Gods And Demons

(Meanwhile in real life: Bank Holiday Monday, walk along the River Lune, stalls and refreshments at a village church flower festival.)

Poul Anderson, Operation Luna (New York, 2000).

Steve Matuchek thinks of:

"...starting a movement to restore woodlands and flowery meadows on Earth, so the Fair Folk could visit their mother more often." (Chapter 48, p. 424)

We can think of:

"...starting a movement to restore woodlands and flowery meadows on Earth..."

- because this would be worthwhile in any case. The Fair Folk are in our imaginations, literature and visual art. Earth should be made worthy of them and us.

Valeria Matuchek pursued by demons from the Moon need not decelerate while approaching Earth because Native American gods absorb her momentum. Next, there is a gods and demons battle on Earth. The gods include Coyote and Shalako, the latter described as bird-headed and twice as high as a tall man.

Steve, werewolf, kills a mandarin;
Fjalar, dwarf, kills an armored, sword-wielding demon with his hammer;
Svartalf, cat, fights a cat demon until Steve kills it for him;
Svartalf and Edgar, raven, chase two rat-sized demons;
Curtice, celestonaut, kills a seven foot boar-headed demon with the sentient sword;
Coyote confuses a woman-shark demon by changing shape, then gets on its back and breaks its neck;
Ginny, witch, disperses a goryo with her wand;
a Native American priest and two kachinas repulse demons trying to reach Valeria and the broomstick;
the Twin War Gods fight with spears and shields;
the fire god's torch sets foes aflame;
the ogres of discipline club;
the kachinas smite;
the Mudheads bounce;
the Shalako tread the enemy underfoot;
Water Strider, Grandmother Spider and the Northwest Raven arrive;
the surviving demons panic, break and scatter.

My summary is condensed but Anderson's text is almost as condensed. It is too easy to read through it quickly and not to retain most of its details.