Sometimes a single word or phrase links two texts in some readers' minds even though the texts and their contexts bestow almost unrelated meanings. Thus, "Superman" is a German philosophical concept and the first American superhero. In Poul Anderson's Maurai History, Jack Havig refers to the American Superman and Launy Birken of the Northwest Union makes a surprising claim about his own father:
"'My father was an Iron Man...'" (p. 26)
Really? We soon learn that:
"The Iron Men were picturesque, and their early exploits had been heroic..."
This sounds interesting.
"...in a raw fashion as they fought, sneaked, or bargained their way across the Mong-occupied plains in search of metal." (ibid.)
OK. In fact, superheroes can exist in very different versions, sometimes non-super-powered.
Birken and a Lohannaso carry on the by now familiar argument for or against Maurai conservationist policies. This time the focus is on whales: to kill or not to kill.
I have heard one American perspective parodied as: "Go, nuke a gay whale for Jesus!"
6 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Again, the flawed and unconvincing premise of metals being rare and prohibitively costly to find, obtain, use, etc. Yes, I know, Anderson must have known better by the time he pub. "Windmill" in 1973--meaning he was stuck with that premise. But as I read thru the Maurai stories I'm frequently reminded of how unsatisfactory it is.
AD astra! Sean
In ORION, the Northwest Union imports huge amounts of coal to generate electricity.
I find this also to be unconvincing.
The biggest industrial city in the NWU is specified to have 50,000 people, and the political capital no more than half that.
OK, assuming a modest degree of urbanization, that means a total population of say about 1,000,000 -- no more than two or three times that at absolute most.
That part of the world is abundantly equipped with hydro-electric power; the Columbia, the Fraser, their tributaries, etc.
Why ship coal, when you can use falling water? Nearer, cheaper, no international complications.
"Nuke the gay baby whales for Jesus!" is actually a conservative invention in American politics -- an ironic provocation.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
And that was a surprising error for Poul Anderson to make, considering how careful he was to get the most likely probabilities RIGHT in most of his books. I can see the Northwest Union importing SOME coal, but not as much as ORION has them doing, if it was located in a part of the world where hydro-electricity was plentiful.
Here's another one, that I thought of, about the whales: "Don't nuke the whales--EAT them!" (Smiles)
Ad astra! Sean
Coal (and oil and natural gas) are useful feedstocks for chemical synthesis too; as far as power is concerned, they're useful in the chemical process involved in some smelting operations, where raw electricity would be much less efficient. But in general, hydro's the way to go if you've got high rainfall and steep terrain... which that part of North America does in spades.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Which bears out my view the NU did not need to import THAT much coal. The Union had plenty of hydro for the ordinary uses of electrical power.
Ad astra! Sean
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