(x) Lewis has a Wood between the Worlds. Anderson has an inn between the worlds.
(xi) Lewis has an inhabited and humanly habitable Mars in a novel and an uninhabitable Mars in a short story. Anderson's fictional accounts of Mars were always scientifically accurate at the time of writing and he imagined half a dozen alternative Martian races. Lewis' Malacandra is inhabited by three species of hnau (rational animals) and also by eldila (hypersomatic intelligences) which are native to space.
(xii) Lewis has an oceanic Venus in a novel whereas Anderson has:
an oceanic Venus in an independent short story;
a desert Venus terraformed in his Psychotechnic History;
a partially terraformed Venus in his Technic History;
a colonized Venus in his Time Patrol series.
(xiii) Like some agencies in Anderson's works, Lewis' National Institute for Coordinated Experiment would destroy freedom and indeed humanity.
(xiv) Holger Danske returns in Anderson's Three Hearts And Three Lions and Merlinus Ambrosius returns in Lewis' That Hideous Strength. Arthur Pendragon remains on Venus although Elwin Ransom is his successor, the current Pendragon of Logres.
(xv) Anderson wrote a sequel to an Edda and a saga (see here) and a sequel to two Shakespeare plays. Lewis wrote an unfinished sequel to the Iliad.
(xvi) Anderson retold the myth of Hadding and the saga of Hrolf Kraki. Lewis retold the myth of Psyche and Eros. His Perelandra is a sequel to the New Testament, showing what happens in the next world where newly created human beings are tempted to disobey their Creator but a man from Earth is allowed to intervene.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
Many thoughts comes to mind with this blog piece of yours.
I understand what you mean by "multiverse" but I kinda prefer "alternate universe" or "parallel world." But, no biggie!
As regards your point (xi), of all the stories Anderson set on or about Mars/Martians, I like best his THE WAR OF TWO WORLDS.
Your point (xii): I thought "Sister Planet" a shattering story the first time I read approximately thirty years. I needed many years before I could reread it. It has to be included among Anderson's stories giving us an unexpected, grim, or shocker ending.
Point (xiii), the Pyschotechnic Institute, after it went bad, comes to mind.
Point (xiv): I really, really wish we could have seen more of Holger Danske in either A MIDSUMMER TEMPEST or a second story wholly featuring him. We do have Harry Turtledove's story about what happened after Holger managed to find Alianora in his contribution to MULTIVERSE. Albeit, I thought it rather a downer!
Point (xvi), I like Anderson's reconstruction of the legends of King Hrolf Kraki better than I did WAR OF THE GODS. However, I came to have a better opinion of WAR the second time I read that book.
Sean
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