The Narration Of "Day of Burning"

"Day of Burning."

"Day of Burning" was first published as "Supernova," an sf story by Poul Anderson in Analog. When it was collected as "Day of Burning" in The Earth Book Of Stormgate, Hloch's introduction to this story informed us that it had been written by him and Arinnian. Within the text of the story, the sentence:

"This was the first chance in our history to observe a new supernova." (p. 319)

- informs us that the narrator is someone living within Technic civilization.

This impression is reinforced later when Morruchan, discussing the supernova, says:

"'The radiation, when it gets to us, will equal a mere one-third of what comes daily from Korych. And in some fifty-five days' (Terrestrial) 'it will have dwindled to half...'" (p. 323)

Of course, Morruchan does not pause to explain that he refers to Terrestrial days because the bracketed word is outside the inverted commas. But he will not have referred to Terrestrial days. The authors have found it convenient to indicate to their readers that Morruchan refers to a period corresponding to fifty-five Terrestrial days. This interruption to the dialogue momentarily contravenes our willing suspension of disbelief. We are reminded that we are not reading what Morruchan said but rather that someone else is giving us their account of what passed between Morruchan and Falkayn. However, as we continue to read, we seen forget this brief intrusion.