Saturday 4 May 2019

The Polesotechnic League In Its Glory

Poul Anderson's The Technic Civilization Saga is full of distractions for anyone who tries to reread it in search of a particular theme. Having more or less reread the four works in Volume I that feature van Rijn, I ought to turn to Volume II but my attention is first caught by Hloch's Earth Book Introduction to "How To Be Ethnic In One Easy Lesson." Hloch writes that this story:

"...gives a picture from within Terran society when the Polesotechnic League was in its glory..."
-Poul Anderson, "How To Be Ethnic..." IN Anderson, The Van Rijn Method (Riverdale, NY, 2009), pp. 175-197 AT p. 176.

He also advises his Avalonian readers:

"To screen a glossary of obscure terms, punch Library Central 254-0691.
"-Hloch of the Stormgate Choth
"The Earth Book of Stormgate"

The Earth Book is a historical, almost scriptural, document about how the choth came to being so hopefully it will outlast those specific instructions about the Library reference.

3 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

The thought I had was to wonder what might be some of those "obscure terms" a Ythrian might not understand which are found in "How To Be Ethnic In One Easy Lessons"?

Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Sean,
I think I will reread the story and make a list of candidate words.
Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

And you did! I saw the two "Obscure terms" blog pieces you wrote.

Sean