Monday 3 January 2022

...On Avalon

The Earth Book Of Stormgate concludes with two juvenile "...on Avalon" short stories:

"Wingless," originally "Wingless on Avalon"
"Rescue on Avalon"
 
"Wingless" is written by Judith Lundgren who also wrote "Esau" and "The Season of Forgiveness" whereas "Rescue..." is written by A.A. Craig who also wrote "Margin of Profit." Thus, these two authors contribute five of the twelve installments collected in the Earth Book. 
 
In "Wingless," two pages of summarized background information precede Nat Falkayn's pov, as Nat watches a young Ythrian swing aloft, whereas "Rescue..." proceeds directly to Jack Birnam's pov:
 
"The Ythrian passed overhead in splendor."
-Poul Anderson, "Rescue on Avalon" IN Anderson, Rise Of The Terran Empire (Riverdale, NY, 2011), pp. 307-323 AT p. 309.
 
(Both about Ythrians, then.) 
 
Jack has to acknowledge that an Ythrian in flight is beautiful - although we gather that he has some problem with them. In both stories, a minor conflict is resolved.

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I'm also reminded of what both Anderson and Stirling said about CONDORS, beautiful and majestic in flight, but clumsy, awkward, and just plain ugly when on the ground.

Ad astra! Sean