2,111
edits
Double Star: Difference between revisions
no edit summary
(fixed the "spoiler" block that Cliffc999 just added, so that it actually hides the spoiler) |
No edit summary |
||
Line 13:
* [[Blue and Orange Morality]]: Martians have a highly complex and rigorous system of politeness. The main problem of the book is that a politician {{spoiler|may be late to a ceremony that inducts him into a Martian clan}}. There is a legend on Mars about a young Martian who was late to something important, and the consequence of this is ''death''. He was offered a second chance, on account of being young and having only a partially formed brain. He would have none of it, so he brought a case against himself in court, successfully prosecuted himself for being late, was consequently executed, and is now held in reverence as the ''patron saint of propriety'' on Mars. As a result, being dead is the only excuse acceptable for {{Spoiler|missing the ceremony -- and the politician is alive, but kidnapped.}} Not good enough.
* [[Bluff the Impostor]]: The Emperor figures out Smythe is not Bonforte when he agrees to play with his toy trains. Bonforte and the Emperor had a friendly in-joke between them: the Emperor would always invite him to play trains and Bonforte would [[Out of Character Alert|always refuse and make fun of his hobby]].
* [[Deadly Distant Finale]]: The last few paragraphs are from the viewpoint of twenty-five years after the main action, and mention that Smythe, Penelope, and Dak are the only ones still alive who know the truth. So Bonforte's aide Rog Clifton, Doctor Capek — and Emperor Willem — have died. Unlike the typical Deadly Distant Finale, no specifics are given about how and when they passed.
* [[Lost in Character]]: Smythe is hired to impersonate a kidnapped politician. He becomes so immersed in being this man that {{spoiler|after the original is killed, he takes over and actually becomes him. By the end of the book, he's happily abandoned his old life. What's more, his secretary has convinced herself that she never loved anyone but Smythe, and Smythe doesn't really mind the fact that she's obviously lying to herself}}.
* [[Method Acting]]: Smythe used this to get into his characters, and even used the psychotic aspect of one character as a crutch when he had to chop up a body.
| |||