On Talwin, Flandry and Djana eat with the civilian scientists who are:
"...cordial and interested in them." (p. 285)
The two species eat the same food and drink the same ale.
Merseians in a bus do not chatter but sit quietly or prepare their kit. However, Cnif hu Vanden points out landmarks to Flandry. Cnif was born on a colony planet and is descended from Lafdiguans in the southern hemisphere of Merseia who retain their own language and other customs and do not belong to Vachs. As in A Knight of Ghosts and Shadows, where we are told a lot about Merseians living on the Imperial planet, Dennitza, we get a sense of the Merseians as a real people which is quite an achievement since they were introduced in the Captain Flandry series as green, reptilian, space opera villains.
2 comments:
Everyone's a villain to their enemies.
My father, for example, who was born into the three generations that spent a lot of time fighting Germans liked individual Germans he met, but had a very suspicious/hostile attitude to them collectively.
My father-in-law respected the Germans he fought personally ("just another bunch of poor bastards doing what they had to and trying to stay alive", was the way he put it) but killed them without compunction in combat and was profoundly negative towards them as a collectivity.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
An attitude I understand and would sometimes agree with! I remember Churchill writing much the same way about the Germans in his histories of WW I and II.
Ad astra! Sean
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