sung by a spaceman in Yotl's Nest tells the women of Terran Traders that other human beings are alive. Sigrid says that there can only be two such days in her life. Of course Donnan asks what is the other one:</p><div style="text-align: left;">"'V'en my first-born is laid in my arms.'</div><div style="text-align: left;">"For a while only the wind blew, loud in the trees." (14, p. 112)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This time the wind underlines what is important, loudly for emphasis. That wind gets everywhere. We can think of it as:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">"...the wind at the edge of the world forever calling."</div><div style="text-align: left;">-see <a href="https://poulandersonappreciation.blogspot.com/search?q=wind+at+the+edge+of+the+world">here</a>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It certainly blows between worlds. If enough works by Poul Anderson were to be filmed, then there could certainly be a compilation of scenes with wind punctuating dialogue and commenting on action in Ys, in Gothland and on other planets.</div>paulshackley2017@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704115766930975286noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post-47803145664069652142024-03-16T20:50:00.003+00:002024-03-16T20:50:58.623+00:00The Wind Of Spring<p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi_GgDpQPuoLEkxDeb9mC_gqaxNhscotCErHDDoCJJBqnOeuZj1Og2CNO_h73MOkixPdCod_KcU09L8YaTXglEjCJD2rZUKSdu3C2273ugtpBZH7_JtJ7xQAhqzMThlCSqRR0mqsnuTgyKsl24bf8-ACKD1x8CZNG5QHdaqAYObXMUAiPKvvnnRq8INmc19" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="278" data-original-width="184" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi_GgDpQPuoLEkxDeb9mC_gqaxNhscotCErHDDoCJJBqnOeuZj1Og2CNO_h73MOkixPdCod_KcU09L8YaTXglEjCJD2rZUKSdu3C2273ugtpBZH7_JtJ7xQAhqzMThlCSqRR0mqsnuTgyKsl24bf8-ACKD1x8CZNG5QHdaqAYObXMUAiPKvvnnRq8INmc19" width="159" /></a></i></div><i><a href="https://poulandersonappreciation.blogspot.com/2024/03/no-cities.html">After Doomsday</a>.</i><p></p><p>The male and female crews have met:</p><p>"We are together, the two halves of the human race. We know now that man will live; there will be children and hearthfires on another Earth - in the end on a thousand or a million other Earths." (14, p. 112)</p><p>A new beginning - a novel's length away from the end of Earth in the opening sentence. In a work by Poul Anderson, it is time for an appropriate wind to blow and, right on cue:</p><p>"When Sigrid stepped out, the wind blew odors of springtime at her." (<i>ibid.</i>)</p><p>It could have been autumn or winter when Sigrid agreed to meet Donnan on the planet Varg but of course it has to be spring. How many readers notice that the seasons match the cycles of the narrative like this? We are affected by reading Poul Anderson's texts whether or not we consciously reflect on them.</p><p><br /></p>paulshackley2017@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704115766930975286noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post-61312946421630793452024-03-16T20:28:00.006+00:002024-03-16T20:30:31.155+00:00The Day After<p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiYsrWeOW3U0YMC30OvcXhMbFKwIfGNKwXbUrSskGCiO-rYIIW5IU8qhHwDc4qt2tU5VQulMYlhEElU35vt9ZE-XbA0TCK_hAtQq_T21HvygdL7lsbdfylzxu_5yT_8BQ21Pw3R2m6ZU2ELQJOyJ0iDeHd0Z4GdcbbJEir6dE-plgu8qb2FO4c6ZxV24-xF" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="289" data-original-width="184" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiYsrWeOW3U0YMC30OvcXhMbFKwIfGNKwXbUrSskGCiO-rYIIW5IU8qhHwDc4qt2tU5VQulMYlhEElU35vt9ZE-XbA0TCK_hAtQq_T21HvygdL7lsbdfylzxu_5yT_8BQ21Pw3R2m6ZU2ELQJOyJ0iDeHd0Z4GdcbbJEir6dE-plgu8qb2FO4c6ZxV24-xF" width="153" /></a></i></div><i><a href="https://poulandersonappreciation.blogspot.com/2024/03/no-cities.html">After Doomsday</a> </i>by Poul Anderson and <i>The Day After Judgement </i>by James Blish are almost interchangeable titles, especially since the former was originally <i>The Day After Doomsday.</i><p></p><p><i>After Doomsday </i>is cosmic sf and begins:</p><p>"Earth is dead. They murdered our Earth!'"<i> </i>(1, p. 5)</p><p><i>The Day After Judgement </i>is theological fantasy and begins:</p><div style="text-align: left;">"The Fall of God put Theron Ware in a peculiarly unenviable position..."</div><div style="text-align: left;">-James Blish, <i>The Day After Judgement </i>IN Blish, <i>After Such Knowledge </i>(London, 1991), pp. 427-522 AT p. 431.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In sf, Earth can end and, beyond that, even the whole universe can end. The latter happens in <i>Tau Zero </i>by Poul Anderson and <i>The Triumph of Time </i>by James Blish. In fantasy, the theological environment can change. In <i>The Day After Judgement</i>, God has died, to be replaced by Satan. In <i>Lucifer </i>by Mike Carey, God retires, to be replaced by his granddaughter, Lucifer's niece. (This version of the Adversary does not want the job.)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The sterilization of Earth seems like pretty small stuff in this context - but not to all of us who live here.</div>paulshackley2017@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704115766930975286noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post-92155709670352160562024-03-16T19:52:00.006+00:002024-03-16T19:55:06.056+00:00The Ballad Of The White Horse<p><a href="https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Ballad_of_the_White_Horse"></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEged4aYTnCL22ZiGRmRM3kAPdPTCEf-iKnEsbs_7nLskjysFGf0S3JKj_pcBMl8tP4YSqCrr6yVZ0oFenzoKHyua9vrDwjAS4kNFVoYbvfCO9X0og8QtXW6mzsO0bdJCb7VF3TcLPPaJRQBEeGxgowgXWuOA3WOmtkTopErEmFD2jED-E3ZfQUnBWc7t6Ut" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="278" data-original-width="184" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEged4aYTnCL22ZiGRmRM3kAPdPTCEf-iKnEsbs_7nLskjysFGf0S3JKj_pcBMl8tP4YSqCrr6yVZ0oFenzoKHyua9vrDwjAS4kNFVoYbvfCO9X0og8QtXW6mzsO0bdJCb7VF3TcLPPaJRQBEeGxgowgXWuOA3WOmtkTopErEmFD2jED-E3ZfQUnBWc7t6Ut" width="159" /></a></div><a href="https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Ballad_of_the_White_Horse">The Ballad of the White Horse</a><p></p><p>This poem by GK Chesterton is the source of the phrase, "Before the gods that made the gods," which is the title of <b>PART SIX </b>of Poul Anderson's <i>The Shield of Time.</i></p><p>One stanza from the poem:</p><p><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 12.376px;">I tell you naught for your </span><a href="https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Comfort" style="animation-delay: -0.01ms; animation-duration: 0.01ms; animation-iteration-count: 1; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0645ad; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12.376px; overflow-wrap: break-word; scroll-behavior: auto; text-decoration-line: none; transition-duration: 0ms;" title="Comfort">comfort</a><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 12.376px;">,</span><br style="animation-delay: -0.01ms; animation-duration: 0.01ms; animation-iteration-count: 1; color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12.376px; scroll-behavior: auto; transition-duration: 0ms;" /><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 12.376px;">Yea, naught for your </span><a href="https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Desire" style="animation-delay: -0.01ms; animation-duration: 0.01ms; animation-iteration-count: 1; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0645ad; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12.376px; overflow-wrap: break-word; scroll-behavior: auto; text-decoration-line: none; transition-duration: 0ms;" title="Desire">desire</a><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 12.376px;">,</span><br style="animation-delay: -0.01ms; animation-duration: 0.01ms; animation-iteration-count: 1; color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12.376px; scroll-behavior: auto; transition-duration: 0ms;" /><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 12.376px;">Save that the </span><a href="https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sky" style="animation-delay: -0.01ms; animation-duration: 0.01ms; animation-iteration-count: 1; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0645ad; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12.376px; overflow-wrap: break-word; scroll-behavior: auto; text-decoration-line: none; transition-duration: 0ms;" title="Sky">sky</a><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 12.376px;"> grows </span><a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Darker" style="animation-delay: -0.01ms; animation-duration: 0.01ms; animation-iteration-count: 1; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0645ad; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12.376px; overflow-wrap: break-word; scroll-behavior: auto; text-decoration-line: none; transition-duration: 0ms;" title="Darker">darker</a><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 12.376px;"> yet</span><br style="animation-delay: -0.01ms; animation-duration: 0.01ms; animation-iteration-count: 1; color: #202122; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12.376px; scroll-behavior: auto; transition-duration: 0ms;" /><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 12.376px;">And the </span><a href="https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sea" style="animation-delay: -0.01ms; animation-duration: 0.01ms; animation-iteration-count: 1; background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0645ad; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12.376px; overflow-wrap: break-word; scroll-behavior: auto; text-decoration-line: none; transition-duration: 0ms;" title="Sea">sea</a><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 12.376px;"> rises higher.</span></p><p><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122; font-size: 12.376px;">-</span><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: #f8f9fa; color: #202122;"> is quoted at the beginning of Chapter 15 of Anderson's <i>After Doomsday.</i></span></p><p><span face="sans-serif" style="color: #202122;"><span style="background-color: #f8f9fa;">I have only just found out all this by googling.</span></span></p>paulshackley2017@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704115766930975286noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post-60451994750820697432024-03-16T19:01:00.001+00:002024-03-16T19:01:25.567+00:00They Were Mad<p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj-iG_MEbxaYLtCkBr0XRa4E0v7lbkoMrCmDehtePvJhuklwcopyyjeq4IpUkDRV9FxcytcbiDfXscppWTUh9VW1su0TN-tk6PW1IxXSW80uFIDBYwqx-pvK8k-068HDtIYYX5mAgPbSWFWfbz11nCVn5-kZJ7efJXQVS98ZAyzCNJvD-3bWJ7xbMPVcW_R" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="244" data-original-width="161" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj-iG_MEbxaYLtCkBr0XRa4E0v7lbkoMrCmDehtePvJhuklwcopyyjeq4IpUkDRV9FxcytcbiDfXscppWTUh9VW1su0TN-tk6PW1IxXSW80uFIDBYwqx-pvK8k-068HDtIYYX5mAgPbSWFWfbz11nCVn5-kZJ7efJXQVS98ZAyzCNJvD-3bWJ7xbMPVcW_R" width="158" /></a></i></div><i><a href="https://poulandersonappreciation.blogspot.com/2024/03/no-cities.html">After Doomsday</a>.</i><p></p><p>An alien, in this case a centauroid Xoan, comments on Earth:</p><p>"'All those ridiculous nations and tribes there - hold overs from the Stone Age, and still unable to agree...in the face of galactic culture...agree on unity and global peace...'" (11, pp. 91-92)</p><p>According to the recorded testimony of this Xoan, who is a member of what in the Polesotechnic League is called a trade pioneer crew, it made good business sense to some members of his species to sell a doomsday device to no less than two different political-military alliances on Earth! After all, the Terrestrials themselves had discussed this idea. It seems that it was the detonation of one of these devises that sterilized Earth and in any case:</p><p>"'I tell you, they were mad. The whole race was mad. Best they did die, before their lunacy threatened everyone else.'" (p. 92)</p><p>Will that be the epitaph for mankind?</p>paulshackley2017@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704115766930975286noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post-72160099642567190192024-03-16T17:11:00.003+00:002024-03-16T17:11:39.229+00:00Ingenious Schemes<p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhG-aQacwy3komZckkpa-fzaIWCUrkyJZUR5kLq2gdXvEOZWHm0dTNwqD30ODans7MKCPYtWp2hor1ZE4C5-x0ahnZSWTjYLMVmTaFfBe_gBybpbiP2yXdYReBK_Qkqakq8Ynrs8xRURnB-vX116K43qe8eByshfKc7phx4OZ90q8UcLwx6bPzzANHo4SiJ" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="184" data-original-width="184" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhG-aQacwy3komZckkpa-fzaIWCUrkyJZUR5kLq2gdXvEOZWHm0dTNwqD30ODans7MKCPYtWp2hor1ZE4C5-x0ahnZSWTjYLMVmTaFfBe_gBybpbiP2yXdYReBK_Qkqakq8Ynrs8xRURnB-vX116K43qe8eByshfKc7phx4OZ90q8UcLwx6bPzzANHo4SiJ" width="240" /></a></i></div><i><a href="https://poulandersonappreciation.blogspot.com/2024/03/no-cities.html">After Doomsday</a>.</i><p></p><p>Chapter 8 is an interesting change, about the European women running Terran Traders, Inc., in an expanding free enterprise civilization-cluster but two of the eight pages are a fight scene. By innovating with profit sharing, systems analysis and motivational research, the women hope to become rich enough quickly enough to hire enough spaceships to search the galaxy for other human survivors. Meanwhile, Donnan hopes, by participating in the Kandemir-Vorlak war, to become notorious enough to attract the attention of any other human beings. Are there other human crews with similar schemes? It seems that some of them will succeed in overcoming the obstacles to the perpetuation of their species. In any case, in this particular fictional scenario, the million civilization-clusters in the Milky Way and the Magellanic Clouds would continue as before even if the human race were exterminated to its last member.</p>paulshackley2017@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704115766930975286noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post-17737837050926544312024-03-16T15:22:00.003+00:002024-03-16T15:26:29.224+00:00Memories And A Realization<p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj4EzVDX7WOpks6Cv8wgH2ft-JRC2oPY9B3fYSU9dRDyu9jrMzk6yPz823bYqmPzZhJy0ESzgDM78-HDnCuBiG7jIhvLfzOwZqcnErmqTExHDTfXHDR4E6r913jRYHYtxL_PJqemou2NFg445qhLAkYQMpCktNWVp49fhaEUORL0oGd1fwiNxjVKTbJZFd8" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj4EzVDX7WOpks6Cv8wgH2ft-JRC2oPY9B3fYSU9dRDyu9jrMzk6yPz823bYqmPzZhJy0ESzgDM78-HDnCuBiG7jIhvLfzOwZqcnErmqTExHDTfXHDR4E6r913jRYHYtxL_PJqemou2NFg445qhLAkYQMpCktNWVp49fhaEUORL0oGd1fwiNxjVKTbJZFd8" width="240" /></a></i></div><i><a href="https://poulandersonappreciation.blogspot.com/2024/03/no-cities.html">After Doomsday</a>.</i><p></p><p>"What [Donnan] remembered of human history told him how often a foreign invader had entered as the ally of one local faction. Romans in Greece, Saxons in Britain, English in Ireland and India, Spaniards in Mexico - <i>If I forget thee, O Jerusalem!</i>" (7, p. 61)</p><p>See also<a href="https://poulandersonappreciation.blogspot.com/2014/01/if-ever-i-forget-thee.html"> If Ever I forget Thee...</a></p><p>I was sent from England to a boarding school in the Republic of Ireland where we learned about the Norman English invasion of Ireland. </p><p>Donnan nominally addresses Jerusalem but says it to the whole Earth: yet another Andersonian use of the <a href="https://poulandersonappreciation.blogspot.com/search?q=Bible">Bible</a>.</p><p>At the end of this chapter, Donnan is being pressured, to say the least, to help Kandemir. He wonders why he should resist when there is nothing left but himself. Then:</p><div style="text-align: left;">"<i>The hell there isn't.</i></div><div style="text-align: left;">"The knowledge burst within him. He sat straight with an oath." (p. 63)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">He offers to help. Donnan has just had what I have identified as an Andersonian <a href="https://poulandersonappreciation.blogspot.com/search?q=Donnan%27s+Moment">moment of realization</a> but we will have to read on to learn what is the knowledge that has burst within him.</div>paulshackley2017@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704115766930975286noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post-29320675598076887672024-03-15T21:26:00.001+00:002024-03-15T21:26:29.522+00:00Captured<i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhfokFLYPmV6rJZoCqTK-_fmoZQ2n8jII3sYhFQPljpGrTaG_UoXWkCTpFrH-ULI3XeodnHxTPoVFapwKHd1p7ar3CHebfujnK8FdDmWj1rz7whKZPJMsv1w0rtbmMi4B29Xfy4NOblTVrsjpX5trD5tp4vjIUOgX14rOKslG5Nw36sDy6PhCHbuG85mKcQ" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="184" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhfokFLYPmV6rJZoCqTK-_fmoZQ2n8jII3sYhFQPljpGrTaG_UoXWkCTpFrH-ULI3XeodnHxTPoVFapwKHd1p7ar3CHebfujnK8FdDmWj1rz7whKZPJMsv1w0rtbmMi4B29Xfy4NOblTVrsjpX5trD5tp4vjIUOgX14rOKslG5Nw36sDy6PhCHbuG85mKcQ" width="164" /></a></div><a href="https://poulandersonappreciation.blogspot.com/2024/03/no-cities.html">After Doomsday</a>.</i><div><i><br /></i></div><div>Donnan was a prisoner twice before but both of those times were:</div><div><br /></div><div>"...on a green and peopled Earth." (7, p. 57)</div><div><br /></div><div>- whereas here, on Mayast II:</div><div><br /></div><div>the sky resembles "...incandescent brass" (<i>ibid.</i>);</div><div>the sun is impossible to look at;</div><div>mirages waver on the horizon;</div><div>the roaring furnace wind makes branches toss and snap;</div><div>the natives resemble giant, scaled, glittering, four-eyed, four-legged, tentacular-armed spiders;</div><div>a glittering kite-shaped animal glides above;</div><div>Donnan is about to be interrogated by a Kandemirian.</div><div><br /></div><div>He is at the bottom of his trajectory. Earth has been destroyed. He and his men have fought. Ten are dead. Forty are captured. There is nowhere left to go but up.</div><div><br /></div><div>At this time of the evening, I reread Stieg Larsson. Sigrid Holmen in the <i>Europa </i>is from Sweden, my favourite other country because of Larsson.</div>paulshackley2017@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704115766930975286noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post-21345481381057447692024-03-15T20:17:00.001+00:002024-03-15T20:17:29.483+00:00Space-Time-Energy<div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjWiQyjzxUk_2c2BZJX7G9hU0ZDPXLVLMfSSNpHKXQDFnMejg-npRSyGmeEhwjMJJppFVshRA5e5-OQW_6mRtLJz-gIlI4peJY0yV_JHi0Fy_VgcfEmkG1uyBSX2ktMvTeD6a_3PcIHOrZSAD4Rc_wiyaECTVhrH8mCUY7tNRG1C-LilIijYlx1fR2-SC9P" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="197" data-original-width="127" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjWiQyjzxUk_2c2BZJX7G9hU0ZDPXLVLMfSSNpHKXQDFnMejg-npRSyGmeEhwjMJJppFVshRA5e5-OQW_6mRtLJz-gIlI4peJY0yV_JHi0Fy_VgcfEmkG1uyBSX2ktMvTeD6a_3PcIHOrZSAD4Rc_wiyaECTVhrH8mCUY7tNRG1C-LilIijYlx1fR2-SC9P=w258-h400" width="258" /></a></div>Mass is energy. Space and time are space-time.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">"The fluctuation was in space-time-energy itself, a quantum leap, a senseless randomness."</div><div style="text-align: left;">-Poul Anderson, <i>The Shield of Time </i>(New York, July 1991), <b>PART SIX</b>, <b>1137 A. D.</b>, p. 344.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">"'My staff and I have barely begun to explore the possibilities opened by our new theory of space-time-energy relationships.'"</div><div style="text-align: left;">-<i><a href="https://poulandersonappreciation.blogspot.com/2024/03/no-cities.html">After Doomsday</a>, </i>6, p. 53.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Space, time and energy are relevant both to time travel and to faster than light travel. Maybe the theoreticians in <i>After Doomsday</i>, who already have FTL, will discover quantum fluctuations that will also lead them to time travel?</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The fluctuation in <i>The Shield of Time</i> did not involve time travel. However, it prevented the scientific revolution and the discovery of time travel but was preceded by the arrival of time travellers who, realizing the consequences of the fluctuation, prevented it. Paradoxical but just another assignment for the Time Patrol.</div>paulshackley2017@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704115766930975286noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post-48448210403772443252024-03-15T18:59:00.003+00:002024-03-15T19:01:03.105+00:00Numbers<p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjTJX6maW3bBL3m8V-zL5yXkh3Q1Fk_xERCukoNkFCbJH4sLRjeiCVvq_3q2feUXPOpAoufOY1w4G6ohPypP15z-KsOxKPQivbSIKy93hpw781ZupZ8mQTpNugf9zD43IsS8lk1QaoihyPQqo6TR1sLiuB0bwZje-oOJ4W1diYg7MJVLEoqhdU3O27McPMj" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="122" data-original-width="184" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjTJX6maW3bBL3m8V-zL5yXkh3Q1Fk_xERCukoNkFCbJH4sLRjeiCVvq_3q2feUXPOpAoufOY1w4G6ohPypP15z-KsOxKPQivbSIKy93hpw781ZupZ8mQTpNugf9zD43IsS8lk1QaoihyPQqo6TR1sLiuB0bwZje-oOJ4W1diYg7MJVLEoqhdU3O27McPMj" width="320" /></a></i></div><i><a href="https://poulandersonappreciation.blogspot.com/2024/03/no-cities.html">After Doomsday</a>.</i> <p></p><p>Different intelligent species use different numerical symbols, obviously, and also have different base numbers. For example, the six-fingered Monwaingi use the base, six, whereas the ten-fingered Vorlakkar use the base, ten. But that still does not tell us whether, despite these differences, they all use an essentially "Arabic" system, e.g., the Monwaingi would need:</p><div style="text-align: left;">a symbol for zero;</div><div style="text-align: left;">a single different symbol for each of the numbers one, two, three, four and five.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The Monwaingi would then represent six by their symbol for one followed by their symbol for zero. Thus, their numbers from one to twelve would not be:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">1</div><div style="text-align: left;">2</div><div style="text-align: left;">3</div><div style="text-align: left;">4</div><div style="text-align: left;">5</div><div style="text-align: left;">6</div><div style="text-align: left;">7</div><div style="text-align: left;">8</div><div style="text-align: left;">9</div><div style="text-align: left;">10</div><div style="text-align: left;">11</div><div style="text-align: left;">12</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">- but, instead, would be their equivalents of:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">1</div><div style="text-align: left;">2</div><div style="text-align: left;">3</div><div style="text-align: left;">4</div><div style="text-align: left;">5</div><div style="text-align: left;">10</div><div style="text-align: left;">11</div><div style="text-align: left;">12</div><div style="text-align: left;">13</div><div style="text-align: left;">14</div><div style="text-align: left;">15</div><div style="text-align: left;">20</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Poul Anderson describes Ramri of Monwaing getting the figures wrong in a Vorlakka ship precisely because this issue of different number systems will be a crucial plot element later.</div>paulshackley2017@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704115766930975286noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post-70539684283803171182024-03-15T16:21:00.000+00:002024-03-15T16:21:08.022+00:00Propaganda<p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhCsC1Js_D5MZalzR0g13RNwo70wu27ztfXmUaoUg1ppRN5K2UeABxKrVSx1KsL-gWJS1cVtVNrvNHsvyiQZKs5yUEOEvDvEjuj-in-Lj3HU6wfsfpqm5wYeoQJgFi3lR8g3o9boX_aWVfDTK55QCCFmvIEhgveqwJ9A5eFfDeTb_ITAwI9QXZr5G70OdUv" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="257" data-original-width="184" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhCsC1Js_D5MZalzR0g13RNwo70wu27ztfXmUaoUg1ppRN5K2UeABxKrVSx1KsL-gWJS1cVtVNrvNHsvyiQZKs5yUEOEvDvEjuj-in-Lj3HU6wfsfpqm5wYeoQJgFi3lR8g3o9boX_aWVfDTK55QCCFmvIEhgveqwJ9A5eFfDeTb_ITAwI9QXZr5G70OdUv" width="172" /></a></i></div><i><a href="https://poulandersonappreciation.blogspot.com/2024/03/no-cities.html">After Doomsday.</a></i><p></p><p>Within the local civilization-cluster, Kandemir and Vorlak, two planets orbiting different stars, are at war. The Kandemirians are:</p><p>"'Imperialists. They've already overrun a dozen worlds.'" (4, p. 37)</p><p>Maybe that bestows some spurious credibility on the wording of a secret treaty between Vorlak and the Soviet Union:</p><p>"-common cause of the peace-loving peoples against imperialist aggressors...unity in the great patriotic struggle-'" (5, p. 46)</p><p>The Vorlakka show this as evidence that it was not they that had destroyed Earth. Carl Donnan rightly:</p><p>"...didn't think that any nonhuman could have done the phrasing that exactly." (<i>ibid.</i>)</p><p>Poul Anderson, however, does a good job of reproducing Russian propaganda! That "...peace-loving..." is an empty phrase is shown by the terms of the treaty:</p><p>"'The Soviet Union was to produce for [the Vorlakka] a large amount of arms in certain categories, at a favorable price; and numerous of their military personnel were to serve [the Vorlakka] as auxiliaries, thereby gaining experience in modern warfare.'" (<i>ibid.</i>)</p><p>Donnan judges that the purpose was that:</p><p>"...the Soviets could quietly get ahead of every other country in the development of a really up-to-date war machine." (<i>ibid.</i>)</p><p>Add to all this that the treaty was signed not with representatives of any social class corresponding to a Vorlakkan proletariat but with "...Vorlak's warlords." (p. 42)</p><p>Peace-loving? War waging.</p><p>Donnan reflects that:</p><p>"The Communists never had given up their ambitions, even when the fluid situation after the Monwaingi arrived forced them to pull in their horns while they reassessed matters." (p. 46)</p><p>Here "The Communists..." clearly refers to the group ruling the Soviet Union at the time of the Monwaingi arrival. Has this word ever referred to another group of people with other aims? It has. Do we want to revive old arguments? I think not. But the issues are always with us and Poul Anderson's works cover the issues.</p>paulshackley2017@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704115766930975286noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post-8100680233760095002024-03-15T10:04:00.000+00:002024-03-15T10:04:15.262+00:00Truth And Fiction<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjNVHYHghswmT_ohZAMEbz80wZRZf2UjxcEvqoxaVjdF-2VQAiv1rqdBXpaCbaXo7DpbeDmwB6U5HPqyABXiAwsOa97bnDquo0NJjqD8iV7rIoE7qhM3iKlNZ4Mxht6Jmopx_eJu6NxTS7M_FiZuuAxm4X6lEolaSk1ppx2upsMQpsdkJ8RLKqy2zEHU3Tk" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="245" data-original-width="184" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjNVHYHghswmT_ohZAMEbz80wZRZf2UjxcEvqoxaVjdF-2VQAiv1rqdBXpaCbaXo7DpbeDmwB6U5HPqyABXiAwsOa97bnDquo0NJjqD8iV7rIoE7qhM3iKlNZ4Mxht6Jmopx_eJu6NxTS7M_FiZuuAxm4X6lEolaSk1ppx2upsMQpsdkJ8RLKqy2zEHU3Tk" width="180" /></a></div>Please consider the following propositions before responding to them.<p></p><p>First, <i>The Time Machine </i>is a true account because its author was one of the Time Traveller's dinner guests. The account was mistaken for fiction maybe because the Time Traveller failed to return to confirm his story. This sufficiently explains the existence of the text of <i>The Time Machine.</i></p><p>Secondly, <i>The Time Machine </i>is a work of fiction based on the time travel idea which a mutant time traveller gave to an English writer. Another mutant time traveller confided in Dr. Robert Anderson who passed on some ideas to Poul Anderson. This second Anderson wrote a series of stories about a future civilization which he called the Maurai Federation and later wrote <i>There Will Be Time </i>about mutant time travellers. This sufficiently explains the existence of the texts of <i>The Time Machine</i>, the Maurai future history series and <i>There Will Be Time.</i></p><p>Thirdly, the Sherlock Holmes stories are true accounts because their author, Dr. John Watson, was Holmes' confidante. This was confirmed when two Time Patrolmen met a private investigator and his amanuensis while investigating the singular contents of an ancient British barrow. This sufficiently explains the existence of the texts of the Sherlock Holmes stories although the existence of the Time Patrol remains secret to most people born before 19352 A.D. </p><p>These are elaborate rationalizations of fictional narratives although, unfortunately, mutant time travellers and the Time Patrol are mutually incompatible! But, of course, we can assign them to different (kinds of) timelines.</p><p>I suggested the first proposition above to an acquaintance, emphasising that I put it forward as a fictional premise, but he soon got confused and thought that I thought that <i>The Time Machine </i>was a true account.</p>paulshackley2017@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704115766930975286noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post-72586691232286500712024-03-14T21:51:00.000+00:002024-03-14T21:51:11.206+00:00The End<p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhN2KMANK31G81EXDUNIZUAEoGjgi7524vepQCqY483VHwMNLK_S-dudxpvsSDgxw40RcqppD0XokPZ-qVbyggXR76WJM-6R0vucTLBwXBKZx2bZ6lnYE7jlebmvpXrk4e7KBPmcya9bDVmy5Vqt1BtYOmfk4Uzzg3yIAcVEMeqCmNtEOr7PJzc44tvgU-R" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="230" data-original-width="184" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhN2KMANK31G81EXDUNIZUAEoGjgi7524vepQCqY483VHwMNLK_S-dudxpvsSDgxw40RcqppD0XokPZ-qVbyggXR76WJM-6R0vucTLBwXBKZx2bZ6lnYE7jlebmvpXrk4e7KBPmcya9bDVmy5Vqt1BtYOmfk4Uzzg3yIAcVEMeqCmNtEOr7PJzc44tvgU-R" width="192" /></a></i></div><i><a href="https://poulandersonappreciation.blogspot.com/2024/03/no-cities.html">After Doomsday</a>.</i><p></p><p>"One senseless kick of some cosmic boot, and the whole long story came to an end and it had all, all been for nothing." (4, p. 33)</p><p>The story of Sigrid Holmen's "folk" had begun when:</p><p>"...they entered the land to hunt elk as the glaciers melted..." (<i>ibid.</i>)</p><p>It had not all been for nothing. Has a life been for nothing when it has ended? Certainly we expect to have descendants, if not individually then collectively, but that too will end at some future date. If nothing lasts forever, it nevertheless has value while it lasts. Or would it make sense to commit mass suicide here and now? Obviously not. And who knows what the future will bring? Mankind is not dead if some crews have got into space before Earth is sterilized.</p><p>Poul Anderson casually raises such issues even in the midst of action scenes, as here. The European spaceship, the <i>Europa</i>, must respond to an incoming missile. Human action continues. And posting on this blog should continue tomorrow. Good night.</p>paulshackley2017@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704115766930975286noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post-20292205360766258822024-03-14T17:21:00.003+00:002024-03-14T17:35:31.596+00:00Cometh The Hour, Cometh The Man<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEipi7YZuZv7JLjtpcC1m-uqibeFn-r3md9zTUtzcU65HyddgyRAq3gs6U09ksAHCPE2sOme1KwT7rqTt43BhxY8WSh440FXBZQY_4v8OM2f-Ryv4ILPuu2pb_vPSZ6M4Vc4mApk_2wclStdamuJ87pQczo2KFndVv-znfzlBekaT08MhIqDiEeOSQoaq29v" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="286" data-original-width="184" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEipi7YZuZv7JLjtpcC1m-uqibeFn-r3md9zTUtzcU65HyddgyRAq3gs6U09ksAHCPE2sOme1KwT7rqTt43BhxY8WSh440FXBZQY_4v8OM2f-Ryv4ILPuu2pb_vPSZ6M4Vc4mApk_2wclStdamuJ87pQczo2KFndVv-znfzlBekaT08MhIqDiEeOSQoaq29v" width="154" /></a></div>I can't remember the names of all the heroes of all of Poul Anderson's one-off novels, can you? We know the series characters, of course.<p></p><p>If an interstellar spaceship is unable to return to Earth, then someone on board must take charge to ensure survival. To whom do I refer?</p><p>In <i>Tau Zero</i>, the <i>Leonora Christine </i>is cut off from humanity because it accelerates outward indefinitely so the constable, Charles Reymont, takes charge.</p><p>In <i><a href="https://poulandersonappreciation.blogspot.com/2024/03/no-cities.html">After Doomsday</a></i>, the <i>Benjamin Franklin </i>is cut from humanity because humanity has been exterminated so the engineer, Carl Donnan, takes charge.</p><p>Similar situations, similar heroes. Men who see what needs to be done and also see who they can organize to get it done:</p><p>"'...stop asking them what they think we ought to do. Tell them what we're going to do.'" (3, p. 32)</p><p>Preferably, a group of people would be able to decide for themselves what to do but Donnan has to take charge in a situation where that is the exact opposite of the case.</p><p>"'Organize [those who '...have more self-control than average...'] into an anti-riot guard.'" (<i>ibid.</i>)</p><p>I do not like anti-riot guards at the best of times but Donnan is facing an emergency and the disintegration of a crew with one faction chanting "'Kill the swine! Kill the swine!'" (p. 30) at precisely the time when every single human life has become even more precious than it already was.</p>paulshackley2017@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704115766930975286noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post-2996182734945651302024-03-14T16:01:00.003+00:002024-03-14T16:02:57.287+00:00What Is Real<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgCKyV6RR6RojZ4rARgXwcETI7nZ_YqUi2snGTGYQQASkC7kgkcpsB1buv6ejODh1Aljgmv1CkyQieXP70j2LbynmJ9nLViyHMMugjNYMIoGEe5ICYY5dfwbhzx10kU0_J6BTaxl_T2X0tdoGZRQkixiL2xWf1-IhWI_UhJNfmfxE-l2dQjNBcXr6UwQrcD" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="275" data-original-width="161" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgCKyV6RR6RojZ4rARgXwcETI7nZ_YqUi2snGTGYQQASkC7kgkcpsB1buv6ejODh1Aljgmv1CkyQieXP70j2LbynmJ9nLViyHMMugjNYMIoGEe5ICYY5dfwbhzx10kU0_J6BTaxl_T2X0tdoGZRQkixiL2xWf1-IhWI_UhJNfmfxE-l2dQjNBcXr6UwQrcD" width="141" /></a></div>Sf writers comment on their predecessors, knowing that they in turn can subsequently be commented on. <p></p><div style="text-align: left;">"We think, in one mood, of Mr Wells' Martians (very unlike the real Malacandrians, by the bye) or his Selenites."</div><div style="text-align: left;">-CS Lewis, <i>Perelandra </i>IN Lewis, <i>The Cosmic Trilogy </i>(London, 1990), pp. 145-348 AT <i style="font-weight: bold;">1</i>, p. 151.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">We all know that "the real Malacandrians" are just Lewis' fictional Martians, no more real than Wells' but, while reading this novel, we willingly suspend disbelief! Of course they are real. Ransom has met them.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In similar vein, that narrator of Poul Anderson's <i><a href="https://poulandersonappreciation.blogspot.com/2024/03/no-cities.html">After Doomsday</a></i> comments:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">"No wonder the speculative writers has misunderstood their own assumptions. The universe was too big for them.-" (3, p. 29)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Anderson knows that he is one of those speculative writers and that he will not be getting it right, either. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">This long commentary by the narrator of <i>After Doomsday </i>stretches, in the Ballantine paperback, for just under two pages of the text and is punctuated by two dashes. Thus:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">"-Big indeed..." (p. 27)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">"...too big for them.-" (p. 29)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The commentary, explaining the galactic context of the million civilization-clusters, interrupts and is grammatically set apart from a dialogue between Donnan and Goldspring. The narrative continues.</div>paulshackley2017@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704115766930975286noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post-2899146126488011342024-03-14T14:55:00.001+00:002024-03-14T15:00:01.556+00:00What! No Federation?<p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh7aDqqbp1xEbEY--mtP1AgvjhQ76X8Pea8fU7g5pH3lJy0ztDA_CF1-kW_32NETBaImQOPVcfIp2EcP6nYqG9rgqo4McqjU5Gxh3nqzbjcn2_zkXOk-FgoAehHO3IEA2iKYlfBzMl9MJPAKcOvKQZ5wWOiatkYfaQhDjxI8uK0L8uCnCmjHYFSc91FZVhx" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="272" data-original-width="184" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh7aDqqbp1xEbEY--mtP1AgvjhQ76X8Pea8fU7g5pH3lJy0ztDA_CF1-kW_32NETBaImQOPVcfIp2EcP6nYqG9rgqo4McqjU5Gxh3nqzbjcn2_zkXOk-FgoAehHO3IEA2iKYlfBzMl9MJPAKcOvKQZ5wWOiatkYfaQhDjxI8uK0L8uCnCmjHYFSc91FZVhx" width="162" /></a></i></div><i><a href="https://poulandersonappreciation.blogspot.com/2024/03/no-cities.html">After Doomsday</a></i>.<p></p><p>Donnan criticizes works of sf in which Earth was invited to join a Galactic Federation:</p><div style="text-align: left;">"'Hell, why should there be a Federation? Why should anyone give a hoot about us? Couldn't those writers see how <i>big </i>the universes is?'</div><div style="text-align: left;">"-Big indeed. The diameter of this one galaxy is some hundred thousand light-years, the maximum width about ten thousand." (3, p. 27)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The narrator immediately responds to Donnan's rhetorical question, deploying not some objective phrase like "the Milky Way" but the more specific "...this one galaxy..." We seem to be addressed not by the omniscient narrator of much prose fiction but by a fellow inhabitant of "this one galaxy." When a narrator locates himself like this in the same environment as his characters, it is theoretically possible that he himself will come on-stage as another, albeit first person, character later in the text - although admittedly he usually does not.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The concluding chapter of a novel by CS Lewis begins:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">"At this point, if I were guided by purely literary considerations, my story would end..."</div><div style="text-align: left;">-CS Lewis, <i>Out Of The Silent Planet </i>IN Lewis, <i>The Cosmic Trilogy </i>(London, 1990), pp. 1-144 AT <i style="font-weight: bold;">22</i>, p. 136.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">- and, further down that same page:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">"This is where I come into the story. I had known Dr Ransom slightly..." (<i>ibid.</i>)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">- Ransom, of course, being the third person protagonist of the novel until this point.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Lewis, a master of narrative points of view, is indeed guided by purely literary considerations when he adds the verisimilitude of a personal appearance in the text as Poul Anderson also does in <i>There Will Be Time.</i> Meanwhile, in <i>After Doomsday</i>, Donnan's story continues without any further intrusions by the narrator.</div>paulshackley2017@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704115766930975286noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post-24126926783005902382024-03-14T13:18:00.001+00:002024-03-14T13:18:14.372+00:00Ourselves<p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhppWPRS4wSe4gFkJRVFpVHU-KZCKB72IW_do5ivGUo7UxHrolzvIS_wwHGU9bSAFJd-UP2LcNj3EpZlFxhb4gSoxNyEOkWslWGtanzf7ZJ_cAfMUMIc-3_m8dI1icJ7L7GdwLnXqXQGRLPd3dONwCq9R3byj-g8zvMZpsc7fEfia-ETHsqUPWulomGMMc_" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="298" data-original-width="184" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhppWPRS4wSe4gFkJRVFpVHU-KZCKB72IW_do5ivGUo7UxHrolzvIS_wwHGU9bSAFJd-UP2LcNj3EpZlFxhb4gSoxNyEOkWslWGtanzf7ZJ_cAfMUMIc-3_m8dI1icJ7L7GdwLnXqXQGRLPd3dONwCq9R3byj-g8zvMZpsc7fEfia-ETHsqUPWulomGMMc_" width="148" /></a></i></div><i><a href="https://poulandersonappreciation.blogspot.com/2024/03/no-cities.html">After Doomsday</a>.</i><p></p><div style="text-align: left;">"'Once we go superlight, we will be safe.'</div><div style="text-align: left;">"From everything except ourselves, Donnan thought.</div><div style="text-align: left;">"'Get going, then,' Strathey rapped." (2, p. 18)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Poul Anderson could just have written the dialogue between Ramri and Strathey without inserting Donnan's thought. A dramatization probably would just give us the dialogue. In fact, how would a film or TV episode tell us what Donnan was thinking? Not that it cannot be done but it needs to be finessed somehow. During a tense scene on the bridge of the U.S.S. <i>Benjamin Franklin</i>, Donnan should not address stage whispers to the camera. Is it acceptable just to see his face and hear his voice-over? How else might it be done? His thought could be incorporated into dialogue shortly afterward.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In any case, Anderson's prose gives us the added depth of reflection on "ourselves" and this extra dimension is always present. See also<a href="https://poulandersonappreciation.blogspot.com/2024/03/militarism-and-human-soul.html"> Militarism And The Human Soul.</a></div>paulshackley2017@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704115766930975286noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post-78297061199372319012024-03-14T11:16:00.001+00:002024-03-14T12:50:12.428+00:00No Cities<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEinyNSoV18_c0eJbcMyTeqwWtgeM1kZ4iZouqNu2WLPg3W2ldughobgJ4wP6zqznMVZ7tGnw2lZu9YijvB2b8Vgp0c2UVcbe3u1yKjlM25k6DWhHhlIndcR5202aXGfRtdOt9B0e0tiXKN9ZxD_4vPTT66cUtWaUpRDC51Lm5TSfgBZHl9COqPcR4COxrj5" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="296" data-original-width="184" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEinyNSoV18_c0eJbcMyTeqwWtgeM1kZ4iZouqNu2WLPg3W2ldughobgJ4wP6zqznMVZ7tGnw2lZu9YijvB2b8Vgp0c2UVcbe3u1yKjlM25k6DWhHhlIndcR5202aXGfRtdOt9B0e0tiXKN9ZxD_4vPTT66cUtWaUpRDC51Lm5TSfgBZHl9COqPcR4COxrj5" width="149" /></a></div>Poul Anderson, <i>After Doomsday </i>(New York, 1962).<p></p><div style="text-align: left;">"'...I'd like to forestall any notion you guys may have gotten about heading straight for Kandemir and doing a kamikaze dive onto their main city.'</div><div style="text-align: left;">"'They don't have a main city.' Bowman giggled again." (2, p. 17)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Right. Aliens are different and do not necessarily have cities or anything else that we take for granted. In the Technic History, Ythrians do not have cities so do they have a civilization? Their lack of a government to restrain their pioneers causes friction with Terra. In <i>After Doomsday</i>, from what I remember, the Kandemirians will turn out to be technological nomads. History takes very different directions on different planets. Talking about civilization, it is time for me to go and vote in a local City Council election. Excuse me while I go and do some real life.</div>paulshackley2017@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704115766930975286noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3538502828554372917.post-33524954383356044522024-03-14T10:40:00.002+00:002024-03-14T10:40:56.710+00:00Intolerance And Diversity<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh7_-AP_PeDiSF_HmmKMZCIy92ah5uulnvyaCDhUCa31_IHiprt749l4f_pukevEipHc2gmWng-r9W5-THCdw5tm4cMLPoWwocLcIPaQsEJjjrk_7or8nwrJA0M2UlhkgfWKmwxOgX5D76gpeGzb8Q5N7yOUrQMJHcKMug6O0wfbND8tIJ4cELQCgUpgjLP" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="212" data-original-width="128" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh7_-AP_PeDiSF_HmmKMZCIy92ah5uulnvyaCDhUCa31_IHiprt749l4f_pukevEipHc2gmWng-r9W5-THCdw5tm4cMLPoWwocLcIPaQsEJjjrk_7or8nwrJA0M2UlhkgfWKmwxOgX5D76gpeGzb8Q5N7yOUrQMJHcKMug6O0wfbND8tIJ4cELQCgUpgjLP" width="145" /></a></div>The Ai Chun in <i>World Without Stars </i>and the Alori in <i>The Peregrine </i>cannot tolerate the existence of a culture fundamentally different from their own whereas the Monwaingi in <i>After Doomsday </i>divide into radically different "Societies," - e.g., extremely collectivist or extremely individualistic - which can coexist peacefully on a single colony planet. In the Technic History, we are given to understand that Ythrian choths also vary widely although perhaps we do not see this in practice. Ythrians find it difficult to understand human concepts of "nation" and "government." These are four of many works by Poul Anderson, all of them different. All that we really know about aliens is that they are alien and are bound to be different. One single datum will be worth more than any amount of speculation.<p></p>paulshackley2017@gmail.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17704115766930975286noreply@blogger.com4