This chapter is a flashback to Kyra's two previous experiences of "quivira," interactive virtual reality.
The First
She floats in space near a Mars with polar caps, canals, oases and dead sea bottoms, then plunges toward it;
on Mars, she breathes thin air and smells desert shrubs;
John Carter rides to meet her, leading a spare thoat;
as they ride, he points out ruins and beasts;
they visit a camp of green men, meet Tars Tarkas and drink wine;
boarding a flying ship, they fly to Helium;
Dejah Thoris is not home (why not?);
handsome red warriors welcome Kyra;
Carter and Kyra roam the streets of Helium;
the moons hurtle, larger than Luna seen from Earth (?);
Carter and Kyra embrace and kiss;
she returns to her astral form and flies back to Earth.
This is not the authentic ERBian Carter. However, the point is not verisimilitude but what Kyra wants.
See The ERBian Dimension and The ERBian Dimension II, here. (Scroll down.)
The Second
Kyra and her lover become gods who create a universe.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I can see why quiviras can become dangerously addictive! People who use them too much can become so engrossed in a fictional world they feel happier in that the REAL with all its struggles, difficulties, problems, etc., gets ignored. With fatal results.
And quiviras, if they become practical, will easily sweep aside role playing games. Because of seeming so much more "real." We see Anderson examining RPGs, in both its benefits and costs, in "The Saturn Game."
RPGs has never interested me. By the time I became aware they existed, I was already adult. Maybe really hard core fans of RPGs need to be about 12 or so to really get "into" them.
Sean
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