The Prologue of SM Stirling's
The Desert And The Blade (New York, 2016), pp. 1-4, is narrated from the point of view of a
cannibal whose vocabulary is severely limited because the founders of his tribe avoided despair and self-loathing by avoiding thought as much as possible. David's life consists of stalking, eating and minimal speech. This extreme human degeneration is common to Stirling's Emberverse and Angrezi Raj timelines. Complete loss of speech would be loss of humanity but I do not think that that has happened in either timeline yet.
David does not believe most of the stories of the pre-Change world not only because they contradict his experience but also because, with his limited vocabulary, he probably cannot understand them. At the same time, however, he is sharp enough to understand and lead his fellow tribes people who, by comparison, are slow and stupid. Will it be possible to civilize David? I do not yet know whether he will become a continuing character in the novel.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I recall some of the characters in the Emberverse books saying or thinking that only if the cannibal Eaters became plain, ordinary barbarians would it become possible for the descendants of David and other Eaters to become civilized. And that would need generations to accomplish in many cases.
Sean
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