Post by sturgeon on Apr 26, 2021 10:54:00 GMT
I'm not bird-racist. I had a friend once who was a bird. I didn't mean to imply anything untoward about your seagulls or your herons or your osprey or your cormorants or whatever. All I said is that pigeons are a relatively harmless bird for fish creatures like me, alright? Sheesh.
Anyway, this here capital's about pigeons. Messenger pigeons. Which is already interesting, and I wanted to know more about the world of messenger pigeons - how do you train them? How do you attach a message such that it doesn't blow off or get wet or whatever? How do you know whether your destination has the facilities or knowhow to attach a return message? How often to they go rogue? There was an opportunity, I felt, to ground this fantasy-esque setting with some compelling real-world research - but alas, we, the reader, are asked to take it more or less on trust. E.g. pigeon-guru Lynn diagnoses a dicky heart just from looking at a bird corpse, but we're not told how.
Fortunately, this narrative is about more than just pigeons. It is set at a dramatic moment, on the day of a truce after a five year war between [insert fantasy nations here, let's say Middle Earth and Discworld]. A peace parade is announced, and the citizens gather in excitement. Young Alfred, who longed to be a pigeon-keeper but - barred by gender norms - took up illuminating manuscripts instead (which is apparently related, but I don't see how), has done his homework on the history and culture of their neighbouring nation, and detects that something's wrong.
Sure enough, there's a Trojan plot at play, and the drama builds around trying to send an avian call for help. This piece undoubtedly has some flaws - above all, for me, it could have done with more depth to build credibility - but it's an excellent conceit, I enjoyed the worldbuilding and the sense of moment. It's charms are just enough for me to favour this work, and vote "yes".
Anyway, this here capital's about pigeons. Messenger pigeons. Which is already interesting, and I wanted to know more about the world of messenger pigeons - how do you train them? How do you attach a message such that it doesn't blow off or get wet or whatever? How do you know whether your destination has the facilities or knowhow to attach a return message? How often to they go rogue? There was an opportunity, I felt, to ground this fantasy-esque setting with some compelling real-world research - but alas, we, the reader, are asked to take it more or less on trust. E.g. pigeon-guru Lynn diagnoses a dicky heart just from looking at a bird corpse, but we're not told how.
Fortunately, this narrative is about more than just pigeons. It is set at a dramatic moment, on the day of a truce after a five year war between [insert fantasy nations here, let's say Middle Earth and Discworld]. A peace parade is announced, and the citizens gather in excitement. Young Alfred, who longed to be a pigeon-keeper but - barred by gender norms - took up illuminating manuscripts instead (which is apparently related, but I don't see how), has done his homework on the history and culture of their neighbouring nation, and detects that something's wrong.
Sure enough, there's a Trojan plot at play, and the drama builds around trying to send an avian call for help. This piece undoubtedly has some flaws - above all, for me, it could have done with more depth to build credibility - but it's an excellent conceit, I enjoyed the worldbuilding and the sense of moment. It's charms are just enough for me to favour this work, and vote "yes".
