Saturday 27 May 2017

The Scourge Of God

My copy of SM Stirling's The Scourge Of God has arrived. Regular blog readers will know that we read Stirling not only for his interesting Andersonian allusions but also because he is interesting in his own right and in fact addresses many of the same basic themes as Poul Anderson:

practical problems of physical survival;
cannibalism dehumanizes whereas agriculture civilizes;
how to build a society out of personal loyalties, responsibilities and freedoms;
how not to build a society based on despotism and slavery;
just and unjust warfare;
religious experience, practice and belief;
society and technology;
the wonders of the universe;
enjoyment of the fruits of labour, in particular good food;
history and the generations.

What's not to like?

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I agree with what you said about PA and Stirling. Not only does Stirling addresses many of the same themes as Anderson, he does in a different way--by means of using the alternate time line method. Anderson, by contrast, preferred to set his stories in space, on other planets, in a "this timeline" kind of way.

I would have added after your "how NOT to build a society based on despotism" another line saying "how can a despotism evolve into a milder form of government." Because that is exactly what we see happening in the PPA during the regency of Lady Sandra.

Sean