The Mississipi And The Midwest

I said that I would reread and post about Twilight World and probably will although I have already published quite a few posts about this volume. See here. I will avoid (too much) repetition.

In the opening paragraph, Hugh Drummond looks down on "...the Mississippi gleaming like a dream sword..." (Prologue, section 1, p. 5). We have just discussed Anderson's The Winter Of The World, where, over ten thousand years hence, the Mississipi has been renamed the Jugular.

Post-nuclear war scenarios and future history series are two very different sf themes although Anderson's Psychotechnic History combines them since its opening installment is set during the beginning of the recovery after World War III and even features a veteran of World War II. In the Prologue of Twilight World, Hugh Drummond surveys the United States after World War III. He sees a pathetic struggle to recover agriculture in the Middle West, thus reminding some of his readers of his Time Patrol character, Manse Everard, who comes from the Midwest.

Each of Anderson's fictional futures is unique, exploring a distinct set of possibilities, but we also recognize some common interests and preoccupations.