The last planet explored by Laure in the Cloud Universe:
unlike the others, it has an atmosphere - thin, mainly noble gases;
he wants to check element distribution on the surface;
the charged ionosphere prevents him from radioing the orbiting Jaccavrie;
nebular friction causes the planet to spiral towards its primary;
surface temperature is about 50 degrees Centigrade;
very little water;
large red dust storms;
a fiery ring of refracted light;
a jumbled plain;
chaotic terrain;
bare mountains;
gleaming black and brown rock;
deep purple sky;
hard ground;
1.22 Gs caused by planetary density;
strong wind;
high radiation;
heavy metals and radioactives -
- suddenly an exploding sky. Our old friend, the lethal unexpected.
As on Satan and Mirkheim, Poul Anderson creates drama in an uninhabited and uninhabitable environment.
Friday, 20 April 2018
Sunday, 8 April 2018
Lochlann
While on Gwydion, Raven, a Commandant of the Oakenshaw Ethnos in the Windhome Mountains on Lochlann, remembers his home planet:
red sun;
sheer mountains;
incessant winds;
gnarled, dwarfed trees;
moorlands;
ice plains;
salt oceans too dense for bodies to sink;
a peasant's house with a rope holding the roof against the gales;
his father's castle above a glacier;
hoofs in the courtyard;
bandits;
burned villages;
dead men;
smashed cannon.
Oh well, let's hope humanity does spread among the stars even if it takes burned villages and smashed cannon with it.
red sun;
sheer mountains;
incessant winds;
gnarled, dwarfed trees;
moorlands;
ice plains;
salt oceans too dense for bodies to sink;
a peasant's house with a rope holding the roof against the gales;
his father's castle above a glacier;
hoofs in the courtyard;
bandits;
burned villages;
dead men;
smashed cannon.
Oh well, let's hope humanity does spread among the stars even if it takes burned villages and smashed cannon with it.
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