Was IV, which is scarcely more than a page in length, in "Operation Afreet" when that story appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction or it one of the passages that were added in order to unify the novelization of the four "Operation..." stories? Matuchek, unconscious, overhears the thoughts of the Adversary, who is an ultimate "Solipsist." (p. 25)
In V, Matuchek, captured by the invaders, is taken into an occupied American town:
"No trace of the civilians, but I knew what had happened to them. The attractive young women were in the officers' harems, the rest dead or locked away pending shipment to the slave markets." (p. 28)
Imagine fighting that kind of enemy in the twentieth century. As a matter of fact, several things that should not have happened according to the rules of war did happen in the twentieth century - but not harems or slave markets. SM Stirling's Draka are another example of sociopolitical retrogression in an alternative twentieth century.
5 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
But formal, official chattel slavery still exists in some Muslim countries, such as Sudan or Mauritania. And my late British friend Bruce Binnie told me of how he used to know some Muslims in Libya who had every intention of enslaving blacks if the opportunity ever came.
And we still have sex slavery in too many countries, criminals trafficking in girls and children to gratify the depraved lusts of too many.
Again, we see Poul Anderson, and successors like S.M. Stirling being all too realistic.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
Yes but prisoners of war are not sold into slavery. A lot of bad stuff goes down, I agree.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
But the laws and customs of war waged by civilized powers will only be effective if both sides observes things like the Geneva Conventions. They won't be much good for people who fall into the hands of belligerents who scorn and reject the Conventions.
Ad astra! Sean
The late unlamented ISIS did that sort of thing.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
They did! And we still need to be concerned that successors of ISIS with similarly abominable ideas and practices might arise and manage to seize power.
Ad astra! Sean
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