Originally published on Poul Anderson Appreciation, 1 July 2013.
On
the planet Daedalus, the capital city, Aurea, and the colony, Paz, are
two very different human institutions. The next stop down the Highroad
River, Lulach, is mainly a Cynthian town so is different again.
Cynthians
are essentially large - although not human-sized - intelligent
squirrels. I think that they are implausible aliens and indeed Poul
Anderson went on to write speculative fiction in which there are no such
beings on other planets. Harvest Of Stars and Genesis are entire alternative future histories.
In
Lulach, houses are under or even in the trees. Branches can support and
conceal them because imported Cynthian vegetation often grows enormous.
Plants grow on roofs and flowering vines on walls. Dwellers usually
travel between branches rather than on the narrow, twisting, turf
streets. Whereas northern farms are mechanized, Lulachans use horses and
changtus as beasts of burden.
The Lulachan police
station is run by Lieutenant Commander Miguel Gomez supported by
Lieutenant Rihu An, a Cynthian. Large buildings on the waterfront
include "...a rambling timber inn..." called the Inn of Tranquil Slumber
(Poul Anderson, Flandry's Legacy, New York, 2012, pp. 326, 345),
yet another Andersonian hostelry. Near the waterfront is the Zacharian
dealership. The factor, Pele Zachary speaks accented Anglic because
Zacharians, on their island in the Phosphoric Ocean, regularly speak
several other languages. In addition to presenting plausible Tigeries,
Cynthians, Wodenites, Merseians etc, any screen adaptation of the
Technic Civilization History would have to use human actors speaking, if
not Anglic with English subtitles, then at least English pronounced
with the various different colonial and planetary accents.
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