4D + OBE

A straight line is bounded by two points, a square by four straight lines, a cube by six squares and a tesseract or hypercube by eight cubes.

There is a philosophical and fictional tradition of time as a fourth dimension, e.g., in fiction:

The Time Machine by HG Wells;
The Corridors Of Time by Poul Anderson;
The Quincunx Of Time by James Blish;
Snowbrother by SM Stirling.

There are many attestations of out-of-the-body experiences (OBEs). Susan Blackmore, having experienced OBEs, theorized that an OBE is an altered state of consciousness (ASC) in which bodily sensations are disregarded and the environment is vividly imagined as if seen from a point outside the body.

I mention all this because Snowbrother combines an OBE with a perception of time as a distance.

I have finished reading James Crossley's Cults, Martyrs And Good Samaritans and am struggling with William Dexter's Children Of The Void. The next moves for the blog are to continue reading Snowbrother and also to continue the search for Nicholas van Rijn although we might find that we already know him as well as Anderson's narratives allow.

It

SM Stirling, Snowbrother (New York, 1985).

Who is the titular character of Snowbrother? We get used to using a title just as a label for a text and forget that it means something.

There is an element of horror fiction. After a raid, the slave-owning Kommanz return home with Minztan prisoners through heavy snow. The Minztans refer several times to "it" and we gradually gather that this is something fearful that might help them.

The prisoner Maihu has passed the message, to fellow Minztans who might rescue them, "'...that Snowbrother will aid us...'" and "'...that Fear would fight for us too.'" (Chapter 11, p. 153) Maihu, an Adept, plays her flute, enters a trance and pierces the Veil. A guard's horse is spooked and bolts, throwing her. She sees "it," then nothing. (p. 158) We still do not know what it is.

Farewell To The Fourth Dimension

Back from the meditation group. It was the "time as distance" moment here in SM Stirling's Snowbrother that got me started on the fourth dimension but now I am trying to disengage from it.

In recent posts:

Plattner rotated, Davidson saw, the tesseract house folded - through the fourth dimension (Wells and Heinlein);

a set of dimensions separates parallel universes (Anderson).

Notionally, Wells' Time Traveler, in The Time Machine, and Anderson's mutant time travelers, in There Will Be Time, move along the fourth dimension although I argue that these characters dilate or stretch in that direction.

That is enough about dimensions. Tomorrow, I will return to reading Snowbrother and to rereading "Margin of Profit." Other interrupted rereading comprises Gaiman's American Gods and Julian May's The Many-Colored Land.

Gods, give us time.

The Way

"'I want to kill her,' came the dry whisper. 'I want to see her die. I want to hear her bones break and her blood flow out on the snow. I -'
"'Stop!' she said sharply. 'You must not let them turn you from the Way.'"
-SM Stirling, Snowbrother (New York, 1985), Chapter 12, p. 179.

Wanting to hear bones break is a very bad state to be in. We have not yet been fully informed about "the Way" but it sounds good if violent vengefulness means turning away from it.

"Tao" means "Way." "Zen" means "meditation." Yoga, according to Patanjali, is control of thoughts. Thus, I think that, at their most basic level, Tao, Zen and Yoga are one way. I would be happy to see Lao Tzu and Patanjali beside the Buddha on the altar at the meditation group. Meanwhile, I am interested to learn more about the Way in Snowbrother. Adepts of this Way are in conflict with a dreadful cannibalistic shaman.

Introducing Snowbrother

I am beginning to read, for my first time, Snowbrother (New York, 1985), SM Stirling's first novel and the first volume of his Fifth Millennium series. So do we think a bit like Brain Wave meets The Winter Of The World or should we avoid such comparisons?

We will certainly notice any Andersonian allusions but we certainly do not read anyone else's books just for that reason. According to Wiki, there are low powered elements of magic or psionics so maybe a bit like The King Of Ys in that respect? But I will read without preconceptions.

An author begins with a blank page or screen and creates a fictional world that has never existed before. This process will continue as long as there are people able to read.

In the opening paragraph of Chapter 1, on p. 5:

quiet
cold
woodsmoke
smells of horses and of forest resin
blue-white snow on black tree trunks and branches
wind
clattering, stamping horses -

- thus, a description addressing no less than four senses.

Familiar Scenarios, New Terminologies

SM Stirling, Snowbrother, see here.

We quickly orient ourselves when reading a new speculative novel. In SM Stirling's Snowbrother, there was a "Godwar" followed by a "Year Without Sun"... (Chapter 1, p. 6) People ride horses, fight with swords and find metals in the "'...ruins of the Old Ones...'" (Chapter 3, p. 31) This is clear enough.

These descendants of the Old Ones do not necessarily share our understanding of what must have happened:

"...no Minztan would fell a tree without the proper ceremonies of explanation and apology; such heedlessness had brought the fire down on the Old Ones." (Chapter 2, p. 12)

These Minztans do have a partial understanding. Those Old Ones were heedless of their environment.

A shaman (see image) speaks of holding other minds within his and giggles at one of his chief's thoughts so we understand that he is telepathic. Is this telepathy a remote consequence of the Godwar or a separate premise? We do not yet know everything about this new environment. We read on in expectation of further understanding.

"Blinded and chained to millstones..."

SM Stirling, Snowbrother, see here.

"'...there are live prisoners. Would you let them be slaves? Blinded and chained to millstones...?'" (Chapter 6, p. 70)

This recalls:

Eyeless in Gaza, at the mill with slaves,
-line 41, copied from here.

I referred to "Eyeless in Gaza" in:

In Gaza
God And Dog

SM Stirling's fiction features several callous slave-owners - but so does our history. 

Strength

SM Stirling, Snowbrother, see here.

A warrior teaches:

"'Nothing is fair, and only the weak seek justice. Grow strong, and take...'" (Chapter 10, p. 132)

Imagine telling a young person that. Works of fiction show us historical or hypothetical societies with this kind of ethos. The results include drama and conflict but we also need to see what society can become. Nature is not fair but we can be. The civilized administer justice. Some of the "weak" become strong when they realize their common interests. Nicholas van Rijn might say, "Grow strong, and trade...." I might say, "Grow strong, give and share..."

Heartlands And Borderlands

Poul Anderson's "Among Thieves" contrasts marchmen with "Civilization." We find a comparable distinction in SM Stirling's Snowbrother (New York, 1985):

"The settlement...bore the marks of the borderlands: earth rampart, log stockade, blockhouses at the corners, and a ditch planted with sharpened stakes. Many from the heartlands of the deep forest would have winced at that, considered the ways of the frontier folk tainted with the un-Circled customs of the outlanders." (Chapter 6, p. 63)

"...deep forest..." does not match our idea of civilization but the outlands-borderlands-heartlands distinction is the same. We have to learn more about the Circle and "'...the New Way...'" (Chapter 5, p. 53).

They Wrote

See:

Tacitus Wrote
Thucydides Wrote

Raj Whitehall:

"'...let us do what men may, and suffer what we must like men.'"
-The Forge, CHAPTER FOURTEEN, p. 247.

Consulting the two links, the returning to this post, will show the following sequence:

SM Stirling's Snowbrother;

Poul Anderson's Time Patrol story, "Star Of The Sea," quoting Tacitus;

Poul Anderson's Time Patrol story, "Ivory, And Apes, And Peacocks," quoting Thucydides;

SM Stirling's and David Drake's The Forge.

The common themes here are human action and suffering which are reasonably comprehensive.

The End Of Volume I

"She was not one of the ancient heroes, or a god, to have steel that did not rust."
-SM Stirling, Snowbrother (New York, 1985), Chapter 14, p. 224.

But that will happen in a later Stirling series.

At last, we see it and it is not quite what we expect. Neither side wins decisively. There is space for a sequel. We know that this series continues.

The shaman can go OBE (out of the body). Does whatever goes out of the body leave it at death and go elsewhere, before the gods for judgment and reincarnation or with the Circle into the Harmony? The characters believe so but will subsequent volumes confirm it? Again, diverse hereafters happen in a later Stirling series.

Sacrifice And Feast

SM Stirling, Snowbrother, Chapter 9, p. 106.

Is this SM Stirling's very first lovingly listed fictional menu? After the conquerors have invoked their gods and sacrificed a horse, their slaves carry in smoking platters and containers of:

wheat bread
beef
savory heaps of roast pig
venison
bear meat
eggs
garlic, herb sausage
milk
cheese
blood puddings
onions
broth
fresh rye bread
potatoes
turnips
sauerkraut
dried fruit
dried nuts
honey-mead
whiskey
southland wine
"lifewater"

(The images show which kinds of food I prefer.)

Beyond The Veil

SM Stirling, Snowbrother (New York, 1985), Chapter 10.

This shaman goes to a place that I didn't know even existed:

in darkness, in a storm, in his tent, he burns herbs, crouches, drums and chants;

he peels away reason and sensation, rerouting sensory input into closed-loop circuits;

only internal sensation, blood, heart etc, remains;

a mental construct will monitor bodily functions in his absence;

leaving his body and the tent, he flies into the blizzard;

he perceives the storm's energy system, then scans backward in time and assesses its probability;

he learns that the storm was likely but also that its probability had been nudged;

he is able to walk along time "...as if it were a distance..." (p. 120);

he will recognize the individual style of this spell if he encounters it again;

when he senses his opponent's scrutiny, they communicate non-verbally and the shaman lashes out in fury;

of necessity, each returns to his body.

I have omitted some details in order to summarize this psychic sequence. There is a "...World Beyond the World..." (ibid.) and a "...plane of Absolute Essence..." (ibid.) where it is possible to experience the "Symbols," e.g., of the storm and of the shaman himself. There is a "...Veil..." (p. 121) with men and the storm on one side of it and these psychic or magical events on the other.

OK. Over to you. Read Stirling's account and see what you make of it.

Five Senses On Ice

SM Stirling, Snowbrother, see here.

A war band with captured slaves has camped on a frozen river, with fires on log frameworks, for distance from the forest.

Sight: the fires are "...dim red glows through the snow." (Chapter 12, p. 165)
Sensation: very cold air.
Smell: pine, smoke, dung, grilling sausages.
Sound: shouts, stampings, roaring wind, lowing cattle, kicks, curses, blows.
Taste: by implication, the sausages.

I am glad that I am not there.

More About Language

See Uses Of English and "datholch." (Scroll down.)

SM Stirling, Snowbrother, see here.

When speaking to her new "owner," Maihu has to translate "scholar" as "'hunter-of-knowledge.'" (p. 143) Compare the Eriau "datholch."

In the conquerors' language:

there are over two hundred words for grass and "...nearly as many for horses..." (p. 136);

the verb, "to kill," has thirty two forms;

"sea" has to be translated as "...big salty lake too broad to see across..." (ibid.);

"humanitarian altruist" is "insane traitor";

"freedom" is "ability to accomplish";

there is no "mercy."

In a discussion in the meditation group, I distinguished between "delusion" and "appearance" and was told that, in the original language of one of our texts, the same word was used for both. However, thought is not entirely constrained by language. When we need to make a finer distinction, we say, e.g., "Can we distinguish between two meanings of this word?" 

During Battle

"A slight, dark-faced youth squirmed nearby, trying feebly to pull out the javelin which had pierced his stomach. He was a slinger from Carthage, but the burly Italian peasant who sat next to him, staring without belief at the stump of an arm, paid no attention."
-Poul Anderson, "Delenda Est" IN Anderson, Time Patrol (Riverdale, NY, 2010), pp. 173-228 AT p. 223.

"A man sat and stared at the stump where a hand had been."
-SM Stirling, Snowbrother (New York, 1985), Chapter 14, p. 202.

And that is exactly what it must be like.

I am up early for a dental appointment but there is nothing to prevent us from visiting a couple of battlefields over cereal and coffee.

Three New Books

While I was writing the preceding post, three second hand paperbacks arrived separately by post:

Snowbrother, SM Stirling's first novel;

World In Eclipse and its sequel, Children Of The Void, by William Dexter, both of which I read well over fifty years ago.

The copy of World In Eclipse is the same edition that I owned back then. I ordered these books because they feature a fictional planet Vulcan so I was reminded of them by Anderson's "Vulcan's Forge."

This blog recognizes Stirling as a worthy colleague and successor of Anderson. Dexter addressed Andersonian themes.

Tacitus Wrote

"...a person could only do as she might, then suffer what she must."
-SM Stirling, Snowbrother (New York, 1985), Chapter 12, p. 168.

That reminds me of something in Poul Anderson's Time Patrol series but for once I cannot find it: Anderson quoting a Greek or Roman historian who wrote that men did what they could and suffered what they had to...?

The Time Patrol series may be the major source of quotations and comparisons on Poul Anderson Appreciation. A similar passage although not, I think, the right one is:

"As for the Ampsivarii, they wandered year after year, sometimes briefly finding refuge, sometimes harries onward, until, Tacitus wrote, 'all their young were killed in a foreign country, and those who could not fight were shared out as booty.'"
-Poul Anderson, "Star Of The Sea" IN Anderson, Time Patrol (Riverdale, NY, 2010), pp. 467-640 AT p. 557.

Survivors And Ways

Might our scientific-technological civilization destroy itself? Yes. Many would say that it is doing.

If civilization is destroyed, might the environment and a fragment of humanity survive? Unlikely. One Nuclear Winter scenario has radioactive clouds indefinitely encircling the Earth, blocking out all sunlight and killing every blade of grass. One Climate Change prediction has critical ecosystems collapsing in our lifetimes.

Poul Anderson and SM Stirling have written novels assuming a "Yes" answer to both these questions.

If the environment and a fragment of humanity survive, might the survivors and their descendants find a different way to act on nature? Yes: unlikely that ours is the only way.

Might one of the different ways be such that it would seem magical or supernatural to us? SM Stirling's Snowbrother seems to assume a "Yes" answer although I will have to read further.

We recognize terms that recur in later Stirling works:

"'...the Sky-Blue Wolves...'" (Chapter 7, p. 82)
"'...Eater...'" (Chapter 8, p. 98)

Peoples and their pantheons, gods of earth and sky, are in conflict. Sky-god worshipers regard their enemies' rituals as witchcraft.

Death Comes

SM Stirling, Snowbrother, see here.

Hamlet is about being dead:

the ghost;
the skull;
the soliloquies.

Action-adventure fictions describes frequent violent deaths. Can it tell us what it is like to know that you are being killed? SM Stirling does. A woman resisting an attack on her village feels a sudden cold in part of her body, watches a sword enter her stomach and come out red, smells something foul, falls, feels her head pulled back by the hair and sees her scalp held before her as throat is slashed open. Her point of view ends so there is a double space before the next paragraph.

We know that some of the characters believe in reincarnation but not whether this novel is a fantasy where such beliefs turn out to be literally true - although we do not expect it. As a rule, as in real life, physical death is the end for a fictional character.

Unpleasant but realistic.

It is appropriate to reference Arnold Schwarzenegger's rewrite of Hamlet.