Remember the Grand Jihad in the "The Mother of the Moon" period of The Stars are Also Fire? Well, in Harvest Of Stars, Chinese refugees from Southeast Asia had entered North America "'...in Jihad times...'" (p. 9) Thus, the future history series hangs together. Our informant is Robert E. Lee. This is not a revolutionary code name. "Lee" is a Chinese surname. In this text, an "informant" is a personal information and communication device worn on the wrist. (p. 19)
Xuan is supposed to have "...quantified the forces of history to the point where it could be managed..." (ibid.) If he can do this, then he, or his followers, should share his knowledge, not run a totalitarian state. Kyra and download Guthrie, already fugitives, seek help in an Arabic enclave. We will sample facets of future society while our central characters are on the run. More tomorrow.
5 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I'm pretty sure this use of "Robert E. Lee" by Poul Anderson was something of an "inside" joke which would be most likely grasped by Americans. THE Robert E. Lee was a U.S. Army officer who became a Confederate general after his home state of Virginia seceded from the US in 1861. From 1862 to 1865 Lee was commander of the Army of Northern Virginia--and his abilities as a soldier led him to repeatedly defeat US forces. It wasn't until U.S. Grant took command of Union forces in 1864 that Lee began be remorselessly ground down. So, "Robert E. Lee" is an EVOCATIVE name in the U.S.
Sean
Sean,
Robert E. Lee's name is known beyond the US, which is why I thought initially that it was a code name, not a guy's real name.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
That clarifies what otherwise seemed a puzzling comment by you.
Sean
Paul and Sean:
There's a line in Alistair MacLean's spy novel Circus (one of his poorest, I regret to say) in which some CIA officers are dubious about whether or not they should trust the main character, born in Eastern Europe. He shames them by bringing up the topic of a US Army sergeant with (approximate quote) "the splendidly American given names Robert Lee" (Robert Lee Johnson), who volunteered to spy for the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, which is when his wife reported him to the US government. Johnson was sentenced to 25 years in prison, but murdered by his son (loving family, there!) after about seven.
Kaor, DAVID!
Thanks for commenting! And considering how little sympathy I have for treason, I'm not weeping for R.L. Johnson.
Sean
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