Friday 18 November 2022

Alienation

The Day of Their Return, 8.

I would be alarmed in the presence of an Ythrian, too avian for my liking, despite lips instead of beak:

sharp-clawed fingers evolved from talons;
carnivore fangs;
hardly any brow;
backward-bulging skull;
feather-crest over head and neck;
huge, unblinking eyes;
fan-shaped tail;
plumaged body;
breast-high to a man.

Would you feel comfortable in close proximity to such a being? If one came into a room, I would want to get out. When Mikkal of Redtop, Fraina of Jubilee and Rolf Mariner, varsiteer, (Ivar Frederiksen) meet Erannath of the Stormgate Choth on Avalon, Fraina whispers to Ivar, "'He's gorgeous...'" (p. 137) I would like to be able to agree with her. They are glorious in flight.

3 comments:

S.M. Stirling said...

Well, that would depend on the circumstances and the Ythrian's intenions... 8-).

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

I would find his mere physical presence unsettling, I think.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, to Both!

This again makes me wonder how * I * would react to meeting any kind of non-human intelligent being? With terror and revulsion? Or, more positively, with fascination and prudent wariness?

Ad astra! Sean