Friday 20 March 2015

Two Kinds Of Life On One Planet

Rereading Poul Anderson's Fire Time reminded me of his short story, "Interloper," because:

In Fire Time, there are two independent kinds of life on Ishtar, native and T-life;

in "Interloper," there are two independent kinds of life on Earth, ordinary and nocturnal;

Ishtarians regard T-life as supernatural just as human beings regard nocturnal life as supernatural.

Arnanak alone among Ishtarians has traveled far into the T-life realm at the risk of his life - he could eat nothing there and there was less water. The dauri showed him ruins and gave him some sort of incomprehensible artifact. Thus, it seems that the Tammuzians did colonize Ishtar. However, that extra-Ishtarian race is as mysterious to the dauri, who have evolved on Ishtar from Tammuzian microbes, as it is to the Ishtarians and to the human colonists. Arnanak knows that the latter would pay well for more information.

To learn more about T-life will be one objective while continuing to reread the novel although such rereading currently competes with several other activities. Tomorrow, I would, with a coach load of other Lancastrians, have made a round trip to London for a national anti-racist march. However, Sheila continues to need support in the wake of her hip operation so we might instead drive around Morecambe Bay. Today, I watched the second Stieg Larsson film and another of Michael Portillo's train journeys and finished reading Shadowlands about CS Lewis. Meanwhile, SM Stirling's The Sky People should now be en route by post.

5 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Hi, Paul!

I am flattered, that you ordered a copy of Stirling's THE SKY PEOPLE so quickly after I recommended the "Lords of Creation" books to you. I can only hope the book pleases you. And I look forward to any comments you make about THE SKY PEOPLE, including allusions to or analogies with Poul Anderson's works. I've thought of one already, but I think it's best to wait till you are actually commenting about THE SKY PEOPLE.

Sean

Paul Shackley said...

Sean,
No problemo. Other activities not mentioned above: after posting, I watched and blogged about a SMALLVILLE episode; watching the 2nd Stieg Larsson film will lead to rereading that novel; then there is the 3rd novel and film.
Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Hi, Paul!

My literary and cutural activities are not as varied as yours! For me, it's been mostly continuing to read that collection of poems by Elizabeth Barrett Browning and a recent rereading of Anderson's "The Sharing of Flesh." A very powerrful story, I thought, as I reached the end of it!

Sean

Jim Baerg said...

"The Sharing of Flesh." A very powerrful story, I thought, as I reached the end of it!

"I sat for half an hour having my revenge"

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Jim!

And all Evalyth had to do was remain silent, and the agony of Lokon could have lasted for centuries longer, perhaps forever. A grim revenge, indeed!

Ad astra! Sean