"Those who remember other tales from the world of the Maurai will perhaps notice what appear to be inconsistencies with them in this book. However, consistency is not an either-or matter. New data and insights often cause us to revise our ideas about the past and even the present. Surely the future is not exempt." (AUTHOR'S NOTE on an unnnumbered page somewhere between the title page and the PROLOGUE, beginning on p. 1)
Logically, consistency is either-or and not a matter of appearance but there can be differences of interpretation and understanding. The Poul Anderson who addresses us in the signed "Author's Note" at the beginning of Orion Shall Rise is simply the author standing outside the text whereas the Poul Anderson who addresses us in the Foreword to There Will Be Time is embedded in the text, coexisting with his informant, Robert Anderson, and thus also, although he does not meet him, with the time traveler, Jack Havig. This second Poul Anderson informs us that the Maurai stories and There Will Be Time are fictions within the fiction. Writing them, he changed some details and speculated about others. We can therefore regard Orion Shall Rise as a more accurate account although we must still accept that "Maurai" is a name invented by the fictional Poul Anderson.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Now that's an ingenious bit of fannish analyzing, and one I mostly agree with. I also think that by mentioning how the earlier Maurai stories were not quite consistent with ORION SHALL RISE Anderson mat have been distancing himself from that implausible "metals are very rare" premise seen in those stories.
Another reason for rereading ORION would be to take note of how widely used metals are in that novel.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
I will see.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
And all this recent discussing of THERE WILL BE TIME and the Maurai stories has decided me: I will next reread MAURAI & KITH. See, you do affect what some blog readers will read! (Smiles)
Ad astra! Sean
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