Warm;
wet wind;
smells of reeds and muck;
"...strong, wild perfume..." (p. 94);
an orange moon;
the screeching of a nimravus;
a large mammal, grunting and splashing;
whispering grass;
a blazing, electrically lit, castle;
red or yellow fire gleaming from smaller buildings;
moving torches.
This is the Oligocene epoch with a small settlement of time travelers. A descriptive passage is welcome after several pages of non-stop action. Usually, the time brigands are free to kill each other but, when Trebuen unknowingly kills Duke Hugo's grandson, a revolution becomes necessary. There is a short pause between bouts of action.
Kaor, Paul!
ReplyDeleteOne of the things I remember about "The Nest" was how the time travelers from the future who visited Norman Sicily made the fatal mistake of underestimating the intelligence of "primitives." That allowed a much younger Hugo to knock them off and grab their time machine.
Moral of the story: being "primitive" or less advanced does NOT necessarily mean being stupid.
Ad astra! Sean
I'm reminded of a New Guinea village "big man", in an area just being contacted by the Australians running the place at the time -- via aircraft.
ReplyDeleteHe took one look, and offered to give them many pigs if they'd fly him over a neighboring village so he could drop rocks on it.
A Neolithic man, who'd never seen metal before, much less an aircraft, takes one look and invents strategic bombing.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
ReplyDeleteA very smart "Big Man"! But not in the kind of ways our "noble savage" idealists would like! (Sardonic snort)
Ad astra! Sean