Thursday 7 January 2021

A Change Of Pace II

"How To Be Ethnic In One Easy Lesson."

Coincidentally, the second page of the text contains the phrase, "A change of pace..." (p. 52) The narrator's principle counselor tells him:

"'The indices show you're apt to work yourself into the ground. A change of pace is downright necessary.'" (ibid.)

Jim would prefer to be "...apprenticed to a Master Merchant of the Polesotechnic League..." (ibid.) than to be counseled by a specialist armed with "...a psychoprofile and a theory..." (ibid.)

We are a century or more later than "The Problem of Pain." (See here.) The Polesotechnic League thrives. We have seen it from the perspective of David Falkayn as an apprentice, then Falkayn as a journeyman and also different characters as Master Merchants but now we see it from the perspective of a sixteen year old student preparing for his preliminary Academy tests. For the first and unfortunately the last time, we see domestic life on Earth during the Solar Commonwealth. Despite his youth, Jim Ching owns a car that he can fly "...out above the ocean..." (p. 51) but he wants to go a lot further and one of the perspectives that he contemplates is:

"Wild wings above Ythri!" (p. 56)

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

And we are STILL using 19th century technology, horseless carriages! And one of the "hot" new things about automobile is turning them into self driving vehicles. But, still no air cars!

Ad astra! Sean