Alternate Realities

In one of H. Beam Piper’s science fiction stories of ‘alternate timelines’ (a frequent subject of his writing), there is a discussion as to whether an altered event would have little effect, with things canceling out over time and history getting back on an even keel, or make an ever-increasing difference as the changes spread outward from the original point of difference, effecting more and more of reality.

I will admit I believe the first of these; individual actions have little effect on a history largely driven by economics. People simply don’t matter on the largest scale. The names might change in the history books but history would sweep on along pretty much the same path. What could change history? Natural events, certainly—droughts and epidemics and that sort of thing. Again, those are ultimately economic forces (in the broadest sense of the word).

But what if we assume infinite realities? Then every possible outcome exists (if only in potential). History will go on as it did or change radically and everything in between, so there is nothing wrong with a speculative fiction writer imagining any outcome they desire. All should be equally valid. George Washington was assassinated and the United States went on. George Washington was assassinated and the US broke up into warring states. George Washington was assassinated and it prompted an alien invasion. Whatever world we choose to create.

But if we do, we should also pay attention to the underlying economics, to be able to explain why things changed. Even if anything can happen, we should know why!

Race

As defined by biology, human races do not exist. Certainly not the big three-to-five groupings that were widely accepted at one time. Perhaps the closest our species came to that was the relatively isolated indigenous Australian population but even there we don’t quite fit the biological definition.

That definition, admittedly, can be a bit nebulous. Some consider a race to be equivalent to a subspecies; others make it a further division. Without agreement on a precise definition of either term, it does not make any practical difference. It may be noted that breeds of dogs vary genetically far more than humans but are not considered to be either races or subspecies.

Humans have always gotten around a lot. We’re wanderers and inclined to leave a genetic fingerprint wherever we wander. We can certainly find average genetic differences between populations but nothing nearly unique enough to qualify as a race/subspecies. Have there ever been human races in the biological sense?

The Neanderthal/Denisovan population might qualify. I am inclined to see them as a subspecies of Homo sapiens, rather than a separate species. Even if one doesn’t accept that, the two populations, Neanderthal and Denisovan, are certainly close enough to be the same species. Are they separate races? I would say no more so than two populations of modern humans.

We could take that back further, to the humans who gave rise to both the Neanderthal/Denisovan line and our own. If one accepts Neanderthals as Homo sapiens, then so would be our common ancestor, no? At any rate, we moderns would certainly be able to interbreed with Homo heidelbergenis or whatever name we choose to give that ancestor.

How far back would that be true? No telling at this point. Maybe we’ll find genetic material someday that can give us a better idea. As good a guess as any might be that the jump from an erectus to that heidelbergenis type might be the dividing point.

I have digressed from the question of modern race, haven’t I? It probably is best to speak of genetic differences rather than racial ones. These chromosomes are found here and those there and these others somewhere else and they all tell the story of how we’ve journeyed across continents and seas, intermingling all the while. We’re one big race with local differences.

Those differences are likely to continue to lessen, as much as racists and nationalists resist. It really is inaccurate to use the term race at all, to speak of ‘whites’ and ‘blacks’ and whatever. Sure, some of us are darker or lighter than others. That’s all there is to it; people are people; they naturally think and act alike.

Even those Neanderthals, I suspect.

 

Blame, a poem

Blame

Adam blamed Eve, I do believe,
and Eve blamed the snake for her tasty mistake.

The snake blamed God—how very odd—
for making the fruit, evil’s root,

taste so good. Really, could
anyone resist? the serpent hissed.

Adam and Eve both had to leave
to roam the earth, and to give birth

to hungry mankind, still hoping to find
someone to blame—I’ll name no name.

Stephen Brooke ©2024

Mewlips and Gibbelins

“The Mewlips” is a tongue-in-cheek—but creepy, none the less—poem by J.R.R. Tolkien, supposedly one of those drawn from Hobbit lore. The sort of thing one recited in the comfort and safety of home or tavern! The mewlips seem a thoroughly bad bunch of swamp dwellers who are apt to devour travelers through their realm.

It is quite likely (and I am definitely not the first to mention this) that Tolkien’s mewlips were inspired at least in part by Lord Dunsany’s gibbelins, found in his short story “The Hoard of the Gibbelins.” Tolkien knew and admired Dunsany’s work, and the story predated the poem by decades.

Now Dunsany’s story, as much of his work, was also not entirely serious, yet it is a deliciously spooky sort of tale. There is also a certain amount of implicit social criticism built into it. That also is not untypical of his work.

The story of the Gibbelins appeared in Lord Dunsany’s ‘The Book of Wonder,’ which is long out of copyright and available as a free ebook at Project Gutenberg. Dunsany is one of the founders of modern fantasy; I highly recommend reading at least some of his work and “The Book of Wonder” is a good place to start.

Stempel Garamond

Stempel Garamond was first issued by the Stempel foundry almost a hundred years ago as Garamond-Antiqua. It was—and remains—one of the more faithful and attractive revivals of the Garamond typefaces. There have been a number of versions since, clones, reissues, digitalizations. One of the better known would be the free URW++ Garmond No.8, which may be found readily online. It is ‘almost’ an open license font; a publisher needn’t worry about using it for print or embedding it in a PDF. I see it pretty much as a publisher’s starting kit, dependable and usable for pretty much any project.

Incidentally, its italics are based on ones actually designed by Claude Garamond, where many other Garamond typefaces use italics by Robert Granjon, a respected successor of Garamond.

The Garamond Original typeface—a name used by both Bitstream and SoftMaker—is essentially a clone of Stempel. As with Garamond No.8, they lack opentype features for those who want or need them, though SoftMaker does offer separate small caps. That makes up for much. The typeface is included in SoftMaker’s MegaFont collection, which remains a rather good deal.

Not surprisingly, various opentype projects based on Garamond No.8 have popped up over the last couple decades but none have seemed to go much of anywhere. Be that as it may, the versions that are available are quite viable alternatives to commercial Garamonds or the popular EB Garamond and other open license Garamond (or Garamond-like) fonts. Stempel Garamond, under whatever name, is a good choice for anyone producing books.

Arachis Press used versions in all my fantasy novels set among the Mora (the Malvern Trilogy, the Mora Trilogy, etc). We are entirely likely to use Stempel again in books to come. Indeed, we consider it our default for novels.

Wonder, a poem

Wonder

I have pursued the sense of wonder
beneath the hurtling moons of Barsoom
and through the caverns of Moria.

I followed its tracks in jungles where
Mowgli and his brothers howled,
and on the shores of Gitche Gumee.

I once held it for a moment,
off the coasts of Treasure Island,
and voyaged on, to seek new worlds.

I yet hear it calling me,
calling me again to follow
across the hills and far away.

Stephen Brooke ©2024

milky way tanka

a river of stars
flowed across my summer nights
above dark water

the milky way leads only
to such memories now

Stephen Brooke ©2024

more or less in the form of a tanka