Poul Anderson- "Fire Time"

Man, it's been a while since I've read a full Science Fiction novel. Decided to give Poul Anderson a try. Fire Time was originally published by Ballantine in 1974. The edition I read is the 1984 Baen Books printing [284 pages]. I own a copy of each, and both are posted for reference.

Indeed, the book cover is what originally drew me to Fire Time. The premise is so epic and otherworldly. 

It takes place on the planet Ishtar, which is influenced by no less than three suns. The system is called Anubelea, after the stars: Bel, Ea, and Anu. Anu is known by many names; the Demon Star, the Death Star, the Rover. This is a huge star with an elliptical orbit, and every millenium Anu draws close, scorching dry an entire continent. There are simple but useful maps included. Valennen, is the continent above the equator while Beronnen is the continent below. Every thousand years, during this Fire Time (as the Ishtarians call it) the Tassui from Valennen venture south to escape the blazing light of the Demon Star, growing ever and ever closer.

Here I shall describe the Ishtarians. In body structure, they resemble Centaurs; four legs, an animal body, with a humanoid torso where the head would have been. The Ishtarians have little in common with horses, however; their animal parts seem to be more in line with a lion or a cougar. They can live over 300 years old; their anatomy and biology are completely alien to earthly life. They have two hearts, for example, and subsist on completely different nutrients from human beings. A lot of detailed world building is going on in this novel, considering its short pagecount. Poul Anderson has a clear vision of the world she has created.

Humans from earth are present on Ishtar, and have been for about a century. There are even people who were born on Ishtar and have never left the planet, such as Jill Conway, who studies animals and other life found on Ishtar. Humankind is present on other planets, as well, and can only provide so much attention and so many forces to Ishtar. This becomes more problematic as Earth forces are caught up in the Ishtarians' struggles.

As Fire Time approaches, Arnanak, a Valennenian leader from the settlement of Ulu, begins to muster forces to move his people south. Early in the novel he takes over control of the city of Tarhanna, as his first move taking over south Valennen.

Now, I'll say here, that Arnanak is my favorite character in this book. He is not the protagonist, but from the beginning he is a victim, and just doing what he has to do for the survival of his race. I really felt for him, very valiant and strong willed character.

Humans have lived in south Beronnen since their arrival on Ishtar, studying the life and environment of the planet. The Sci-fi aspect is stronger than I expected. If you ask me, too much focus on the humans and too little of the Ishtarians. But I can see why it has to be, to give context to how alien Ishtar is. It goes into comparative figures between the two planets. For example, the surface gravity is greater than on Earth. 392 Earth days equals 510 Ishtarian days. Ishtar, while being slightly larger than Earth, has much more water and less land on its surface. Poul Anderson has some well thought out world building going on here. Due to the three suns, the environment of Ishtar is almost ethereal. The four other planets in the Anubelea system are close enough to make vivid appearances in the skies of Ishtar. Ishtar's moons are just as prominent. Double shadows, prolonged nights without darkness. Even a scene where one half of the sky is night, with stars showing, while the other side of the sky is morning or day. The detail here really transported me to another world.

Jill is well acquainted with Larekka, the Ishtarian leader of the Gathering, nicknaming him her Uncle. The Gathering is the faction that controls Beronnen and parts of south Valennen, and are friendly to humans. At first, humans wish to stay out of what is called the "Uncivil War". During a naval encounter between the Gathering and the Tassui, Jill is captured by Arnanak's forces, and kept in Ulu as a hostage, while Arnanak figures out what to do with her. The humans are then reluctantly drawn in to the struggle. Ian Sparling offers himself as a second hostage, so that he can be with Jill and plot her escape. He smuggles supplies into Ulu, allowing him to contact forces in Port Rua, and so they can pinpoint the location of Ulu, a secret well kept by the Tassui. After some time they are rescued, not by Earth forces but by a connection within. After contacting Ian and Jill, Yuri Dejerine steals some Earth explosives and comes in an aircraft to Ulu to rescue them. 

In Fire Time, human technology is light years beyond what the Ishtarians have. The armies of Arnanak and Larekka use swords, bows, knives, and siege weapons. This is the kind of battle I wanted to see when I picked up the book! There are a couple epic struggles between the Gathering and the Tassui, one of them resulting in Larekka's death. This hits Jill rather hard.

The humans make their power known to the Ishtarians through guns, aircraft, and explosives. Personally I'd have preferred fewer or even no humans in this book, which would have resulted in more of a Fantasy novel. The Ishtarians are the best part of this book! I can see why Poul Anderson wrote it this way though, it's to provide comparative context for the alien world she created. 

Without spoiling the conclusion, I'll just say that it's definitely not what I wanted nor is it very satisfying. All in all not a bad read though. I'm kind of opening my tastes back to sci fi, which in prior years I used to read a lot more of. Great premise, but the execution is surely not exceptional.

Another one down. and I see many more horizons to be crossed...

---