Lucas remembers:
"...snowpeaks floating high and holy in the sky." (p. 57)
We remember:
"Snowpeaks flamed...
(See SM Stirling as well as Poul Anderson in the above link.)
Lucas' memories continue:
"...leafy arches..." (ibid.);
sunflecks described as dancing among anemones;
birdsong ending quietness described as living;
groves described as sacred where rills tinkle into pools reflecting blue sky and white clouds;
sunlight compared to laughter through birches;
"...a clifftop overlooking vastness..." (p. 58);
mountaineer hospitality described as rough and warm.
At the end, we are shown the people who inhabit this landscape: mountaineers in the mountains.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I also remember Lucas' reflections about his stay in Cathay, which he compared favorably to a violent and war-torn Europe.
Ad astra! Sean
Well, that was Cathay under Mongol rule. Which had been considerably violent; at one point, Genghis Khan had considered simply exterminating the Chinese and using the land as pasture. He was talked out of it by a) the taxes the Chinese could pay, and b) someone pointing out the land would grow up in trees if there weren't any farmers.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
It was good Genghis Khan was talked out of that kind of slaughter with pragmatic arguments.
Anyway that peaceful interlude didn't last long in Cathay after Kublai Khan died. The Yuan Dynasty rapidly declined under his increasingly ineffectual successors, a declined marked by increasing chaos, rebellions, and war lordism.
Ad astra! Sean
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