"Was General Early a military genius, or incredibly lucky?" (Man-Kzin Wars V, p. 15)
Twice, Jerry Pournelle and SM Stirling mention luck. Later in Larry Niven's Known Space History, the Puppeteers, theorizing that luck is a psychic power, successfully breed human beings for luck by influencing the UN to establish a Birthright Lottery. Although human acquisition of the hyperdrive just in time to defeat the kzinti looks like very good luck, it was in fact arranged by the Puppeteers as part of their project to breed tamer kzinti. (Of course, it was lucky for humanity that Puppeteers existed and interacted with kzinti in just this way. Also, the kzinti attack was lucky because it saved humanity from stagnation.)
The Thrintun's three-armed slave technicians remind us of Niven's and Pournelle's three-armed Moties while the Jotoki, even more versatile, have five arms. (I would never have thought of giving aliens an uneven number of limbs.)
Harold's Terran Bar is an excellent invention. The characters who meet there even include one unemployed veteran and two defeated kzinti who then seek work together. The Bar, invented (I think) by Pournelle & Stirling, is also visited by Poul Anderson's characters. It will be illuminating to trace the connections between Pournelle's & Stirling's and Anderson's contributions to Niven's future history. We have come a long way from a single author writing a single novel comprising an entire future history.
6 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I too thought four or six limbs more convenient and logical than races like the Moties, Thrintum slave technicians, or Jotoki having and odd number of limbs. And the Jotoki were once the employers of the Kzinti, whom they had hired to be their mercenaries.
Sean
Odd number of limbs?
Consider any monkey with a prehensile tail.
Kaor, Jim!
Yes, but how much can you really DO with a tail, if it does not have fingers?
Ad astra! Sean
Interesting point.
Is there any reason a tail with fingers couldn't evolve in some biology unrelated to ours?
Even without fingers the tail would be used to hold something while more delicate work is done with actual hands.
An elephant's trunk is another extra limb.
Kaor, Jim and Paul!
Jim: You reminded me of Niven/Pournelle's novel FOOTFALL, where we see elephant-like aliens invading Earth. These beings had trunks which had multiple tendrils used for many of the functions of fingers.
When all is said and done, that seems more likely and practical than trying to use tails for more than the simplest purposes.
Paul: An elephant's trunk can be used for gripping things, but not for things requiring precision and delicacy. Also, elephants use their trunks for breathing and smelling.
Ad astra! Sean
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