Prologue

Poul Anderson, Orion Shall Rise (London, 1988).

I think that this is a world map in the Maurai period.

If the introductory AUTHOR'S NOTE had not let the cat out of the bag, then we would not have known, when reading the PROLOGUE, that the Maurai are involved although the following passage might have served as a clue:

"...many dwellers hereabouts, who had never been far from their birthplaces, still believed that Deu Himself had placed [Skyholm] in heaven, as an unmoving moon, to watch lest humans bring a new Judgment on the world." (p. 3)

Skyholm is also called "Ileduciel," (p. 3) sky island. The War of Judgment preceded and initiated the Maurai period.

The PROLOGUE describes a day in early spring:

white snow on brown ground;

gurgling, glimmering water;

budding orchard;

hastening cloud shadows;

pale sky;

chilling, whooping, damp-smelling wind;

wheeling, cawing rooks.

 

A sensory overload.