Jack Havig has very little knowledge of what will transpire in the War of Judgment. No one in the immediate aftermath is able to give him any coherent account and he himself must look out for radioactivity and cannibals while fleetingly visiting that period. It is not the kind of World War III anticipated during the Cold War. He thinks that it is more ecological than ideological. We have analyzed his reflections before. (Also, here.)
Poul Anderson could have written a novel about the causes, course and consequences of the War of Judgment but instead wrote a series of stories about its longer term consequences and also this novel in which time travellers from before the War must cope with post-War conditions. In this context, it makes sense that they do not know what happened so neither do we.
With gym this morning and a meeting this evening, today is a sparse day for posts but we never know what might happen later.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I feel bound to point out Anderson made a serious mistake in the Maurai short stories, where we see him thinking metals would become extremely rare and costly. Recall how Stirling explained that would not be the case, because of both plenty of metal artifacts and sources of iron ore that could be mind. We see Anderson walking back from that error in ORION SHALL RISE, which thereby does not quite fit neatly into the background of the first Maurai stories.
Ad astra! Sean
This makes MAURAI, ORION SHALL RISE and THERE WILL BE TIME a fascinating set of interconnected narratives.
Kaor, Paul!
Correction, "mined," not "mind."
It does, what you said re the three titles you listed, readers needing to keep in mind ORION might belong in an alternate Maurai timeline.
Ad astra! Sean
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