Originally published on Poul Anderson Appreciation on 28 June 2013.
When I was commenting on the fifth paragraph in Poul Anderson's The Game Of Empire (IN Flandry's Legacy,
New York, 2012), I skipped over an exotic place name because I had
already quoted it in a much earlier post but it is worth repeating here.
The aquatic vaz-Siravo from the doomed planet Starkad had been settled
on Imhotep in "...the Seas of Yang and Yin..." (p. 197). This Chinese
reference adds an Oriental touch to the British Raj ambiance that has
already been established by the title and the opening sentence.
I should also mention five visual aids on pp. 193-194:
(i)
a diagram of the Patrician System, showing the six inner planets,
including the two scenes of the action, Imhotep and Daedalus, the
asteroid belt and the four outer planets;
(ii) a map of
Imhotep, showing Olga's Landing on a northern continent and the Seas of
Yang and Yin, which are two inlets on a southern continent;
(iii) a map of Daedalus;
(iv) and (v) maps of two parts of Daedalus where events occur in the novel.
I
have skipped past the diagrams and maps on previous readings but this
time will refer to them as appropriate. Anderson's Introduction explains
that the Patrician planets are named after "...great engineers of
legend and history...although just two of them got into the story." (p.
192) We recognize Archimedes and Leonardo if not any of the others.
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