There Will Be Time II

Poul Anderson's There Will Be Time (New York, 1973) combines five elements that are to be found separately in other works by Anderson:

(i) historical settings;
(ii) contemporary settings;
(iii) the Maurai Federation period;
(iv) time travel;
(v) a longer term prospect of endless interstellar travel.

(The Boat Of A Million Years combines (i), (ii) and (v).)

A sixth element unique to There Will Be Time is the post-Maurai "Star Masters" period but this fills only two pages of the text, in a very condensed account, and was summarized in a recent post, "Reconnoitering The Future." (See here.) About the only detail that I omitted was that Havig's and Leonce's host advises them:

"'Go in God, then, and be God, happily.'" (p. 145)

- which gives an extra feel for the tone of that period.

Rereading a historical chapter set in Constantinople, 1195, we find, after a description of the "...superb view..." (p. 95), one of Anderson's frequent list descriptions addressing two other senses:

"Traffic rivered. The noise of wheels, hoofs, feet, talk, song, laughter, sobbing, cursing, praying, blended together into one ceaseless heartbeat. A breeze carried a richness of odors, sea, woodsmoke, food, animals, humanity. Havig breathed deep." (ibid.)

So the odors were not offensive! (They are in some of the places visited by Anderson's characters.) How economical to adapt the noun "river" as a verb, even though my computer does not recognize this usage. Anderson often conveys the dynamism of human life simply by describing many people doing many things at the same time. In this chapter, he also refers to "...magnificence...liveliness and cosmopolitan colorfulness..." (p. 94) and thus substantiates his claim that "...New Rome remained the queen of Europe." (ibid.)