I have posted a lot about Jack Havig's birthplace, Senlac, before.
"Senlac is a commercial center for an agricultural area; it maintains some light industry, and that's about the list." (p. 10)
A real-sounding place. These two opening pages of Chapter I could have been the beginning of a mainstream novel set in 1933. The science fiction starts on p. 11 although the reader does not necessarily recognize it as such yet. Eleanor Havig is distraught:
"'Johnny. Two of him. Then one again.' She choked. 'The other one!'" (p. 11)
Those in the know might recognize bilocation as a side-effect of time travel. When young Johnny/Jack travels a moment into the past, he temporarily coexists with his younger self. This is a very small beginning. The historical past and the future lie ahead of Jack and of his readers.
2 comments:
As a matter of logic, I don't buy time travel with an inalterable timeline. There would have to be some sort of intelligence overseeing things and forcing them to stick to the script -- a Time Patrol built into the structure of the universe. But history is extremely contingent.
Kaor, Paul!
In Catholic circles bilocation has been reported for some of the saints.
Stirling's comments does make it harder to accept time traveling thru timelines which are immutable. If we assume many/alternative universes then we can allow for the sheer contingency of human history. Which is what Stirling has chosen for his books.
Ad astra! Sean
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