Man, this is my cup of tea. I'm hooked by speculative fiction that tries to present an "alien" culture in a light that humans can comprehend. It's almost like an act of translation - taking an incomprehensible thought pattern, and converting it to human language. I've seen the same sort of "translating" in C. S. Lewis's Space Trilogy and in T. H. White's Once and Future King. It's my favorite part of both books.
At some point, once I recognized the "alien" species, I started trying to find anything inconsistent (IE. something which made no sense from their perspective, but did from a human storytelling one). The only thing that stuck out was the line: "some brave souls must remain behind to hold the line against the encroaching darkness." I wasn't sure if that made sense, given this darkness is an unstoppable flood.
Otherwise, as Johnathan Reid said: "Brilliant writing."
Brilliant writing. Evocation so raw it genuinely felt I was a doomed Queen saving my colony. The ancestral lore was a great touch.
Man, this is my cup of tea. I'm hooked by speculative fiction that tries to present an "alien" culture in a light that humans can comprehend. It's almost like an act of translation - taking an incomprehensible thought pattern, and converting it to human language. I've seen the same sort of "translating" in C. S. Lewis's Space Trilogy and in T. H. White's Once and Future King. It's my favorite part of both books.
At some point, once I recognized the "alien" species, I started trying to find anything inconsistent (IE. something which made no sense from their perspective, but did from a human storytelling one). The only thing that stuck out was the line: "some brave souls must remain behind to hold the line against the encroaching darkness." I wasn't sure if that made sense, given this darkness is an unstoppable flood.
Otherwise, as Johnathan Reid said: "Brilliant writing."
Really powerful.
Wow. I’m go smacked.