Lucas, in Poul Anderson's Rogue Sword, at the age of fifteen;
David Falkayn at age seventeen;
James Blish's Jack Loftus at age seventeen;
Dominic Flandry at age nineteen.
(See Falkayn's Age IV and Cadet Loftus and Ensign Flandry.)
However, Lucas seems to be the most talented of these four. He can:
read;
write;
do sums;
speak Greek;
speak "'...more than a smattering of other languages...'" (Rogue Sword, PROLOGUE, p. 20);
sing;
play the whistle;
play the cither;
"'...compose poems in all approved forms...'" (ibid.);
sail;
fight;
spy;
"'...advise on affairs of the heart...'" (ibid.);
learn.
He has learned:
sailing from his fisherman stepfather;
the Greek and Roman alphabets from a great-uncle who was a monk;
the speech of the Cretans and their Venetian overlords in everyday discourse;
arithmetical skills in his master's counting house;
half a dozen languages in polyglot Venice;
martial skills in many fights and in the arbalestiers.
6 comments:
That has to be the worst cover Poul ever got -- worse than any of mine.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
If there’s a worse cover somewhere, I hope to be spared the sight.
Best Regards,
Nicholas D. Rosen
Kaor, Paul and Nicholas!
Paul: Given Lucas' knowledge and abilities, I can easily see him prospering in Venice if he had not made the city too hot for him to stay there!
Nicholas: If you don't want to be stunned and horrified by a truly ghastly cover inflicted on Anderson's novel ENSIGN FLANDRY, then don't go to Paul's blog piece "Change," October 5, 2019. That has to be one of the most hideous cover illustrations burdening one of Anderson's books!
Regards! Sean
Kaor, Paul!
I thought I had already said that, given Lucas' abilities and knowledge, he could well have prospered in Venice as a merchant himself. But, as we know, he made a bitter enemy and Venice became too hot for him to stay there.
Ad astra! Sean
You had to have good personal connections and be a full citizen to do well in Venice; and Lucas has problems both ways.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
In a way, Lucas did! I recall reading in ROGUE SWORD that Venetian law dictated that even a bastard son of a Venetian citizen could not be totally cut off from being at least provided for in some way by his father's family. And they did arrange for Lucas to become an apprentice. Given that, and if he avoided making enemies, Lucas could probably have eventually gotten the "connections" needed for fully regularizing his civic status in Venice.
Ad astra! Sean
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