Monday 29 August 2016

The End

Does Poul Anderson's Operation Luna (New York, 2000) end somewhat abruptly? In the TOR paperback, the text ends at the very bottom of p. 438. After that, there are:

two blank pages, 439-440 if they are to be numbered;

the inside back cover with a photograph of the author and two sentences about him;

the back cover with an illustration, blurb and publication information.

At the top of p. 438, gods and demons are still in a battle that had begun on p. 435;
on p. 438 -

- the remaining demons flee;
the gods' allies relax;
a trumpet peals;
a choir sings;
the fifth archangel, Cambiel, fills the sky with his radiance, covers the constellations with his wings and removes all traces of the battle with a wave of his hand;
the Native American gods vanish;
the human beings fly home;
the wolf howls.

We want to know more about:

all the universes and pantheons;
Heaven and Hell;
the One God and His Adversary;
the future lives and careers of the Matucheks;
the future of goetic space exploration and colonization.

Poul Anderson's vast output is just one small part of all possible universes.

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