Works of fiction include references that periodically become relevant again, e.g.:
"...at least these aborigines weren't being slaughtered like Tasmanians by nineteenth-century whites or pushed beyond their thin margin of survival like Ukrainians and Ethiopians by twentieth-century governments." (p. 199)
Or twenty first century governments. We are now living in the future from the point of view of the sf that we used to read.
Wanda Tamberly realizes that she is going to like Red Wolf, the leader of the Cloud People who oppress her friends, the Tulat. Dominic Flandry comes to like both sides on Starkad even though his people, the Terrans, back the land-dwellers whereas the Merseians back the sea-dwellers. Tamberly's organization, the Time Patrol, is not supposed to take sides...
7 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I've wondered if, instead of the implausibly primitive "modern" humans called the Tulat (who should have been more numerous and reached an Old Stone Age level of technology), Anderson might have depicted the Indians meeting people like the Pithecanhropines of "The Little Monster." Probelm is, we see even them using defensive barriers and learning how to use fire.
Oh well, we can still enjoy the "Beringia" section of THE SHIELD OF TIME as well written fiction.
Ad astra! Sean
Everyone has a right -- and an obligation -- to be on their own side. The Cloud People are simply being on their own side, as are the Tulat.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I agree. For the Tulat, however, the problem was them being too weak to effectively oppose the Cloud People.
Ad astra! Sean
As the Athenian delegates said before the walls of Melos: "The strong do as they will, and the weak suffer what they must."
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
A fine philosophy--as long as YOU are strong. The Athenians would find out themselves what it was like to be weak.
And I agree it's better--and wiser--to be strong!
Ad astra! Seam
Sean: it's descriptive, not prescriptive.
That is, the Athenians were saying that that was the way things were, not the way things should be. That human beings were powerless to make it otherwise.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
And I agree, that is indeed simply what human beings are LIKE, and I see no reason to ever expect it to be otherwise. And said so, quite often, in this blog.
I like to think that sometimes, because of being a Catholic, that sometimes God helps us to be better than this, once in a while.
Ad astra! Sean
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