"Kaino went on his belly, crept forward, stuck his helmet over the gap. He failed to notice how the shingle slithered underneath him." (p. 347)
We notice, first, that, alone in this passage, that second sentence takes us right outside Kaino's point of view and, secondly, that the sentence would not have been there if it were not telling us something important. It is. When Kaino has rescued Ilitu, a robot tries to pull Kaino himself from the ledge in the crevasse but instead it, the robot, falls in and Kaino falls further to his death. As with the earlier death of Kaino's father (here), Poul Anderson exhaustively describes a cosmic environment, then shows how its unexpected features can be fatal to human explorers but others follow.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
Human explorations comes with risks and dangers, as well as, sometimes, success, wealth, and glory. But men and women show themselves at their best when either triumphing over adversity or failing TRYING to do so. An attitude I agree with, even if most of us will never face such dangers.
Sean
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