Thursday 17 November 2016

On The Oceans Of Eternity

(All reality and fiction travels across the Oceans of Eternity.)

I refer again to the mystery of the disappearing posts. To be more precise, posts do not disappear from the blog but post titles disappear from the blog archive. The earliest title listed for October 2016 is dated 17 October (see here). However, a search for On The Oceans Of Eternity reveals earlier posts for that month. See here.

The present plan is to continue reading and discussing On The Oceans Of Eternity. To do this, it is helpful to be able to refer to earlier posts that mention this novel.

Every work of fiction, even the most realistic, is set in a parallel universe or alternative timeline to the extent that its characters and events do not exist in our timeline. On the other hand, even the most fantastic fiction "fantastically reflects" the real world in which it was created. Poul Anderson and SM Stirling make us feel that their alternative timelines are as real as ours.

5 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I agree with your last paragraph. I would say that Poul Anderson makes other planets feel as real as this Earth we live on. And S.M. Stirling has surpassed even Anderson when it comes to alternate history SF. And PA would not object. He wanted other writers to give us their owe visions, and even to surpass him.

Sean

David Birr said...

Paul:
I've found I can reach the "vanished" posts by going to the earliest post still showing and then clicking "Older Post" — ONE POST AT A TIME. A cumbersome process, to say the least, especially if it's a month that you had a lot to say. If I'm not sure but suspect that what I'm looking for is somewhere toward the end of the month's first week, it's a toss-up whether I click back from the middle of that month, or click "Newer Post" from the end of the previous month.

Paul Shackley said...

David,
Thank you! I am not sure how to do this on my screen but it is good to know that there is a way to do it.
Paul.

Paul Shackley said...

David,
Got it!
Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, DAVID and Paul!

Another way of finding "missing" blog pieces would be to type an idea or person mentioned in those pieces in the search box and hitting Enter. That might sometimes work too.

Sean