Look for:
a meal that belongs on our Food Thread;
a cleverly inverted reference to Ian Fleming's Secret Service;
a four-sided conversation complete with eye movements, facial expressions, body language and other non-verbal signals passing between some characters but missed by others;
technical information about guns;
literary references to Hesiod, Virgil and the Tain;
mythological references to Wotan and Nerthus that will be familiar to readers of Poul Anderson's works, including his Time Patrol series;
an appropriate acknowledgment of accurate anticipations in HG Wells' The Land Ironclads and The War In The Air.
One refrain of this blog is "Remember Wells." SM Stirling remembers. The War In The Air is the precursor of futuristic war fiction. If you read nothing else on time travel, read Wells' The Time Machine and Anderson's Time Patrol.
When Luz and Ciara hear that local insurgents have German weapons, we wonder whether they will detect or suspect the presence of their opposite number, Horst. He wants revenge on Luz. What will happen between them in this volume? I do not know yet and should not say, anyway.
"PNR"?
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
While I agree things like airplanes and tanks should make us remember the "anticipations" of H.G. Wells, it did not start with him! Jules Verne anticipated advanced submarines in 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA and rockets in FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON. Verne and Wells were the fathers of modern science fiction.
I think it would be wiser of Horst to dismiss personal rancor against Luz, because anger and resentment could too easily cloud his better judgment. It would be better for him and Germany to be wholly professional and realistic as an intelligence agent.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON has not a rocket but a large cannon.
Horst knows that he is obsessed but cannot help it.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Dang! I forgot about the CANNON used in Verne's book FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON! It seems so much more natural to think of ROCKETS as space vehicles.
I rather like Horst, so I hope he masters that obsession for revenge on Luz.
Ad astra! Sean
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