The Sky People, Prologue

SM Stirling, The Sky People (New York, 2007).

The Prologue is six pages:

pp. 1-3 are headed VENUS June 14, 1962
pp. 4-6 are headed Baikonaur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, USSR June 14, 1962

"The morning sun was still low, casting the seven runners' shadows before them and turning the clouds to the color of raw gold." (p. 1)

"The land before the dozen-strong war party was gently rolling..." (p. 2)

"...a half-dozen figures pushed through the brush and stood staring at the probe." (p. 5)

Observations:

Knowing what we do both of space exploration in the 1960's and of Venus, we instantly recognize that this novel is set in an alternative Solar System. We do not even expect the Sun to be visible on the surface of Venus.

The number in this group seems to vary from seven to twelve to six? - although "half-dozen" could loosely mean "about six."

On pp. 5-6: the Yanki Martian probe will land next month. Thus, the sequel, In The Courts Of The Crimson Kings, will be simultaneous, not subsequent.

Words that we might need to google:

"...samovar..." (p. 4);
"...knobkerrie..." (p. 5);
"...prognathous..." (p. 5).

Any reader who does not immediately turn to Chapter One is not an sf fan.

The Lords Of Creation, Volume One: Conclusion

I said that I might post about the conclusion of SM Stirling's The Sky People (New York, 2006) but, now that I have read it, I am not quite sure what to say. I lost the sequence of events a bit but, in any case, the narrative does not reach a conclusion. Instead, it points towards a continuation in the following volume. The "'...Crimson Dynasty...'" (p. 308) must connect with ...The Crimson Kings (p. 311) of the title of the second novel. There are a few more to me unfamiliar words but maybe we have had enough of those for a while?

Stirling has written an authentic account of an inhabited Venus and I look forward to his account of Mars. "Authenticity" means conformity not to twenty first century science but to Golden Age pulp sf. There is a scientific Venus and a literary one. Stirling has made a major contribution to the latter. We need not, after all, say, "Farewell, fantastic Venus!"

Easter Agenda

(Lancaster Priory Church. Some friends and acquaintances will be there today. I will meditate at home.)

Agenda
Family and social activities.
Finish reading SM Stirling's The Sky People.
Finish interrupted rereading of Poul Anderson's Fire Time.
Order further NESFA collections and "Lords of Creation" installments.
(Have now finished the third Stieg Larsson novel. Recommended.)

Although the NESFA collections contain much familiar material, I nevertheless reread the first Gunnar Heim story in NESFA collections vol 2. This led to rereading The Star Fox, then Fire Time. Moral: do not dismiss collections containing familiar material. None of these works should be read just once or even twice.

The next post will probably be about the conclusion of The Sky People but this is not always predictable.