Poul Anderson, The Stars Are Also Fire.
Disappointment, sort of:
odd numbered chapters 1-41, unentitled, are set in the narrative present of the novel;
even numbered chapters 2-40, each entitled "The Mother of the Moon," are flashbacks to the much earlier time of Dagny Beynac and immediately after - Dagny dies in 38 and her download ends its conscious existence, so it thinks, in 40;
chapters 42-46 are just in the present - the flashbacks have ended, although download Dagny will speak one last time.
History addresses later generations although usually not literally in the voice of the dead.
5 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Ummm, you meant "ODD NUMBERED chapters 1 to 41," not "even numbered." And EVEN NUMBERED chapters 2 to 40," not "odd numbered." Apologies for being picky!
Sean
Sean,
I generally get things to do with page numbers wrong.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Also, I've wondered why you thought the ending of THE STARS ARE ALSO FIRE some thing of a disappointment. Was it too inconclusive? Too many loose ends? If so, I would argue that was because there was still so much Anderson wanted to say about that "timeline" that he would need two more volumes to do so.
Sean
Sean,
I was disappointed that "The Mother of the Moon" ended earlier than expected.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
That clarifies what you said, which I thought a bit puzzling.
Sean
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