I have heard of a "babble" though not of a "brabble" (p. 219). However, googling confirms that the latter is indeed a word.
I am all set to post links to earlier posts about the three stories mentioned in the previous post but am delaying because I expect a response from at least one blog reader...
Meanwhile, here is another question: in how many works does Poul Anderson show us humanity encountering an intelligent species that is either inherently or at least technologically superior? I ask this because SM Stirling's "Lords of Creation" are at least technologically superior. They have terraformed Venus and Mars and can imprint a language on a brain. (This is a convenient skill for some of Anderson's time travelers (see also here) as well as for the Doctor's Time Lords.)
I am beginning to wonder how superior Stirling's "Lords of Creation" are. There are Earth-like planets orbiting nearby stars. Might the "Lords" have terraformed those planets as well? Are they literally Lords of Creation? Only further reading will tell.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
You asked this question: "...in how many works does Poul Anderson show us humanity encountering an intelligent species that is either inherently or at least technologically superior?"
I can think of at least two stories where Anderson shows us non human races inherently superior to mankind in various ways: one being the Cibarrans we see in "The Martyr" and the other being the extremely humanoid people we see in "Turning Point." I esp. liked the solution found to the problem we see in "Turning."
And of course there's the Danellian "super humans" of the remote future who set up and supervised the Time Patrol (altho we only really see one Danellian at the end of THE SHIELD OF TIME).
I know some of the human characters on the planet Ishtar think the centauroid Ishtarians we see in FIRE TIME superior to the human race. Albeit, I'm fairly skeptical of that, thinking of the Ishtarians as merely more fortunate in some ways than humanity.
Sean
Sean,
I agree with those examples. I will have to reread "Turning Point" to remind myself of the solution. There are technologically superior beings in THE AVATAR and "Earthman, Beware."
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Again, DARN!!! I forgot about "Earthman, Beware." Yes, we do see both inherently and technologically superior non humans in that story.
I should have said in my previous note how much I enjoyed the unexpected, "shocker" ending to "The Martyr." It transformed the story from being merely a competent, if routine example of SF to something that really STANDS out. Other examples being "Welcome," "Eutopia," and WORLD WITHOUT STARS.
Sean
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