Sunday 11 March 2018

Alert

On Merseia, Brechdan Ironrede noticed that Commander Abrams' assistant, Flandry, looked alert but dismissed him as both young and junior. When summarizing this passage, I remarked that Flandry would learn how to be alert without seeming to be. This is shown by a passage in an earlier written story:

"His grey eyes looked sleepy and indifferent but they missed no detail of the enemy's appearance."
-Poul Anderson, "Honorable Enemies" IN Anderson, Agent Of The Terran Empire (London, 1977), pp. 57-81 AT p. 65.

In the revised text:

"He kept his gray gaze sleepy, but it missed little."
-Poul Anderson, "Honorable Enemies" IN Anderson, Captain Flandry: Defender Of The Terran Empire (Riverdale, NY, 2010), pp. 277-302 AT p. 284.

Fewer words, same meaning.
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1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I finished A CIRCUS OF HELLS last night, next comes the Gregg Press edition of AGENT OF THE TERRAN EMPIRE.

And of course Brechdan Ironrede was mistaken to be so dismissive of Flandry. In the ordinary course of things, true, that would be realistic of him.

Sean

11 March 2018 at 15:50

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