A purely psychological aberration probably connected to the endocrine system;
extreme xenophobia;
normal to hate all outsiders from first contact to final solution;
consequent inbreeding, lowering fertility;
however, systematic execution of the unfit;
violent internal rule;
nomadism;
cultic secrecy and cruelty;
religious abominations;
goals of universal conquest and extermination;
"...cannibalism and worse..." (p. 177);
courteous disclaimers of aggression when expedient;
individually heroic;
super-Draka?
Would it be possible to do anything with such creatures other than exterminate them? I have thought that it would be right to nuke the capital city of SM Stirling's Draka.
10 comments:
BTW, the historical analysis Poul uses here -- and which heavily influences the Technic History series -- is heavily influenced by Toynbee, and by a historian who built on Toynbee's work whose name I forget.
Kaor, Paul and Mr. Stirling!
Hmmm, I think, instead of the Draka, a better analogy from Stirling's works would be the depraved Russians of THE PESHAWAR LANCERS, a people who had fallen into both religious abominations and cannibalism. The priests of the worshipers of Satan wanted not merely universal conquest but an END to all life.
Mr. Stirling: Did you have John K. Hord in mind? Poul Anderson was ENTHUSIASTICALLY influenced by that historian. As can be seen by reading Anderson's essay "Concerning Future Histories."
That article by Anderson STILL remains the best summary I've seen of Hord's work. I simply can't find anything by Hord himself expounding his views and theories on how and why civilizations rise and fall.
Sean
Hord is the man.
Kaor, Paul!
I thought so. It's frustrating, how little I've managed to find by Hord himself.
And what did you think of my suggestion that the Russians of THE PESHAWAR LANCERS might be a better analogy of Anderson's Kolreshites than Strling's Draka?
Sean
Sean,
Yes. Maybe they are.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
But the Kolreshites certainly do resemble Stirling's Draka as well. I agree with that.
Sean
There's a difference between people who aspire to -rule- and those who aspire to -eliminate-, albeit both are common.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I do understand your point, and I agree with it. Your Draka wanted to rule but did not, unlike the worshipers of the Peacock Angel, want the end of all life.
Sean
In one of David McDaniel's UNCLE novels, Thrush, which wanted to rule the world, joined forces with UNCLE against another outfit that wanted to destroy it.
I think the Daleks, who wanted to conquer Earth, had problems with some time travelers who were trying to destroy it.
Kaor, Paul!
That makes me go BLEAH, having to accept that even the Draka would be better than some other alternatives!
Sean
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