The opening five plus pages of this chapter set the scene by outlining Maurai family and social life. At last, on p. 127, Terai Lohannaso's superior in Naval Intelligence begins to brief him on a new mission pulling together diverse plot strands from previous chapters. The Norrmen are preparing something and have sent their man, Mikli Karst, to Europai.
When the admiral asks:
"'...how would you like to meet your old opponent on ground that is new to both of you?'" (p. 128)
- what happens in the background? What else but:
"Wind shrieked, rain dashed against panes, the noise of a typewriter in the outer office suggested skeletons holding carnival on Ghost Night." (ibid.)?
Shrieking wind and dashing wind are frequent commentators at dramatic moments in Poul Anderson's works but this time they are joined by dancing skeletons.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I also thought of how Dominic Flandry was briefed by Admiral Kheraskov in Chapter II of THE RBBEL WORLDS, preparing him for an equally sensitive mission.
And I think that mention of Ghost Night was meant to remind readers of Halloween. I was reading some horror/ghost stories this past Halloween and Sunday: "One For The Road," by Stephen King; "In A Dim Room," by Lord Dunsany; and "Ex Tenebris," by Russell Kirk (!).
Ad astra! Sean
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