Reading: The Dolphins of Altair
Before the dawn of man ...
... there was a covenant between the land and the sea people – a covenant long forgotten by those who stayed on shore, but indelibly etched in the minds of others – the dolphins of Altair.
Now the covenant had been broken. Dolphins were being wantonly sacrificed in the name of scientific research, their waters increasingly polluted, their number dangerously diminished. They had to find allies and strike back. Allies willing to sever their own earthly bonds for the sake of their sea brothers – willing, if necessary, to execute the destruction of the whole human race ...
Margaret St. Clair's novels Sign of the Labrys and The Shadow People are cited in the Dungeon Master's Guide “Appendix N: Inspirational and Educational Reading.” I've read the former couple of days ago, and enjoyed it quite much. It was also fascinating seeing how much of it read like an old-school dungeon delve.
When I researched the author, I read that the latter, The Shadow People, is part of loose trilogy comprised of The Dolphins of Altair (1967), The Shadow People (1969), and The Dancers of Noyo (1973). Since all three are relatively short (~200 pages each), I decided to simply read them in publishing order.
Mild spoilers ahead.
The story is presented from the perspective of a psionic dolphin historian. He narrates how the sea people—dolphins—used Udra (psychic powers, similar to psionics in OD&D) to find and collaborate with three splits—humans—to flood the world.
The writing is punchy, especially in the first half. Everything moves fast, and I enjoy the implicit writing style. There is action, there is a little bit of mystery, and there are surprises and turns. Some of the hallucinations / visions are quite trippy, which I liked as well.
The Dolphins of Altair is not listed in the Appendix N, so I did not expect any D&D tropes. There is a lot of psionics, and some of the techniques are well described. Only 1-in-100 000 are receptive to it; there are mentions of ESP. If this was an OD&D module or setting it would be labelled as gonzo for sure.
At its core, The Dolphins of Altair is an ecological doomsday book infused with psychedelic and psionics. I found it to be quite a quick and enjoyable read, and am looking forward to discovering how exactly it relates to The Shadow People.
#Reading #Fantasy #ScienceFiction
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