In Poul Anderson's "Lodestar," it is a coincidence that van Rijn and Falkayn meet at Mirkheim but this enables their inevitable confrontation to occur there and then instead of elsewhere and later. "Lodestar" is a short story, not a novel.
I am rereading Stieg Larsson who presents some coincidences and also reading for the first time SM Stirling's Black Chamber. I think that Stirling's fiction is coincidence-free?
9 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I remember reading somewhere in one of Poul Anderson's stories, I forget which one, that an existence or life without SOME coincidences is the TRUE implausibility. And I believe Anderson is right, I'm sure most of us have had incidents we thought coincidental.
I'll try to keep in mind the idea that coincidences are seldom used by Stirling in his own books.
Sean
Sean,
PA says that in "Lodestar," when van Rijn and Falkayn meet at Mirkheim.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I had already given some thought to Anderson's use of "coincidences," and "Lodestar" was not the example which came to mind. Rather, it was Chapter I of A CIRCUS OF HELLS, in the opening paragraphs mentioning how the likelihood of Dominic Flandry and Tachwyr the Dark meeting at Irumclaw was a coincidence, albeit not a "fantastically low" one. As PA wrote: "A life which included no improbable events would be the true statistical impossibility."
Sean
Kaor to all readers!
That line I quoted from Anderson's A CIRCUS OF HELLS would be a natural proverb! And would rightly belong in a collection of quotable bits from his works.
Sean
Sean,
Good morning. I am reading BLACK CHAMBER and checking the blog between meditation and breakfast.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
And a good morning to you as well! I too have been reading BLACK CHAMBER. Very interesting, albeit I'm disturbed by the "New Nationalism" of Theodore Roosevelt. I need to read further, but I don't think I could agree with all the policies of Stirling's Roosevelt.
Sean
Sean: it's supposed to be disturbing... 8-). The "Law of Unintended Consequences" is in action!
Unlikely things happen all the time. You do have to keep coincidences from -always- favoring your plot, though -- that's not randomness, that's the Authorial Thumb.
Taft's heart attack in BLACK CHAMBER is perfectly plausible. It's rather ironic that he, with his violently unhealthy lifestyle, outlived Roosevelt, who was a physical-fitness fanatic. Probably he had very good genes.
Roosevelt also undermined his health by taking extreme risks, most notably the Amazon expedition in 1913, after he lost the 1912 election.
He very nearly died, and was never really in good health afterwards.
In the BLACK CHAMBER universe, of course, he doesn't go to Brazil. He's much too busy!
(Roosevelt also contracted malaria in Cuba during the Spanish-American war, and had recurrent bouts of it for the rest of his life.)
Dear Mr. Stirling,
And I don't mind you playing with disturbing ideas and speculating on how they might turn out in alternate timelines.
I agree it was ironic that President Taft, given his unhealthy habits, still managed to outlive Roosevelt. I would point out that he did eventually listen to his drs. and dropped a lot of weight and took up doing some exercises.
Yes, Theodore Roosevelt, the great advocate of "strenuous living," eventually took too many chances with his health, and paid for it. I would add that the wound he took from the assassination attempt on his life in 1912 also probably shortened his life.
Sean
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