Theological Issues

Theological issues can exist in the minds of fictional characters, e.g., James Blish's Roger Bacon and Fr Ramon Ruiz-Sanchez, Poul Anderson's Peter Berg and Fr Axor or SM Stirling's Sister Marya Sokolowska, or in the fictional world if the fiction is a fantasy admitting the reality of supernatural beings. Blish's After Such Knowledge is a theological trilogy but only its Volume II is a fantasy.

Bryan Talbot, presenting an alternative European history with anthropomorphic animals, does not duck theology. The Bible tells the animals that they came out of Noah's Ark but they must read Hidden Scriptures to learn which species was made in God's image and the species of the Christ. ("But isn't he the Lamb of God?")

My point as always is that Poul Anderson comprehensively covers both options. Peter Berg ponders the Problem of Pain and Axor seeks the Universal Incarnation in different installments of a hard sf series whereas other characters communicate with Heaven and visit Hell in a fantasy series. Gods make their mark and Christian miracles work in the King of Ys Tetralogy (with Karen Anderson). Medieval Christian belief is true in The Merman's Children. And so on. One of Anderson's many commendable qualities was comprehensiveness.

Scientific Speculation And An Artistic Convention

In Is There Life On Other Worlds?, Poul Anderson speculates about the emergence of life and intelligence. Neither is inevitable. However, when life has become firmly established on a planetary surface, it moves in every possible direction. Thus, whereas overspecialized species become extinct when climatic change destroys their ecological niche, more active, alert and adaptable animals can change their behavior in response to environmental alterations and thus have a chance not only to learn the use of fire and tools but also to become linguistic and intelligent. Suppose this had happened to one or more other species? In Anderson's "In Memoriam," after the extinction of humanity, some rats approach intelligence and some octopodidae achieve it.

A proto-dog that became intelligent would not wind up looking like a cartoon talking dog, standing upright with recognizable hands instead of paws on its forelimbs, wearing jacket, shirt, tie etc, smoking cigarettes, playing snooker, speaking in a Bronx accent etc! Nevertheless, this artistic convention suggests not only an alternative history but also an entire alternative evolution.

Despite Poul Anderson's comprehensive coverage of history and the universe, I sometimes speculate about themes that he did not address. The nineteenth century French illustrator, JJ Grandville, drew clothed anthropomorphic animals satirizing French society. Bryan Talbot has written and drawn a series of graphic fictions/comic strips set in a Grandville timeline where human beings have evolved but are socially inferior to lions, badgers, dogs etc. Imagine if Anderson had tackled this idea in a novel.

Another Kind Of Alternative History

I confess to not understanding everything that happens in the concluding chapter of SM Stirling's Under The Yoke - the text becomes cryptic. Some nuances have become clearer with rereading but what is Andrew's motivation?

Draka Volume III should be in the post. Meanwhile, Bryan Talbot presents a kind of alternative history that is not to be found in any work by Poul Anderson or SM Stirling: Britain lost the Napoleonic War (OK, so far) and the world is inhabited by anthropomorphic animals! (See image.)

Maybe funny animals histories make more sense in visual media? Alan Moore attributes familiar animal characters to Doctor Moreau. Talbot has Rupert Bear's father gardening in the background of a few panels.

Thus, I was mistaken to postulate that Anderson and Stirling had covered every aspect of the alternative timelines idea - but maybe writers and readers of prose sf do not want talking animals in their texts? Anderson and Gordon R Dickson came close to it with their Hoka.