Avalon's rapid spin causes sudden storms. Alone in the Andromeda Range, which the Ythrians call the Weathermother, Jack Birnam, caught in such a storm, is safe for several hours in his sleeping bag and shelter.
When, with the storm ended and night fallen, he emerges, we look for a description of the Milky Way but:
"Morgana, the moon, was full, so radiant that it crowded most stars out of view." (p. 311)
We are not disappointed when we look for appeals to several of the senses:
snowfields glitter;
the sky is blue-black;
boulders and bushes shine like silver;
a mercurial stream chuckles;
a cataract booms;
stillness after the storm seems holy;
the air is chill;
Jack smells trefoil, livewell and janie;
trefoil is sharp and livewell is sweet but janie is undescribed;
he plans a fire, snack and coffee but is interrupted...
Five senses if we count the coffee.
The Technic History incorporates narratives of every length from single short stories to series of stories to a trilogy of novels. A large number of short stories gives a future history body.
There were Falkayns in the previous story, there is a Holm in this story and a Holm will marry a Falkayn further down the line.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
"Rescue on Avalon" and THE PEOPLE OF THE WIND are the last times we see any of the Holms and Falkayns, as was inevitable, really. In any long history or chronicle, real or fictional, you have to expect families or lineages to eventually fade out of a the picture. Exceptions would be long lived dynasties in the case of monarchies.
Sean
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