-Poul Anderson, A Knight Of Ghosts And Shadows IN Anderson, Sir Dominic Flandry: The Last Knight Of Terra (Riverdale, NY, 2012), pp. 339-606 AT Chapter XX, p. 596.
An sf fan reading the build-up to Dominic Flandry's climactic confrontation with Aycharaych does not pause to wonder what "ogive" means. In fact, I have only just paused on that word now after how many rereadings?
The hologram of a Chereionite speaks as if the few remaining members of that ancient race have stayed to help others but, of course, that contradicts what Aycharaych has been doing. When Flandry has seem past the holograms and speaks to Aycharaych himself, albeit that the latter also appears as a hologram and therefore cannot be attacked physically, the last surviving Chereionite claims that he can meet whenever he wants his planet's equivalents of:
Gautama Buddha;
Kung Fu-Tse;
Rabbi Hillel;
Jesus the Christ;
Rumi;
Socrates;
Newton;
Hokusai;
Jefferson;
Gauss;
Beethoven;
Einstein;
Ulfgeir;
Manuel the Great;
Manuel the Wise.
(We have met Manuel the Great in an earlier story.)
This makes me wish that there had been some way to preserve Chereion - although not on Aycharaych's terms. Flandry would have had to betray the Dennitzans.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
And it was because you stopped to comment on "ogive arch" that I finally stopped myself to look up the definition of that word.
And of course the hologram of that Chereionite was a computerized projection programmed by Aycharaych to deceive all who visited the planet.
I had at least some nodding familiarity with all the persons listed by Aycharaych except Ulfgeir. That last is one I have NO memory of and will have to look up.
Yes, I agree, it would have been VERY good, if possible, if Chereion's heritage could have been saved, but not on Aycharaych's terms. For Flandry to do so would betray not only the Dennitzans but also the Empire.
Perhaps it's a pity the Empire did not expand to include the sun of Chereion. We see Aycharach arguing to Flandry in an earlier chapter of A KNIGHT OF GHOSTS AND SHADOWS that he would not have disapproved of his actions if that had happened. But, I would have hoped the Empire would treated the heritage of Chereion would respect. In that case would have become the CURATOR of Chereion instead of being a spy for the Empire? Maybe, unless he WANTED to work in Intelligence!
Sean
Sean,
I suspect that Ulfgeir is a tantalizing fiction.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I think you are right. I googled "Ulfgeir" and found NOTHING. So I think that was included by Anderson to be one of the fictional additions to Aycharaych's list.
Sean
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