native beehive-shaped adobes adapted for other life forms;
glimmering glowsigns above twisting streets and lanes;
noises including raucous music, a hundred languages, screams and bellows;
body odors, garbage, smoke, incense and dope;
human beings, native Irumclagians and several species of spacefarers;
an Irumclagian chanting in Anglic through a vocalizer to advertise a joyhouse offering sophisticated entertainment, gambling, food, drink, stimulants, narcotics, hallucinogens, emphasizers and sex with seventeen species.
Decades later, Flandry's daughter surveys a multi-species market on Imhotep. See:
Imhotep
Market Places
And the overarching theme of all of Poul Anderson's fiction is Life.
For Old Town in Ys, see here.
For Zorkagrad Old Town, see here.
For an earlier post about Old Town on Irumclaw, see here.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
One conclusion I drew from this description of Old Town on Irumclaw was that the unpleasant parts of this depiction is meant to show menace and decline. Due to the absent of more law abiding citizens.
And sex with with 17 different intelligent species revolts me. Anderson KNEW how to show us disgusting things when the plot of a story required it. And Leon Ammon's brothel fits that description. I recall as well Flandry's doubts that all the beings in that dubious place had given their consent, as required by law. Recall as well the mention of what Flandry had SEEN in the sado level. Not a nice place!
Sean
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