"A human found it cold. His breath smoked into the dry air. Smells were harsh in his nostrils. The sky above was deep purple, the sun a dull ruddy disc. Shadows lay thick; and nothing, in that wan light, had the same color as it did on Earth."
-Poul Anderson, "The Season of Forgiveness" IN Anderson, The Van Rijn Method (Riverdale, NY, 2009), pp. 317-336 AT p. 323.
Three senses:
cold, dry air;
harsh smells;
deep purple, dull ruddiness, shadows, wan light.
Unearthly colors all the time - A potential nightmare? An inauspicious setting for Christmas? Could it be filmed authentically?
See On T'Kela where shadows also lay thick.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
Well, not all of Ivanhoe seems to have been so environmentally harsh. The realm of the Consecrates, on another continent, is not so stark.
Both "The Three Cornered Wheel" and "The Season of Forgiveness" shows the Ivanhoans as a race many of whose members take a serious interest in philosophical and theological issues.
And the description of the chilliness and wan, dull, even menacing colors seen in both the desert and Dahia seems designed by Anderson to contrast with the themes associated with Christmas. Themes we see being brought out in "The Season of Forgiveness."
Ad astra and Happy New Year! Sean
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