If we pull back from The Technic Civilization Saga and consider The Trouble Twisters and Satan's World as discrete volumes, it is obvious that these two books form a continuous sequence. The trader team has come into existence in the third and last story in The Trouble Twisters and continues to operate in the opening chapters of Satan's World. We have skipped past the team's adventure on Merseia in "Day of Burning" but will catch up with that in The Earth Book Of Stormgate.
Meanwhile, we appreciate some humour in Satan's World.
"Garver suppressed most of his automatic rage at glimpsing that man." (p. 94)
- "that man" being Nicholas van Rijn. Automatic rage! Garver ought to learn to appreciate van Rijn as a colourful character. Certainly, Garver has grounds to disapprove of the machinations of this and other Master Merchants. As a law enforcement officer:
"...he saw his agents retreat, baffled and disheartened, from a trail that led to the League..." (p. 92)
Unlike some Anderson readers, I do not cheer the League. But the humour continues. When Kim of Serendipity refers to van Rijn as a "gentleman":
"Each word seemed to taste individually bad; he spat them out fast." (p. 94)
When Kim says that van Rijn will broker the sale of Serendipity, Garver groans:
"'At a fat commission...'" (p. 95)
- and Kim cannot refrain from groaning:
"'Very fat.'" (ibid.)
Serendipity patrol boats were shot down not by Chee Lan but by malfunctioning guns in the castle tower. Indeed, Chee Lan valiantly demolished the tower in an attempt to save the Serendipity people but too late!
Finally, conceding that Serendipity has settled with van Rijn, Kim speaks:
"...like one up whom a bayonet has been rammed." (p. 97)
Serendipity has learned what we already knew: don't mess with van Rijn.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I can sympathize with Garver, simply as a law enforcement officer, when he was forced to abandon cases against League magnates leading to evidence of crimes which should be legitimately prosecuted. I do not sympathize with his reactionary political views, amounting to nothing better (as became plain in MIRKHEIM) to concentrating more and more power in a centralized bureaucratic state. And that is the kind of plague we have been burdened with since 1914!
Ad astra! Sean
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