Monday, 18 March 2019

The Unexpected II

I am now looking for more of those "unexpected" moments.

Kendrick is in mid-sentence when:

"The glacier shuddered. The ridge cracked asunder and fell in shards. The area on which the humans stood split free and toppled into the bowl. An avalanche poured after."
-Poul Anderson, "The Saturn Game" IN Anderson, The Van Rijn Method (Riverdale, NY, 2009), pp. 1-73 AT p. 37.

"He reached the blot. It gave way. He sank into its depths."
-Poul Anderson, "Iron" IN The Man-Kzin Wars (London, 1989), pp. 27-177 AT p. 164.

Of course, while looking for something else, we also find the Milky Way:

"The Milky Way glimmered around the circle of sight, like a river flowing back into its well-spring. Rifts in it were dustclouds such as veil the unknown heart of the galaxy."
-Poul Anderson, "Inconstant Star" IN Man-Kzin Wars III (New York, 1990), pp. 167-310 AT Chapter XVIII, p. 281.

Good galactic sf and the galaxy again compared to water. See The Sea Of Space.

3 comments:

  1. Kaor, Paul!

    Sinking into a BLOT seems odd! Is that word actually used?

    Sean

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sean,
    Yes, a blot on the landscape. I am quoting these phrases out of context so they become cryptic.
    Paul.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kaor, Paul!

    Sometimes more than cryptic! But that's good, it keeps people interested and guessing.

    Sean

    ReplyDelete