SM Stirling, The Peshawar Lancers (New York, 2003), p. 10.
Count Ignatieff has "...boyar arrogance..."
Yasmini says, "'Veno vat...'" and "'...pajalsta...'" (The latter means "sorry" or "excuse me.")
Ignatieff is an initiate in the cult of Malik Nous or Tchernobog, the demiurge worshiped in Samarkand.
On just this one page, I have found these seven words or phrases that I wanted to google. I found no information for "Veno vat..." Of course I have heard of demiurges but what are they exactly? And Samarkand but what is its significance? Alan Moore refers to Malik Nous (or Taus) in Top 10. Czernobog shows up in Neil Gaiman's American Gods.
If The Peshawar Lancers continues to be full of such interesting words, then I will have to start skipping past them to get on with the story.
Athelstane King's orderly is Narayan Singh - a Sikh surname. Poul Anderson's Ensign Flandry served briefly under a Commander Singh in an interstellar battle.
8 comments:
Hi, Paul!
Interesting, that the religion of the post Fall Russians has some similarities with that of the viciously persecuted Yazidis. I had thought the depraved religion adopted by the Russians similar in some ways to what Zoroastrianism teaches about Ahriman, the evil god that dualistic faith believes opposes Ahura Mazda, the good god. That is, instead of worhiping Ahura Mazda the Russians turned to the worship of Satan, Ahriman, Tchernobog, etc.
I better not say more! I want to avoid spilling too many beans! (Smiles)
Sean
I believe you'll find that "Narayan Singh" is also the name of a supporting character in Talbot Mundy's "Jimgrim" stories -- and "Athelstane King" is the name of Mundy's "King of the Khyber Rifles." Stirling was evidently having fun with shout-outs here. In his acknowledgments for the book he mentions Mundy among the inspirations.
David,
Far out.
Paul.
Dear Mr. Birr:
Darn! I had thought "Athelstane King" merely to be perfectly reasonable names for an ENGLISH man to use.
I keep missing so many of S.M. Stirling's literary allusions!
Sean
Aaaand after posting, I realized I was fairly sure "Yasmini" was the name of the femme fatale in *King of the Khyber Rifles*. I've since confirmed that -- and she also appears in the Jimgrim stories, making them and *King* all part of one 'verse.
Dear Mr. Birr:
At first I thought "The King of the Khyber Rifles" referred to a poem or story by Rudyard Kipling. Then I googled and found out it was about a movie I had no memory of having watched. Drat!
Sean
No, no; not the movie, which I've never seen but which I've heard deviates wildly from the book. It's a novel by Talbot Mundy about a plot to raise rebellion in India during the First World War. I read it when I was in my teens, so I've forgotten lots of details....
Incidentally, although in *The Peshawar Lancers" the spelling of King's first name is as we've been using it, *King of the Khyber Rifles* leaves off the final "e," so he's "Athelstan King," not "Athelstane."
Dear Mr. Birr:
Many thanks, and I'm sure the novel was far better than the movie!
And your comment about Captain King's given name also reminded me of how Wessex/England had a king named "Aethelstan," the son of Edward the Elder, who was the son of Alfred the Great.
Sean
Post a Comment