Saturday 22 September 2018

The Milky Way And The Promised Land

Poul Anderson, The Enemy Stars, 14.

The crew of the Southern Cross find their planet. (See Planet-Seeking.)

"Against strewn constellations there lay a gigantic black outline with wan streaks and edgings of gray. As he watched, Ryerson saw it march across the Milky Way...
"I stand on Mount Nebo, he thought, and down there is my Promised Land." (p. 105)

Two points of interest:

yet another object seen across the Milky Way;

yet more dramatically relevant Biblical imagery although this time not in a direct quotation.

We approach the climax of this novel and must soon decide which work to reread next. (I have already decided but I like to maintain some suspense.)

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

And one thing I thought of was that this dead planet orbiting a dead star was not a rich land flowing with milk and honey! But I do understand why David Ryerson made this Biblical analogy.

Sean