Posting about Poul Anderson is almost too easy. Eating breakfast while planning to go out, I read a single page of Perish By The Sword:
"The Bay was full of white fog, growing molten yellow as the sun declined." (p. 30)
Two colors and a reminder of the time of day. We have had many sunsets on the blog. Is this single sentence worth blogging about? Maybe not, but it is soon to be followed by:
"The Bay became a crucible of gold. The Marin hills beyond were purple, joined to dim San Francisco towers by six Chinese brush strokes of bridge. Overhead, the western sky was a clear pale green." (ibid.)
Three more sentences: eminent blogging material. The two characters looking out at the Bay are going through a human crisis but that is standard novelistic fare. The crucible of gold and the western sky transcend human concerns - or can do if we see them that way.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
And the first chapter of ENSIGN FLANDRY begins with "Evening on Terra," at about the same time of day. Followed by naming the reigning Terran Emperor and listing of his titles. That "evening" was meant to be a bit OMINOUS, the evening of an elderly Emperor's life, the "evening" due to dangers facing the Empire, as that chapter reveals.
Sean
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