"A full Morgana lifted from eastward waters. Its almost unblemished shield dazzled the vision with whiteness, so that what stars could be seen shone small and tender. That light ran in a quaking glade from horizon to outermost breakers, whose heads it turned into wan fire; the dunes glowed beneath it, the tops of the trees which made a shadow-wall to left became hoar."
-Poul Anderson, The People Of The Wind IN Anderson, Rise Of The Terran Empire (Riverdale, NY, 2011), pp. 437-662 AT Chapter XIII, pp. 587-588.
Lots of light words. The passage continues -
Three Other Senses
"There was no wind and the surf boomed steadily and inwardly, like a heartbeat. Odors of leaf and soil overlay a breath of sea. The sands gave back the day's warmth and gritted a little as they molded themselves sensuously to the bare foot."
-ibid.
Multi-sensory, sensuous and appropriate since Tabitha and Philippe walk along the beach to make love in a sheltered headland with soft Terran grass.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I don't think many writers would go into such carefully thought out background details using three or more senses as Anderson does. That's one reason why I became so dissatisfied with Asimov's stories. I eventually found them too flat, colorless, or "lifeless."
Sean
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