|
Tides tells the tale of the rise of two intelligent species on the same planet, at a time in their history when they first encounter each other. Paras and Ortok are the only two continents on this planet, the homes to these two different species, and are separated by thousands of miles of ocean. Paras is lush and hospitable, a place where no one ever knows want. It has given rise to a culture of kindness and honesty. Ortok is bleak and volcanic, where the inhabitants survive at a subsistence level. It has given rise to a culture of cruelty and deceit. But will the inhabitants of Paras forever remain honest? And will the sentient species on Ortok finally cast out deceit?
Hab, a Parassian mariner, follows a cloud of volcanic ash twenty thousand leagues across the world-spanning ocean, battling iced-over seas, the decimation of his crew, and, worst of all, the killer tides-tides that because of two close moons are monstrous in size, and are virtually unnavigable in any but the most ingeniously designed ships.
On the other side of the world he finds Ortok, and is imprisoned by a drillmaster there, Rango, a sentient being evolved from reptilian origin. Hab knows nothing of deceit, and so willingly and honestly tells the drillmaster all he knows about Paras. But Hab at last realizes that Rango is duping him into revealing his continent's most precious strategic secrets. Rango is planning to wage war against Paras. Yet even as Rango draws up his war plans, the drillmaster can't help being touched by the mariner's honestly, and an uneasy respect and friendship develops between the two. Hab, honest all his life, capitalizes on this friendship to at last practice his own bit of deceit.
|
