"The wind blew stronger and cooler, with a salty tang. It sent russet waves over the crowns of the forest on the hills." (p. 33)
The wind is felt and tasted; its effects are seen. The extra-solar forest is "russet," not green.
"Her species slept too, but ordinarily in brief naps around the clock." (p. 35)
This would be safer than lying unconscious for a third of a day. Do they remember brief dreams? Imagine the alien psychology that would result from such a sleep pattern. Poul Anderson spells out one physical consequence:
"Which made it a lot easier for them to adapt to other planets than it was for humans with their long circadian rhythms..." (ibid.)
One frequent Andersonian theme is the unpredictable dangers of unknown environments. Although these explorers know that the tide is rising and that its "'...force is eleven or twelve times Terran maximum...'" (p. 34), they do not anticipate any danger until:
"Noise rolled, crashed and deafened. Eastward up the river, glinting green and foam-white, raced a wall of water." (p. 36)
And thus ends Chapter V...
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I'm reminded of Unan Besar, the planet seen in THE PLAGUE OF MASTERS. That world has short days, which meant humans had to adapt for short naps spread out over a couple of Unan Besarian days.
Sean
When the English first were settling North America, they were continually surprised by the climate -- not least, because they expected weather to be pretty comparable along lines of latitude, and it wasn't. Most places in North America north of the Carolinas had much colder winters than places in Europe along the same latitude, and there was nothing in Europe very much like the east-coast maritime climates they met, with their combination of cold winters and hot humid summers.
Eastern North America is more climatically similar to the Pacific coast of Asia; Europe is more comparable to the western edge of North America. One reason that English people liked British Columbia so much was that in places like Victoria it really -was- similar to home.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I'm sure there's now a better understanding for these puzzling differences in climate along the same lines of latitude.
Sean
Post a Comment