"A wyvern flew up in a thunder of splendid wings." (p. 86)
We think that we are reading a fantasy. However, the text continues:
"A python tree coiled its branches. A chiming rang among the tiny red blossoms that covered the ground." (ibid.)
The python tree sounds alien. The ground blossoms sound like another of Poul Anderson's extraterrestrial alternatives to grass. The last sentence of the opening paragraph clinches it:
"Alien in the forest, a grove of pines stirred only to a breeze." (ibid.)
Pines are alien here. This is another planet settled and modified by human beings. The second paragraph begins:
"The boy, Tom, stepped out from among them." (ibid.)
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I don't think many other SF writers would or could have made such deft use of fantasy tropes in a hard SF story. Which in turn reminded me of similar things being seen in "The Queen of Air and Darkness."
Sean
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