Although Dalgetty is hustled from the airbus into a house, Poul Anderson still finds time for a vivid description:
"He paused just a second as the door opened for them and stood looking into the darkness. The sea rolled and hissed there on the wide beach. He caught the full salt smell of it and filled his lungs. It might be the last time he ever breathed such air." (p. 121)
It is appropriate that the philosophical discussions in these stories are accompanied both by natural descriptions and by reflections on mortality.
I learn the meaning of a phrase: "'...pounding his ear.'" (ibid.)
The leader of the movement, Bernard Meade, has a private army, officially servants and bodyguards, including fifty trained, uniformed guards on the island. The Institute is opposed by yet another formidable organization.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
Truthfully, I've found the philosophical discussions in the Psychotechnic stories the weakest or most unconvincing to be found in the works of Anderson (after "Genius," which is a very weak, albeit early story).
Henry VII would have dusted off his "livery and retainer" laws to use against Bernard Meade!
Ad astra! Sean
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