(ii) "The vessel on which they had zeroed came into plain view, a long black shark swimming against the Milky Way."
-Poul Anderson, "Cold Victory" IN Anderson, Cold Victory (New York, 1982), pp. 165-194 AT p. 178.
(iii) I asked here if the word "less" might be missing at a crucial point in the dialogue but that word is still not there in The Complete Psychotechnic League, Volume 2.
(iv) The phrase, "future history," appears in a future history:
"It was a heartless load to put on a man. The dice of future history..." (p. 189)
(v) Br'er Rabbit, apprehended by Br'er Fox, asks not to be thrown into the brier patch, knowing that he therefore will be thrown into the brier patch which he knows how to get out of. In "Cold Victory," Robert Crane, captured by his brother Ben who is on the opposite, Humanist, side in a civil war, has heard the story of Br'er Rabbit and knows that Ben has not so Robert tells Ben that the Humanists will win if they maintain their position, knowing that Ben will think that he is lying...
Also:
"Br'er Rabbit and the brier patch! Koskinen thought in a leap of excitement. 'Please do not brick me in,' he spelled on his fingers. If they do, I can expand the field and break down any masonry they can erect - and maybe escape!"
-Poul Anderson, Shield (New York, 1970), V, p. 40.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
And of course Robert Crane told his brother nothing but the strict truth: staying put WOULD have enabled the Humanists to win the civil war. And that had been exactly what the recently slain Admiral K'ung had been doing! But, after the destruction of the Humanist flagship, the surviving ship captains, including Ben Crane, wanted revenge for their admiral and lost sight of the STRATEGY needed for winning the war. Br'er Rabbit and Br'er Fox indeed!
Sean
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