Orion

I enjoy the contrasts between contemporary fiction and science fiction:

technological advances that were previously sf invade contemporary novels;

as I have discussed on this blog, Poul Anderson's Trygve Yamamura novels are contemporary detective fiction but clearly written by an sf author;

contemporary novels refer to the Moon and the stars and are set on a planet in the Solar System in the midst of the universe even though they do not highlight this fact;

we can imagine Anderson's Time Patrol agents operating behind the scenes in contemporary thrillers.

Orion (scroll down) is important in Anderson's sf. CS Lewis' That Hideous Strength begins as a contemporary novel before introducing its fantastic content. In an early chapter, we read:

"The shoulder of Orion, though Mark did not even know that earnest constellation, flamed at him above the tree-tops."
-CHAPTER 3, p. 419.

Mark does not yet know anything important.

(I have come across the word, "anachronism," in Wells, Lewis, Anderson and elsewhere but maybe that really should wait for another day. I am trying to do some non-blog-related reading late in the evening. Good night.)