(i) appreciation of Poul Anderson's works, sometimes putting them in the context of other sf writers (we know who they are by now but remember that the start-point is Mary Shelley, not HG Wells);
(ii) reflections on particular passages, sometimes even on a single phrase.
I am aware that the reflections are very much my own, not anyone else's, but that cannot be helped. Poul Anderson's texts present a very great deal of material for everyone to reflect on and many reflections are bound to differ so - create other blogs if appropriate or comment here, whichever.
Yesterday, the horizonless planet led to a reflection on conspiracy theories which are a different subject although an important one. Conspiracy theories are how some people make sense of a complicated world. Hopefully, greater transparency in public consciousness will extirpate such theories. In Poul Anderson's The Game Of Empire, Targovi suspects that there is a conspiracy to promote Olaf Magnusson as a hero who can save the Empire and deal with the Merseians. This being a work of fiction, there is such a conspiracy. It originated with Aycharaych. Magnusson plans to seize the Throne, then to begin the subordination of mankind to the Merseians.
However, our world is controlled by conflict and chaos, not by conspiracies.
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