An Acknowledgement And A Contrast

Before we return to our usual topic of Poul Anderson, let me record that I have received an acknowledgement from British author, Alan Moore, although it was not addressed just to me. At the end of three pages of ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

"And thanks to the tiny percentage of you readers who have read to the end of these acknowledgements. To be honest I usually skip them, so your efforts are truly appreciated.

"Alan Moore

"Northampton

"January, 2022"

-Alan Moore, Illuminations (London, 2023), p. 456.

Back to "Son of the Sword":

Unusually, Thoas has the same memory twice in the space of a few pages:

"He thought of the timber hall that was his, that his father had built in the wild hills of Cyprus, and of the windy trees and the long slope of mountain down to the sea, salt air and anchored ships and gulls flying overhead." (pp. 116-117)

"Thoas remembered again the great draughty hall on the heights of Cyprus and the far blue sea and sunlight streaming down windy slopes to shatter in a million pieces on its waves." (p. 126)

Deja vu. We're like "Have I already read this?" The Cyprian scene is well worth describing twice in different words.

Each time, the memory has both a context and a corollary. 

First context: Thoas has just reflected that the Egyptian palace is built of mud that could crumble after one or two generations of weather.

First corollary: "Suddenly Egypt was stifling." (p. 117)

Second context: Thoas has just reflected on the strangeness of Egypt, "...riotous with life..." (p. 125) but brooded over by death, and the Nile of laughing lotuses where crocodiles eat murdered corpses.

Second corollary: "Aye, it would be good to come home, if ever they did." (p. 126)