"The Sky People" introduces the Maurai but obliquely. The first viewpoint character, Loklann sunna Holber, is the captain of a Sky People rover fleet about to attack Meyco Province, previously raided by the Mong from Tekkas, while a ship from the Maurai Federation also happens to be visiting Meyco.
The second narrative passage shifts from the viewpoint of Don Miwel Caraban, calde of S' Anton d' Inio, as he entertains his Maurai guests with a lavish feast to that of his principal guest, Captain Ruori Rangi Lohannaso, whose reflections inform us that the Maurai Federation stretches from Awaii to N'Zealann to Mlaya. Rightly are the Maurai called the Sea People.
Not two but three cultures are about to clash.
5 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Let's take a closer look at the original dates the three Maurai stories were published: "The Sky People" (MAGAZINE OF FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION (March 1959), "Progress" (F & SF, January 1962), "Windmill" (SAVING WORLDS, 1973, ed. Roger Elwood).
The thought I had been having was how Stirling made a very pertinent observation: metals should not be that rare in the Maurai timeline. Both because survivors of the War of Judgment should have been using smaller sources of iron ore and my own suggestion they could have been "mining" millions of cars and machines of all kinds for metals. I think overlooking that was a weakness in Anderson's Maurai stories.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
And a very clever sequel would be one that accepted Anderson's premises while at the same time replying to this objection. I can't think of a reply but then I could not have thought of any of this in the first place.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I think Anderson simply forgot to think of the points Stirling and I made. If someone had made such a suggestion to him in 1974, he might well have smacked his forehead and exclaimed "Why didn't I think of that!"
I simply can't see HOW the survivors of a War of Judgment or Change COULD overlook all those abandoned cars and machines and not realize they would still be useful for metals. It's hard to think of a "reply" to this objection that would make sense of metals being so rare in the Maurai stories.
Incidentally, by the time Anderson wrote THE WINTER OF THE WORLD (1975), he seems to have realized that metals should not be that rare in a post collapse world. In WINTER, thousands of years after an Ice Age brought down our civilization, metals are not that rare and we see the Rogaviki mining the ruins of Chicago for metals. And I'm sure the Rahidian Empire also had smaller sources of iron ore mining. A more realistic scenario!
Ad astra! Sean
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
Any "explanation" in the Maurai series would probably have to be just a joke.
In STAR TREK, the appearance of the Klingons changed - as more elaborate make-up was applied. Apparently, when a human character queried this, he was told, "That is something that we do not discuss with outsiders!"
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Ha! SF writers are not that lucky! They are constantly getting queried about inconsistencies in their stories by either respectful or carping readers. Either by snail mail or combox comments or fan analyzes. I've done both!
Some writers, like JRR Tolkien and Poul Anderson, enjoyed hearing from their readers. Others hated it.
Ad astra! Sean
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