After arriving on Aeneas, Aycharaych of Chereion has to show himself to the High Commissioner, Chunderban Desai. When Desai has been alerted that Aycharaych is a Merseian spy, he describes the Chereionite to Tatiana Thane who relays this description in a letter secretly carried to the fugitive, Ivar Frederiksen. Ivar asks Jaan the prophet to describe Caruith the Ancient... This is the single thread that unravels Aycharaych's scheme to foment a jihad.
An Andersonian narrative presents a problem and its solution. Poul Anderson's heroes are problem-solvers. In this case, the solution arises from an unwitting cooperation between the political opponents, Desai and Ivar, with Tatiana as their intermediary. When Tatiana writes to Ivar, she believes that the Merseian agent is an instrument of liberation.
There can be other kinds of narratives, e.g., a day in the life of a character living in the future or a story where everything goes wrong. Anderson shows us not the dissolution of the Polesotechnic League but the beginning of its decline, not the fall of the Solar Commonwealth but the beginning of the Terran Empire, not the Fall of the Empire but Roan Tom rebuilding an interstellar alliance, then the Allied Planets' recivilization of abandoned colonies. In the overall scheme of a future history series, some stories could end with no apparent hope.
5 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
In this case, what might have happened if Tatiana had not sent Ivar an accurate description of Aycharaych, belatedly causing the Firstling to get suspicious? Aycharaych might have succeeded in triggering a jihad that would have "convulsed and shatter" the Empire.
On such small chances does history turn!
Ad astra! Sean
Aycharaych was a bit careless when he let Jaan see his "Ancient" as a Cherionite. He knew that the Terran intelligence services had a physical description of his species.
This sort of thing is often why clandestine schemes fail.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
You are right, Aycharaych should have given Jaan a different description of an "Ancient."
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: if I'd been him, I'd have been tempted to describe them as looking like Cthulhu -- we know he read a lot of ancient Terran literature!
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Why not? An amusing concept, a benevolent and benign Cthulhu!
Ad astra! Sean
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