2017 In Review Part 2

Last week, I listed all the novels I read in 2017 on the right. Here's the final post on those I felt compelled to tell you about.

Jeffrey Archer's house:
 the Old Vicarage, Grantchester 2017

Shall We Tell The President by Jeffrey Archer
A taut political thriller set in Washington DC, written by a former politician who worked at the highest levels of British government. I found it interesting how he knows so much about the workings of the American government and its law enforcement agencies. I visited the author's house in Cambridge last year. 

St. Edmundsbury Cathedral 2017

In Mary's Reign by Emma Orczy
A romance involving renowned Protestant-hater Mary I, the daughter of Henry VIII, a young man at court, and two women who look startlingly similar. I visited Bury St. Edmunds this year. It was a rainy day, so we had little time to explore the town. So we spent it largely inside the cathedral. Had I read the novel before I visited the town, I might have ventured out to nearby St. Mary's Church, where she was buried.

Paddington Helps Out by Michael Bond
The answer, in case you are wondering, is No. One can never get enough of Paddington Bear.

Five Hundred Years After by Steven Brust
I'm most familiar with Brust's stories about Vlad, the former assassin and underworld figure, who is on the run from his fantasy-world equivalent of organized crime. He drops lots of hints about how his world came to be, with it's mix of witchcraft and sorcery. This one leads up to a pivotal event in the world's history, and involves the ancestors of Vlad and his friends (and perhaps a few of his longer lived friends). 

The War in the Air by H.G. Wells
A bicycle repairman helps extricate a man and a woman from a downed air balloon on a windswept beach. Then the air balloon takes off again, and whisks him off to Germany. The army finds him, along with plans for a proposed airplane. He is brought on board a zeppelin, and transported across the ocean to the United States, where the fleet of German zeppelins devastate New York. A strangely prophetic novel, written three decades before World War II.

Big Ben 2011

The Clockwise Man by Justin Richards
While I'm a Doctor Who fan, I've never really liked the TV versions of the Ninth Doctor and his companion Rose. But I liked their characterization in this book, as they investigate attacks on people in early twentieth century London. The story featured displaced European aristocrats, who had to flee to England for their lives, much like Baroness Emma Orczy. And the climax occurs inside Big Ben, an English landmark I'd very much like to tour, but probably would never be allowed inside. 

The White Company by Arthur Conan Doyle
Unlike his Sherlock Holmes adventures, this is a 14th Century historical novel based partly in Minstead, England. It's really a series of misadventures featuring a young man who grows up believing he will become a monk, but falls in love with a noblewoman, becomes a squire, and eventually a knight and a landowner. As it happens, Minstead sits roughly halfway between Brighton (which I visited in 2013), and Lyme Regis (which I visited in 2015). Arthur Conan Doyle must have liked the town, as he was buried there.

E. F. Benson's House in London 2013

The English Way of Death by Gareth Roberts
An adventure in 1930s England, featuring the 4th Doctor and favorite companions Romana and K-9. There's some interesting nods to the Mapp and Lucia series by E. F. Benson. It takes place near the Victoria and Albert museum, where E. F. Benson lived, and also out on an English beach, where a strange brick bathing hut serves as an entry portal to another dimension. 

Winnie The Pooh by A.A. Milne
A fond look back at childhood stories, and a reminder that an important and beloved novel can be whimsical and lighthearted.

New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson
Global warming has left many of the world's coastal cities underwater. Large swathes of New York City now stand in the intertidal zone. Skyscrapers have been fortified to withstand the conditions, and life goes on as usual, with intrigues, big business, and disasters. Homeless people live in boats on the water, scavenging to get by. Others who can't afford housing stay in tents atop the skyscrapers. The novel features a woman who travels around the world in a blimp, transplanting endangered animals to  regions where climate shift will allow them to survive. Another thread involves a search for buried treasure from a ship that sank off the coast during America's Revolutionary War. There are references aplenty to Herman Melville, including a lost story or novel which might also be recovered. But mostly it's a story about the centuries-old history of the city, and a thoughtful vision of its potential future.

A Mississippi River Boat in England?
Horning 2017

The Confidence Man by Herman Melville
The Canterbury Tales on a Mississippi River Boat. The theme is how much are you willing to trust, and believe in, your neighbor. Will you choose to believe in a good cause, based only upon a stranger's word? This is a tiresome read, and most of the time I was plodding through it. I don't recommend it. Nonetheless, it is one that challenged my outlook regarding the "good causes" people ask me to help, whether they be legally organized charities, or the scruffy, unwashed person on the street.

A Son of the People by Emma Orczy
A Hungarian Lord of the Manor tries to build a modern mill, using principles he's read about in England. But the local serfs are fearful that his advancements will leave them out of work, and they rebel by setting fire to the fields. While the rich lord is foreword-thinking, he's stupid about money, and ends up owing everything to a greedy Jewish moneylender. A peasant, who has worked hard and invested wisely, comes to his aid, and asks for his daughter's hand in return. This semi-autobiographical novel makes for an interesting study of life at the time in Europe, the interaction of the classes, racism, and the inevitable march of technological progress.

I'd be honored if any of my (eventual) published novels were to prove as noteworthy as the above listed titles.

Dragon Dave

Building My Kim Stanley Robinson Essentials List: Book 8

One of the problems with determining how much a book means to you is that it may have been a long time since you read it. This grew abundantly clear with this book, as I tried to skim through the text and confirm my memories of Kim Stanley Robinson's story. Memory isn't like a magnetic tape, forever running through recorder heads, and always ready to be plucked off the shelf and reviewed. Instead it's like a computer hard disk drive. Its limited capacity means that memories not only get overwritten with time, but get corrupted, as our brains, like the rest of our bodies, grow decreasingly agile with age.

My Kim Stanley Robinson Essentials List

Book 8: Blue Mars

With Blue Mars, the final volume in Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy, the Red Planet approaches the culmination of all that its characters have worked so hard to achieve. Terraforming allows mankind to breathe unaided on the surface, and water collects in craters and depressions, leading to the formation of lakes and rivers. The presence of surface water prompts the rapid expansion of settlements, not all of which can be controlled through a strong central government. But then, that is what life on Mars is about: the freedom to begin something new. To try something new.

To become something new.

One of my favorite characters was Nirgal. As a descendant of the original hundred settlers, he occupies a special place among the leadership. And yet, he considers himself one of the people. He joins workers cooperatives, and tries his own hand at farming. He also takes part in long distance runs, which allows him to see all the different ways in which communities function. And yet, with his strong ties to the original hundred, he also gets to take part in a journey around the solar system. He travels to Earth, where he sees how different life is in the cradle of humanity. He also ventures to other planets, such as Venus, and the outer planets and their moons, and sees how human ingenuity has allowed mankind to adapt to living in such faraway places.

Another favorite character was Zo. She was another descendant of the original hundred settlers. She's a real free-spirit, in every sense of the world. My strongest memory of her is of her flying. Remember the ancient myth of Icarus? Well, in the lesser gravity of Mars, a person really can fly with wings. She tries her hand (or her arms) at this, and revels in the sensations and freedom of flight.

Then there's Art. He wasn't one of the original settlers, but he grows involved in the political arguments and debates in Mars new government. Instead of seeking power, he facilitates the process of debate, and watches with wonder and pride as a congress forms, a constitution is written, and a government grows along radically different lines than anything that ever functioned on Earth. The Red Planet may be strongly decentralized, but the information age, with the consequent ability for people to instantly communicate with each other, a functional direct democracy develops. It's the most beautiful vision of all in this novel, perhaps even more beautiful than the physical terraforming of Mars. The internet has changed our lives so radically in the last twenty years that it seems strange to think of this global phenomenon as still being in its infancy. It makes me wonder how Earth's networking sites may facilitate positive and profound societal change as the internet evolves and matures.

Of course, the original hundred settlers have their own journeys to pursue as well. There's Ann and Sax, two people who have lived out extended lifespans, thanks to medical advancements discovered in the first volume. Ann makes it her life goal to protect Mars from unnecessary terraforming, fearing that in the process much of the planet's uniqueness may be lost. In time, Sax, who only looks ahead, comes to understand the merit in some of Ann's arguments, which in previous volumes merely seemed backward and unrealistic. I never really understood Ann before this volume, but in Blue Mars I really came to like her. Sax, a scientist blessed with a profound intellect, remained a personal favorite character of mine, and his ongoing presence in the novel kept me turning the pages, wondering what he would say or do next.

Above those special characters, and my memories of their personal journeys, stand Maya and Michel. Maya was a vivacious woman, one of the standout people among the first hundred settlers. In time she found love with Michel, considered by many of the first hundred to be an outsider, as he fulfilled the role of the mission psychiatrist. He wasn't part of the group, and yet he was. That ambiguity led him to closet himself away, to remain quiet while others talked, acted, and shone in the spotlight. But in time, he and Maya grew closer, until they enjoyed a quiet, happy life together in the twilight of their years. The gentle nature of their relationship, in which each was content merely to be with the other, if only to sit together on a park bench and chart the colors of the evening sky, became some of the most vivid memories of the novel for me. Unfortunately, as I alluded in the prologue, their minds eventually succumb to the vagaries of age, growing less supple and capable of recalling memories. Still, they remembered they loved each other.

There you have it: Blue Mars, Book 8 on my Kim Stanley Robinson Essentials List. In many ways, it seems a crime that this novel doesn't rank higher, as it seems so important and foundational to me. But then, maybe it would, if only I could remember more about it. Perhaps I'll have to wedge it into the pile of books by my bed, and read it again to refresh my memory of how truly wonderful it is. Someday soon seems unrealistic. Still, like the terraforming of Mars, and the realization of a planetary direct democracy, it's a beautiful dream.

Dragon Dave 

Building My Kim Stanley Robinson Essentials List: Book 9

Selecting the stories most important to us may be easy, but ranking those stories in a meaningful way is far more difficult. Most difficult of all can be explaining why particular favorites don't rank higher, or even make it onto the list. But to label all the stories you love Essential would be untrue, and do no justice to any of them. With this goal in mind, I set out to determine the ten books Kim Stanley Robinson (KSR) books most important to me. I didn't realize how difficult this exercise would be when I started it, but then, the important things in life are never easy. 

My Kim Stanley Robinson Essentials List

Book 9: Shaman

How many great cave man stories have you read? I've seen a handful of movies set in that era. "10,000 B.C." by director Roland Emmerich, better known for his films "Independence Day" and "2012", features our ancestors and some great computer-generated mammoths. "1,000,000 B.C." stands out for its star Raquel Welch, and the dinosaurs and pterosaurs of stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen. Also worthy of mention is the first-ever Doctor Who story, titled "An Unearthly Child" or "100,000 BC",* written by Anthony Coburn. In this four-episode story, a tribe of cavemen capture the Doctor and his companions and demand that they teach them the secret of fire. It's an interesting story, which Terrance Dicks revisits in his later novel The Eight Doctors (the first BBC novel featuring the eighth Doctor), but is hardly regarded as essential by most fans of the classic series. It certainly pales in importance next to story that followed, the seven-episode story written by Terry Nation, and simply titled "The Daleks."

I've read quite a few time travel stories, in which modern man travels back in time. Uusually those trips take him to the dinosaur era rather than to visit his primitive ancestors, and when he does visit his stone era cousins, they function as minor characters in the story. Although I can think of a few that have been written, I can't remember any novels I've read that featured ice age cavemen as prominent point of view characters.** Perhaps this gap in my reading says more about my interests than proves a dearth of stone age literary fiction. But it seems to me that most of us, as modern humans, view our far-flung ancestors as less capable than ourselves, and therefore much less interesting sources for storytelling.

Of course, there's all the Hollywood grunting and growing, or the stilted limited dialogue that tends to color our perceptions of these early societies.

One thing you realize early on in Shaman is that Kim Stanley Robinson has done his research. He knows the minutia of these people's lives, and all this grounds us in stone age society. The other thing he demonstrates is that stone age man wasn't less capable than us, he was more capable, which was how they survived against animal predators and the harsh conditions of the Ice Age. These people had to be extremely inventive, and utilize everything at their disposal to survive. Many of us couldn't identity ten different plants accurately when taking a short walk. These people would know all the plants they saw, as well as each plant's nutritive and medicinal value. Most of us wouldn't have a clue how to store our food for weeks or months at a time, and so when there's a power cut, or our refrigerators malfunction, our food spoils within hours or days. Nor could we hunt an animal with the most primitive of weapons, let alone construct them. And as for utilizing every single atom of the animal: again, the cave people knew far better than us how to maximize their resources.

Care to set a broken limb by yourself, or sew up a major wound and treat it with nearby plants and any herbs or concoctions your mother has dried and mixed down by the river? I'm guessing not.

When we start to think about stone age man in those terms, he suddenly grows more interesting, don't you think? And that's all due to the extensive research and masterful storytelling of Kim Stanley Robinson.

Thankfully, he also gets around the dialogue issue, assuming that these intelligent, resourceful people could actually communicate meaningfully with each other. Which they must have done, or couldn't have survived under such hard conditions, could they?

Dragon Dave

*Is it just me, or do TV and Cinema like to title cave man stories with dates?

**I haven't read Clan of the Cave Bear, or any of its sequels, by Jean M. Auel, a bestselling series that explores interactions between Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon humans. It's been on my list forever--well, at least for several glacial eras of my life--but so far I haven't gotten around to it. 

P.S. I was going to make this a Part 1, and tell you more of what I liked about Shaman, but I'd just would have been giving away more of Kim Stanley Robinson's great story. So I think I'll spare you from that. Besides, I think you've already got the idea why Shaman is important to me: the book changes my perceptions of Ice Age man, and makes me want to read more about how they lived. If you missed my earlier entries on this novel, or would like to read more about the protagonist Loon and adventures, follow the links below to my earlier posts.

Related Dragon Cache entries
Kim Stanley Robinson: Growing Up in the Ice Age
Brighton's Ice Age Hunter
Poole's Sacred Cavern
Ice Age Seven Sisters

Building My Kim Stanley Robinson Essentials List: Book Number 10

Kim Stanley Robinson is far from an average author. His novels don't just entertain, they inspire. Each book is a major release, not just because of the quality of his writing, but also because his stories help us envision potential futures for the human race. They inspire us with the potential of literary Science Fiction, and touch our hearts. 

Like the music and musicians he often writes about, Kim Stanley Robinson's (KSR) lyrical prose style sings to us. The lulls in the music cause of to ponder what he has written, and the high points of each grand movement make us talk, write, and rave about his stories. In short, for the KSR fan, most books are like a great concert. You may not enjoy every song, but by the time you leave the building, you know you've experienced something truly special.

Looking forward to today (Kim Stanley Robinson's birthday) caused me to reflect upon how important his stories are to me. So I thought I'd assemble a list of the KSR books I've read, and attempt to rank them in some sort of meaningful way. This is, admittedly, a highly subjective exercise, and no doubt every other KSR fan will disagree with my analysis. Some may violently disagree, and shake their heads, curse under their breath, or rant at the screen as they read this list. All I ask is that you please, please, PLEASE do not throw anything at your computer, or shoot your iPhone with a Taser. It's not your Internet Surfing Device's fault: it's all on me. My fault that you're feeling this way, totally and completely. All right? 

So, without further ado, here we go. My favorite Kim Stanley Robinson stories. The KSR stories most important to me. My desert island KSR books. The KSR novels I have to keep beside me, should a bomb go off tomorrow. The novels I'll stash in my Bomb Shelter or Panic Room, should I ever build one. Or, if you prefer, Dragon Dave's Top Ten KSR List.

Oh, one last thing. This is the beginning of a series. I don't promise to write about Kim Stanley Robinson's books every day, but I do promise to finish this KSR Essentials List. Eventually. Why? Because his novels are important to me, that's why. Or weren't you paying attention?

My Kim Stanley Robinson Essentials List

10. Galileo's Dream. Coming off his brilliant Future Earth/Eco-Catastrophy trilogy, this novel came as an abrupt change. The historical Galileo is visited by people from the future. They live on Jupiter's moons, including the four largest, which are now called the Galilean Moons. These visitations inspire Galileo to continue with his scientific experiments, his observations, and his writings. They even have a way of transporting him to these moons, so he can see how these societies are structured. Amazing stuff, right?

Strangely, I found myself much less interested in Kim Stanley Robinson's Jupiter-centric future than I was in Galileo's life. His story really made Galileo come alive for me. Most of the scientific devices Galileo created failed to be accepted. Many of his peers refused to accept his theories. Ultimately, the Catholic Church branded him as a heretic. Had Galileo followed a more conventional route, he and his family could have led a far more comfortable and harmonious existence. Instead, his life ended in tragedy. 

This novel can seem pointless at times, as the people of Jupiter prevent him from ever passing on his knowledge of them to others. But Galileo's Dream strikes me as a substantive biography of Galileo's life, and afforded me an appreciation for his contributions to science. Kim Stanley Robinson suggests that the Catholic Church might not even have branded him a heretic, had Galileo not felt so strongly in the rightness of his views that he placed its leaders in a position where they had to either accept or reject his radical teachings. Ultimately, KSR's portrait of Galileo reminds me that a tendency to overthink things is a sign of genius, and that we can never know the ultimate impact our lives will have upon others. His story leaves me educated, inspired, and cheered. What more could you expect from reading a book? Even at Number 10, it stands far higher than many of the other books in my house. And that's saying a lot, when you consider how many books I've got, written by other authors I admire.

I guess you could call that a recommendation.

Oh, and one last thing. Kim Stanley Robinson, wherever you are out there, and whenever (or if ever) you read this, Happy Birthday!

Dragon Dave

Poole's Sacred Cavern

People have been visiting Poole's Cavern in England for over 400 years. Its most famous visitor may have been Mary Queen of Scots. The name derives from an outlaw who hid out there in the Fifteenth Century. While my name may someday be a household word, for now I'm just another person who accompanied our amiable guide on a tour of this ancient cave.

It's hard to enter a cave, and not feel as if you have entered a sacred place. In Kim Stanley Robinson's novel Shaman, Thorn and his apprentice Loon spend a lot of time in a cave. In their preliterate society, traditions, culture, and history were passed down orally, and to a lesser extent by drawings or paintings. As caves sheltered artwork from the elements, they served as places to visually record their culture. 

With no books, TV, movies, or the Internet, young Loon had little to divert him from his sexual urges. Thoughts of copulation occupy his waking mind, and rampage through his dreams. He longs for a beautiful young woman to sate his passions. As his community boasts little more than two dozen people, his best chance of finding such a mate rests with the corroboree, an event at which the packs gather once a year. Nor does his master help divert him. For many of the stories Thorn tells, and the artwork he paints, involve giving birth to some aspect of their world. Union between the gods, or their historical forebears, serves as a metaphor for actual creation of places, tradition, and culture.

The shapes Loon sees inside the caves also suggest that he has entered the womb of Mother Earth. So he regards his visits there as holy. Indeed, the community is only allowed into the outer areas of the caves at special times, and Loon first enters the deeper areas after his test of manhood. As he matures, Thorn's prickly temperament bothers him more. Nor does he understand how these stories are important to his fellow humans. So when he mixes up words and elements of a story, Thorn flicks his ear, and orders him to repeat it. Loon would gladly resign his position, and let Thorn train someone else as his apprentice, if he didn't love helping Thorn paint. Whether he is mixing the colors, or brushing them onto the wall, he loves the artistic process. This keeps him by Thorn's side, even when the man's antics irritate him, and he would rather be out hunting with others his age.

Like the Ice Age characters of Shaman, people have regarded Poole's Cavern as sacred for at least 3500 years. At its entrance, and in its outmost chamber, people lived and celebrated community events. Remains of metalworking and jewelry-making operations date back to the time of Christ, suggesting that, throughout time, Poole's Cavern has sheltered humans from the elements, and fired their creative endeavors. 

Unlike the Chauvet Cave in France, no Ice Age artwork adorns the walls of Poole's Cavern. Instead, they attest to how beautifully Mother Earth adorns her womb, and decorates it with fantastic shapes and colors. Ice Age man felt no compunction about scraping Chauvet's walls with stone or bone tools, and adorning them with his own artistic vision. Tourists in recent centuries may have had no misgivings about carving their initials in the walls of Poole's Cavern. But I felt no compulsion to leave behind a visible reminder of my presence. For even if modern man no longer regards caves as sacred places, I see Poole's Cavern as a treasure to safeguard for future generations. Besides, I've got a pad of sketching paper on which I can draw, and my little corner of the Internet in which to share my photographs with you. I just wish the latter did justice to all that I saw and experienced during my tour of this beautiful English cave. But in that, sadly, they fall short.

Dragon Dave

Related Internet Links
Visit Poole's Cavern

Candy Rocks & Micronauts

While in elementary school, I attended a friend's birthday party. As he enjoyed riding a motorbike, his mother decorated his cake with rocks and a toy motorbike. He was surprised when I asked for a piece with a rock on it, but his jaw dropped when I popped the rock in my mouth and chewed. You see, I recognized the rocks as Pebble Candy, my favorite kind of candy while growing up.

During our visit to Haworth, England, we visited Mrs. Beighton's Sweet Shop. On its shelf-lined walls were stacked glass jars filled with every kind of candy imaginable. Mrs. Beighton, or one of her associates, introduced us to several different types of toffees. Then my eyes were drawn to another kind of Pebble Candy. They came in different shapes, but only two colors: white and black. Regardless of their shape or size, they were all equal in taste. Inside the delicious candy coating awaited a treasure truly worth savoring: smooth, rich English chocolate.

Last week's blog entries on Kim Stanley Robinson's novel Shaman, E. F. Benson's novel The Blotting Book, and English rocks, archeology, and paleontology, made me long for my beloved American-style Pebble Candy. So I wrote down several reasons to visit the mall (aside from procuring the palatable pebbles), and presented my wife with a proposal for a pleasant and productive pilgrimage.

Unlike their English counterparts, American Candy Pebbles come in five different colors, and each one boasts its own unique flavor. Black rocks (No, not the raised beach in Brighton) taste like the best black jelly beans you've ever eaten. Brown rocks warm up the taste buds with rich cinnamon, not as sharp as Red Hots, but a richer taste. The Yellow and Red ones offer different fruit flavors, and the blue ones…you know, after all this time, I'm still not sure what the blue ones taste like. On a previous visit to the candy store, a young saleswoman told me she thought they tasted like soap. (I guess we're talking quality soap here, nothing cheap). To me, they're closer to root beer, but not exactly that either. In any case, the white ones are like swallowing a mouthful of Pina Colada. None of the candies will make you unsafe to drive a motor vehicle, but the flavors (and the sugar) may make your head spin if you eat too many at one time. So enjoy responsibly.

Our outing took us to a mall we don't frequent, as it's fairly far from home. So we took the opportunity to visit some shops not listed on my proposed program. One of these offered some Doctor Who T-shirts, including the one above. I didn't realize that Leonardo da Vinci designed the Daleks' protective outer shell, did you? I guess I should have, as the fourth Doctor visited him in the story "City Of Death." Clearly, da Vinci was a man ahead of his time.

We also stopped by a comic book shop we had visited once before, where we found a few back issues of comics that we were missing. I've enjoyed reading the adventures of "The Micronauts" this year, and was excited to find Issue 8. The story finishes off the Micronauts' adventures with young Steve Coffin on Earth, and marks the first time Captain Universe appears in Marvel Comics. (In this incarnation, Steve's father, ex-astronaut Ray Coffin, is transformed into Captain Universe). Remember the toy motorbike that adorned my friend's birthday cake? This series was written by Bill Mantlo, a writer for Marvel, who noticed how much his son enjoyed playing with the Micronauts toys. This inspired him to convince Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Jim Shooter to procure the story rights to Mego Corporation's characters and vehicles. He built some complex ideas into these stories, created a history and culture for the Micronauts' home planet, and…

You know, I may have to blog some more about "The Micronauts" sometime. Right now I'm starting to have trouble thinking clearly, and my head is spinning. Can't think why.

Dragon Dave

P.S. Please, no remarks about having rocks in my head. Be kind.

Related Internet Links
Leonardo da Vinci at Tardis Wikia
Bill Mantlo at Wikipedia

Brighton's Ice Age Hunter

Kim Stanley Robinson's 2013 novel Shaman follows young Loon for several, crucial years. After his two week test of manhood, his community declares him a man, even though our modern world would still regard him as a boy. Those weeks on his own, fending for himself, make Loon wonder if he really needs a community. After all, his parents have died, and he doesn't really like Thorn, the shaman who decided to train him as his replacement. So, while he continues his lessons with Thorn, he also pursues other activities that interest him, including hunting.

Loon and his fellow hunters never fight a wooly mammoth, but they do hunt bison and other animals that would have inhabited Brighton during the Ice Age. 

Brighton's Ice Age Animals,
courtesy of the Brighton Museum

Loon hunted during his test of manhood, but found it far more difficult to bring down the animal alone. Once he killed the animal, he needed to carry the meat away for later. So, with no one to stand guard, he works hurriedly, constantly on the lookout for other predators, such as lions and tigers and bears (Oh my!) that will be drawn by the scent of fresh blood. After hurrying to cut free as much meat as he dares, he must clean the blood off himself, disguise the scent of the meat he will carry away, and hope that these measures mean that no predators will track him down. So, while Loon finds the idea of going his own way attractive, being part of a community, and participating in a hunting party, clearly offers advantages over obtaining provisions alone.

An Atlatl at Brighton Museum

When hunting, Loon uses an atlatl, or spear-thrower, which allows a spear to be thrown faster and farther than by arm alone. Loon often personalized his possessions by carving animals and other shapes into them. And what tool did he carve with? You're right: he used a piece of stone. Isn't it amazing what we can accomplish with the most basic resources, if we put our minds to it?

Hm… I think I'd like a burger for lunch today...provided I can pay someone in my community to make it.

Dragon Dave

Ice Age English Rocks

I'm sure the locals, and perhaps most of the English, are used to the idea of a rocky beach. But I'll never forget the crunching sound my feet made as they walked across Brighton's beaches, and I can't imagine spreading a towel, and laying down on those rocks to enjoy a sunny day. Yet they catch the eye, and they possess a certain beauty, in their own way.

I found the rocks at the bottom of nearby Black Rock raised beach quite interesting. I have no idea what Edward Taynton (in E. F. Benson's novel The Blotting Book) might have told his young men about these rocks, had he served as a guide on the expedition. Lacking any real knowledge of geology, the only thing I can liken them to is pebble candy. So many different colors, shapes, and sizes, and often the inside looked completely different from the outer coating.

Ice Age man might have found similar beauty in different colors and shapes of rocks, but his appreciation was necessarily more pragmatic. In last month's post, Growing Up During The Ice Age, I related to you how the young protagonist Loon (in Kim Stanley Robinson's novel Shaman) is sent off on his trial of manhood. Lacking anything from the community he grew up with, he is forced to draw on the resources he finds around him. 

Ice Age stone tools,
courtesy of the Brighton Museum

To make his first set of clothes, he finds a rock such as those in the photo above, and uses it to cut and weave a thin but intricate wooden suit. Today's power tools help us fashion wood into practically any shape we desire. Yet I imagine that not one modern woodworker in a thousand could match Loon's feat. Loon and his people were primitives, right?

Dragon Dave

Ice Age Brighton

In his 1908 novel The Blotting Book, E. F. Benson introduces us to Edward Taynton, a pillar of Brighton's community. He's a respected English lawyer who runs a club for young men to prevent them from falling into vice. One of the activities he plans, but never carries out, is an archeological expedition to a raised beach several miles away. But there's no reason for him to travel so far, as there's a raised beach right at the edge of Brighton that has yielded numerous archeological finds.

Two hundred and fifty million years ago, Black Rock was flat. Due to the way the tectonic plates move and rise and fall, and given how the vast and heavy sheets of ice changed the landscape, the former beach is now a cliff. Had Edward Taynton led his young men here, they could have followed the example of real life archeologists, who have found Neanderthal tools, shells from ancient sea creatures, and bones of land mammals such as the magnificent furry mammoths.

A storm blew through during our week in Brighton. As a result, we had to tread carefully along the paved walkway to avoid splashing white, chalky mud on our shoes and pants. Isn't it amazing that such soft earth, so susceptible to erosion by wind and rain, would still be present, and still yielding treasures from thousands, let alone millions, of years ago? 

I don't know if many of the locals really take time to appreciate Black Rock, or partake of archeological tours there. When I visited, my main reason for doing so was to follow Edward Taynton's journey, and see with my own eyes what E. F. Benson had described in his novel. Having followed Loon's adventures in Kim Stanley Robinson's 2013 Ice Age novel Shaman, it would be neat to return to Brighton, and see Black Rock once again.

I could rent one of these apartments in Brighton Marina, and sit by the window, and read novels set in Brighton. Or I could just gaze out at Black Rock all day, and contemplate the history of this raised beach. Ooh, Black Rock. Ooh, Black Rock. Ooh, Black Rock.

Say, did anyone notice that the raised beach is white, not black?

Dragon Dave

Related Dragon Cache entries
A Day in Brighton

Conan Cares For Valeria

In the Marvel Comics' adaptation of "Red Nails," Conan and Valeria see a far-off city surrounded by desert.  But before they can travel there, they must battle the dragon that devoured their horses, and trapped them atop a rocky butte amid the forest. 

Using a makeshift spear--its tip coated with juice from poisonous Darketa Apples (covered in "Conan Battles A Dragon")--Conan skewers the dragon's tongue.

They climb down and run through the forest. All too soon, the dragon recovers sufficiently to pursue them.

Valeria thinks Conan is only interested in sampling her charms.  But once he slays the dragon...

Like Loon in Kim Stanley Robinson's novel Shaman, Conan repeatedly demonstrates well-honed survival skills. Another example? After spending the rest of the day trekking across the desert, Conan finds them a defensible camp site.

In Robert E. Howard's stories of Conan the Barbarian, I see a protagonist who is not only courageous and resourceful, but also cares for others. 

Those qualities, along with his chivalry and self-sacrifice, make him an admirable hero.

Still, after a sleepless night, even Conan can get a little prickly. 

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Dragon Dave

Conan Battles A Dragon

In Marvel Comics' adaptation of "Red Nails," Conan and Valeria are atop a rocky butte when they hear their horses scream. By the time they climb down, their horses have gone silent. Then they hear the predator rushing toward them. From the animal's tread, they imagine it must be as big as an elephant.

As Conan and Valeria cannot battle something this large and powerful head-on, they hurry back up the butte. Valeria is too exhausted to resist Conan's desire to comfort her.

But Conan has noticed the skeleton atop the butte. Whether the man died of poison or old age, he has no intention of joining him. 

So, like Loon in Kim Stanley Robinson's novel Shaman, he uses his knowledge of the land, 

and the skills he learned while growing up in his native Cimmeria, 

to forge a weapon that may kill the dragon,

or at least slow it sufficiently to make a head-on confrontation possible.

Artist Barry Windsor-Smith evokes Robert E. Howard's story with vivid imagery. Conan is not a genius, a philosopher, or an inventor, but he's always alert to the possibilities inherent in any situation. In addition to his courage, that ability helps him battle dragons, and fills his life with adventures. 

That's why we love and admire him.

Dragon Dave

Kim Stanley Robinson: Growing Up During The Ice Age

In the first section of his novel Shaman, Kim Stanley Robinson introduces us to Loon, a boy growing up during the Ice Age. After his parents' death, Loon was taken in by Thorn, the local shaman.  One cold, rainy night, Thorn takes Loon up a hill, strips him of his clothes, tools, and everything the pack has given him, and pushes Loon off into the darkness.  

Loon's most pressing need is to make fire.  He searches for the necessities, such as duff, punk, and the right kinds of wood.  While he has built many fires, tonight no one stands by to guide or correct him. He is cold and wet…and he fails. So he huddles under trees, dances and shouts to keep warm, and in this way passes the first night of his trial of manhood.

The next morning, he builds a trap in a nearby stream. He gets a fire going. He uses a sharp rock to cut long, thin strips of wood. The latter he weaves together, cuts the crosshatched wood into shapes, and fashions garments for himself. Then he returns to the river, tosses the fish in his trap onto the bank, and cooks them over the fire he has carefully tended while making his own clothes.

Loon's trial of manhood will last two weeks.  His mandate is not merely exist, but to return and regale the pack with his adventures. His next goal is to hunt for animals, so he can strengthen himself with meat, use its bones to forge tools, and turn its hide into warmer, more durable garments.  But he is not the only hunter in this area. He must beware predatory animals and other tribesmen while hunting, skinning prey, traveling by day, and sleeping at night.  An open area under trees, with a fire that can be seen miles away, and with nothing to stop the wind from carrying his scent, can serve as but a temporary home. 

As always, Kim Stanley Robinson writes with beauty and style. While he weaves action with memory and dreams, we learn about this boy who must prove himself a man. Loon's Ice Age adventures remind me how ignorant I am of the necessities of survival. Yet, as a modern man, Loon's challenge is also my own.  To use my knowledge, experience, and the tools at my disposal to not just survive, but to thrive.  

To have adventures.

Dragon Dave

Kim Stanley Robinson in Florida

In Kim Stanley Robinson’s novel 2312, most of Florida lies underwater.  Not by much: for the most part, the ground lies only a dozen or so feet below the waves.  Only a thin spine of the state lies exposed to the air, not enough for people to live on.  Earth’s governments are as bureaucratic as ever, so one of the ways that Swan and Wahram help humanity is by rebuilding Florida.  Actually, this is Wahram’s project more than Swan’s, but both are doing what they can to make Earth a better place to live.  Wahram organizes the mining of what will become Florida’s new bedrock, and this is loaded onto trains, which transport it South.  Starting along the exposed spine, work crews begin the long process of reclaiming the drowned state.

Of course, all this lies in our probable future.  Although most of us recognize the dangers that global warming poses, what can any of us, alone or together, really do about it?  One thing seems certain: whatever climatic processes have been set in motion will take their toll in the coming decades and centuries, and humanity will need visionary leaders capable of steering such reclamation projects through the bureaucratic hurtles that would otherwise stop them. 

Wander across a bridge and explore.

Discover who lives in these hundred year old trees.

And who, cursed by a witch or wizard, sleeps beneath them.

If nothing else, such visions of the future remind us how special undeveloped areas are.  Places like Dunedin’s Hammock Park, laying as it does amid ordinary tract housing, where one can walk along paths sheltered by century-old trees, watch birds in flight or nesting, study animals and plants, and let the mind wander.  It’s always easy to appreciate what we’ve built.  Strangely, we often forget that what we didn’t need to build, or develop, or reclaim, is also worth enjoying and protecting.  Wahram and Swan, who herald from Saturn and Mercury respectively, recognize the importance of Earth’s natural riches, and thus work to reclaim them.  But then, it’s always easy to appreciate what’s in another’s back yard.

What's in your backyard?

Dragon Dave

Related Internet Links

Dunedin Hammock Park