Thursday 4 October 2018

Two Narratives

Poul Anderson, The Stars Are Also Fire, 7-8.

Two narratives, set in earlier and later periods of a single fictional history and presented in alternating chapters, will somehow converge.

In 7, Lilisaire tells Kenmuir that Dagny Beynac had a son, described as "'...the first Rydberg...,'" (p. 106) and that:

"'...to this day, the Fireball lodgemaster guards some arcanum, which appears to go back to that time of upheaval.'" (pp. 106-107)

An ancient secret that will become significant in the narrative present?

In 8, Dagny Ebbeson has become Dagny Beynac and is now in charge of housing for the personnel of an observatory on Lunar Farside:

"Advancement was fast if you were able, if you survived." (p. 109)

No one else knows that she is Guthrie's granddaughter. He will not practice nepotism but is there an implication that she has inherited some of his ability? It doesn't work like that, does it? My father was a successful mining engineer and businessman whereas I was an academic drop-out, reading philosophy, mysticism and science fiction.

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

But I think it is possible for an able man to be followed by an equally able son. The example I thought of being William and Lawrence Parsons, respectively the the third and fourth earls of Rosse. They were both enthusiastic astronomers who made real contributions to that science. And they also both had wide ranging interests.

And not all sons have to be like their fathers!

Sean