"...meanwhile, and forever, beyond the outermost radius of our faring will lie nearly all the suns that exist." (p. 348)
Imagine if Earth were not a finite sphere but an infinite plane such that, at any time, explorers or invaders, possibly of different species and often with superior technology, could arrive in Eurasia or North America from beyond the furthest frontiers. An entirely different world-view and mentality would have to exist. But, in three dimensions, that is the universe that we inhabit. We are not usually aware of it because, as far as we know, nothing has come from beyond the outermost radius yet.
9 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Exactly! And I hope the human race soon begins faring OUTWARDS. That would be better than being helplessly surprised by various kinds of "invaders."
Ad astra! Sean
I was going to use a Dyson-sphere sized "Pellucidar" for the third book in the LORDS OF CREATION series.
This would be, for all practical purposes, equivalent to an infinite Earth (about the area of 300 -million- Earths).
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Reminiscent of Larry Niven's RINGWORLD books. A truly staggeringly COSMIC project!
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: I was going to start with people from Earth (not exactly ours, of course, but similar and very similar up until about 1950) going through a "gate" to the interior of the sphere, and them figuring out what it was.
That particular area is inhabited by the descendants of 18th century Frenchmen, who were dumped there on top of a culture descended from (and not changed all that much from) Central European Corded Ware types from the early Bronze Age. Then Zeppelins arrive, crewed by the descendants of 1918-era Germans.
Sigh. I was going to have fun with that.
Mr. S,
Can't you still?
Paul.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Fascinating concept! And, to quote Paul, "Can't you still?"
Ad astra! Sean
I might. I'm at a stage where I really don't have to write anything except what I want, thankfully.
Best way.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
That shows how SUCCESSFUL a writer you have become!
Ad astra! Sean
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