Poul Anderson's historical fictions are firmly grounded in the passage of the seasons. Many chapters or sections of narrative begin by describing the weather and the length of the days before proceeding to human affairs. This is life. Earth abides. Empires pass.
When rereading the
King Of Ys Tetralogy by Poul and Karen Anderson, I quoted many chapters that began by telling us, eg, that the equinox was approaching or that storms were rising - natural storms often presaging stormy events in the lives of gods and men. Descriptive passages add substance to Anderson's texts on first reading and can be savoured on rereading. I do not propose to list every such passage in
Mother Of Kings (New York, 2003) but here are some.
"Wind snarled and skirled...Nightfall came fast at the end of these shortening days. Soon there would be nothing but night." (p. 3)
"Spring had come, sunshine that melted snow till streams brawled down mountainsides..." (p. 5)
"Summer waned; days shortened..." (p. 16)
"The sun swung upward, days lengthened, ice melted, land greened, ships plowed the seas again." (p. 466)
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