If the fifth dimension is spatial, then we say that the timelines coexist in parallel with each other. If it is temporal, then we say that they succeed each other. If it is something else, then we do not know what to say.
It would be strange to read Poul Anderson's canon in chronological order of fictitious events starting with Conan The Rebel and we would not usually advise anyone to do this. But when we do begin to read the novel, we find Anderson's characteristic detailed descriptiveness:
"Night lay heavy on Stygia. Where the great river emptied into its bay, no whisper of wind came off the ocean beyond. The sky was hazed, so that only a few stars glimmered in sight above Khemi..."
-Poul Anderson, Conan The Rebel (New York, 1981), I, p. 1.
We find Stygia and Khemi on a two-page map after the contents page.
We, editorially speaking, remember almost nothing of previous readings so maybe it is time for another reading at a leisurely pace?
2 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
That "heavy night" was obviously meant to be ominous.
Ad astra! Sean
It's also fairly similar to the climate of Egypt -- though the stars are usually bright there, away from electrically-lit cities.
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