Blue beasts from the stars?

William Ansley · 26 Mar 2001, 23:05 · from whorl-v0012.mbox · original

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From: William Ansley <wansley at warwick.net>
Subject: (whorl) Blue beasts from the stars?
Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2001 23:05:00
Message-ID: <whorl-v0012-0486 at digest.urth.net>
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Although the "spider hypothesis" is tempting as a reason for the=20
octopedalian nature of Bluvian life, here is another possible source.=20
The passage below is from a book that Gene Wolfe may well have read=20
as a youth or young man. It is by one of the "big three*" of fifties=20
SF. I am sure some of you will recognize it or at least will realize=20
you have read it before when you see the title of the book below. It=20
is presented in the text as a quotation from a journal, hence the=20
quotes within the block quote:

---------------------------------------------------------------
"This planet is a fair imitation of good old Terra, which is a relief=20
after the last three, since we can hit dirt without suiting up. But=20
evolution must have been playing double-or-nothing here, instead of=20
the four-limbed arrangement considered stylish at home practically=20
everything here has at least eight legs . . . 'mice' that look like=20
centipedes, rabbitlike creatures with six short legs and one pair of=20
tremendous jumping legs, all sorts up to things as big as giraffes.=20
..."
---------------------------------------------------------------

There is a race of intelligent beings on the planet referred to above=20
with a highly advanced technology, more than two eyes and limited=20
shapeshifting ability.

The book is _The Star Beast_ by Robert A. Heinlein, copyright 1954.=20
Unfortunately, the eight-legged intelligent race in this book (the=20
Hroshii) are about as large as a rhinoceros and look like a cross=20
between a rhino and a triceratops. They also have two arms, in=20
addition to the eight legs, although they don't grow their arms until=20
relatively late in life, so they are not really a good fit for the=20
Neighbors at all.

But, I still have to wonder if the eight-legged fauna on Blue isn't=20
at least in very small part a nod to this book, which I am not=20
ashamed to admit I remember very fondly from my youth. I suppose this=20
really is just another of my attempts to guess what Gene Wolfe read=20
in his formative years, aside from the Oz books.

William Ansley

*For those who wish to know, the "big three" of 1950s SF that I am=20
thinking of are Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke.

*This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun.
*More Wolfe info & archive of this list at http://www.moonmilk.com/whorl/
*To leave the list, send "unsubscribe" to whorl-request at lists.best.com
*If it's Wolfe but not Long Sun, please use the URTH list: urth at lists.best.=
com

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