Thursday 18 December 2014

Livewell On Delfinburg

There is livewell on Delfinburg. In other words, an Avalonian flower grows on a Terrestrial pontoon city. Anderson lists "...fragrances of rose, jasmine, aurelia, livewell..." (Rise Of The Terran Empire, p. 31) when David and Coya Falkayn talk in a roof garden on Delfinburg in Mirkheim.

But the Falkayns have not colonized or even named Avalon yet. The planet, provisionally called "Gray," was discovered during the Grand Survey and later explored - so were flowers brought from it then? Or is livewell an Ythrian plant that has been brought to Earth and will later, like windnest and hammerbranch, be taken to Avalon?

I have only just noticed this reference to "livewell" in Mirkheim. It caught my attention because I had previously posted about Livewell Street as a place on Avalon, then had realized that the street was named after a plant. Anderson, writing Mirkheim later than the works set on Avalon, included livewell among the plants growing on Delfinburg.

The proliferation of future historical details is endless.

Addendum: The People Of The Wind, Chapter One, confirms that "livewell" is native to Avalon. See here.

1 comment:

Paul Shackley said...

I love that livewell on Delfinburg! However deeply we look into Anderson's works, there is always more to see there.