In Poul Anderson's Rustum History, colonized extra-solar planets communicate by laser beams but there is no physical contact except maybe for a spaceship from an older colony two or three times a century.
How many colonies are there?
Rustum
Beowulf
Roland
some planets with natives (p. 184)
"[Barbro] didn't understand how [Sherrinford] could maintain his easy tone when Jimmy was lost." (p. 181)
Jimmy is Barbro's son, not Sherrinford's. Of course Sherrinford can maintain his easy tone. I remember being under pressure and not understanding why a colleague was not - and vice versa. I have also seen people in exactly the same situation responding to it completely differently. A lawyer who had to interview me and a few others said that I was the coolest of the lot. That was because I alone had been in that position before.
Collectively, humanity would be unable to cope if every individual responded in exactly the same way to every challenge.
12 comments:
Hi there, about Poul Anderson, you might be interested in this post of mine, just published : https://chimeramyth.blogspot.com/2019/03/the-mystery-of-roger-de-flor-novelizing.html
Ugo,
Thank you.
Paul.
Ugo,
ROGUE SWORD is nowhere close to being Anderson's best book but I did not think that it was as bad as you say. Some time, I will reread it, re-blog about it and remember what you said.
Paul.
Paul:
Not only are there some planets with natives, but there's a reference to space-traveling nonhumans: "Ours is scarcely the only race that has spaceships." That use of "scarcely" implies, to me, more than one known spacefaring species other than humans. It could've made another interesting story in that universe to see human and extraterrestrial spacers trying to establish some manner of trade, find something each has that the other would like to buy....
Dear Mr. Bardi,
I will have to try to find your comments about Anderson's ROGUE SWORD, but my first reaction is to disagree with suggestions it was a bad book. I've repeatedly read ROGUE SWORD and enjoyed it. I will concede the right attitude is needed for doing so. Because ROGUE is a fierce, grim, bloody story set in a grim and terrible time, the era when the Eastern Roman Empire was dying and being SET ON like a wounded stag attacked by famished wolves. Any reasonably honest book set in such times will have no choice BUT to be grim!
Sean
Dear Mr. Bardi,
I found and read your comments about ROGUE SWORD. It was good to find another fan of the works of Poul Anderson!
If I'm understanding you correctly, the chief criticism you have of ROGUE is that the viewpoint character, Lucas Greco, is too MODERN, that some of his ideas are out of place, that they don't fit into the context of the early 1300's. One of those ideas being Lucas' dislike for slavery. While I am willing to accept that most people of those days took slavery for granted, esp. in Anatolia and the Mid East, I don't think it's totally impossible for there to have been persons in those days who disliked slavery. Slavery was pretty much extinct in most of Europe after all, and even serfdom (a lesser form of slavery) was starting to wane in some places. Given all this, there COULD have been persons like Lucas Greco who disliked slavery in principle.
Sean
To be more precise, slavery was extinct in northern and NW Europe by the 1300's, and serfdom was moribund in large areas of it. This was the first large area ever to absolutely reject the institution of chattel slavery, which was ubiquitous (though not necessarily common) elsewhere.
Slavery was still present, but fairly rare, in Italy and Christian Spain -- a Venetian would have been familiar with it, but it would still seem a bit exotic.
Lucas Greco, it should be noted, is half-Greek, and tends to root for the underdog because Crete was a Venetian colony and treated with the merciless rapacity that Venice usually showed in its possessions.
(Venetians had a bad reputation everywhere for treachery and greed, usually well-deserved.)
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Many thanks for your comments. I did wonder if I had spoken too hastily about serfdom already starting to wane in Europe by the early 1300's.
Yes, the fact of Lucas Greco having a Cretan mother (and Venetian father) would make it natural for him to "root for the underdog," esp. in Crete, which was harshly and mercilessly misruled by the Republic of Venice. As you've said, the Venetians had an all too well deserved reputation for treachery and greed. Which ROGUE SWORD shows us vary plainly!
Sean
Venice's role in the abortion that was the 4th Crusade is notable.
I think that that is the Crusade that is featured in THERE WILL BE TIME?
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I had that atrocity in mind as well! And one of the stories in THE CHANGE, a collection of stories by different authors, shows us a post-Change Venice again showing itself to be as ruthless and avaricious as it had been in the past.
Sean
Kaor, Paul!
Yes, the Fourth Crusade was diverted by Venice and basically sicced onto Constantinople, as seen in THERE WILL BE TIME.
Sean
Post a Comment