-Julian May, Intervention (London, 1987), 32, p. 665.
"They looked up to the bright sky. Far above them, the first of the descending Imperial ships glittered in the sunlight like a falling star."
-"Tiger By The Tail" (original), p. 36.
"Far above them, the first of the descending Imperial ships glittered in heaven like a falling star."
-"Tiger By The Tail" (revised), p. 276.
Three texts end as spaceships descend. Interstellar intervention begins. Anderson's texts end with the symbolism of the falling star that has always meant something coming from heaven.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I agree, the three texts you quoted are striking. And, a little before Gunli and Flandry watched those shining Imperial ships, the original version of "Tiger" has a paragraph which has stuck in my mind for decades (Flandry speaking): "I suppose that the Empire is decadent. But there's no reason why it can't someday have a renaissance. When the vigorous new peoples such as yours are guided by the ancient wisdom of Terra, the Galaxy may see its greatest glory."
I'm sorry Anderson eliminated this from the revised version. I argued in one of my letters to him that there has been times when old, declining states have enjoyed such revivals. One of the most extraordinary being the Byzantine resurgence which re-energized the Eastern Roman Empire after 780.
Ad astra! Sean
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