"Poul Anderson Appreciation" really does mean that we appreciate Poul Anderson's works. I have repeated myself a lot about the
Earth Book and the Technic History because these works always seem fresh to me every time that I get re-involved with their details. If they ever cease to seem fresh, then I will presumably blog about them less. The mid-point of
The Technic Civilization Saga, Volume III, really is pivotal. The colonization of Avalon points back to David Falkayn who had lived through the decline of the Polesotechnic League whereas the founding of the Terran Empire points forward to Dominic Flandry who will defend that Empire during its decline. Thus, the rise and fall of civilizations is not merely discussed but brought to life and through a vast cast, not just the big three: van Rijn, Falkayn and Flandry. None of these three is present at this mid-point but Hloch signs off from the
Earth Book and Ayeghen introduces Reeves who describes Argos. What more do we need? Apart from a much longer Technic History?
6 comments:
Yup, Poul at his best could give his imaginary universe a sense of dense realithy 'all the way down' that rivaled the real thing. And he made it look effortless.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I agree, and you have done the same with your stories. You managed to make even the Draka look plausible.
ad astra! Sean
Sean: Note that reality doesn't mean 'likely'.
Eg., in 1523, how would people have regarded a speculation that half the human race 500 years later would be able to speak English?
And at that point, it was vanishingly unlikely... in reality.
As it happened, that's what happened.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I agree, just because something happened does not necessarily mean it was LIKELY to happen.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: quite the contrary. Unlikely things happen all the time... but some editors frown on them.
I roll my eyes when people write reviews and criticize that; all the unlikely things in history... not to mention personal history, like how my grandparents and parents met... come to mind.
The only thing more annoying is people who don't bother to check things.
I was looking through the Amazon reviews of ISLAND IN THE SEA OF TIME and someone listed all the 'convenient' things -- like the astronomer who could pinpoint their location in time after the event, or the machine-shop.
Both of which were actually present on Nantucket in 1998. In fact, every single skill, tool, machine and seed mentioned in the book as on Nantucket -was- on Nantucket; I checked.
But both of those were things you could look up on Google with about three minutes work...
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Actually, I agree, esp. the specific examples you listed above for your ISLAND books. I had in mind how unlikely it was in 1523 that the English language would be as widely used and spoken as it is today.
Ad astra! Sean
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