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Travelogue of the Stars Above

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This is firmly in the "I never knew I wanted something like this so much" category. It is such a fascinating concept, and so well implemented.

I'll admit I had a good laugh at the casual surety of the fate of tax collectors. It reminds of something I read talking about how tax evasion was such a common past time in that era. Though I admit I think that context was in people dismantling their houses since they were being taxed on the number of their buildings.

Part of the fun of this is imaging the responses of people reading this in the modern day. Having possibly the first human to have ever left the solar system, and presumably the first recorded instance thereof. And his comments boil down to a completely understandable, "Pirates - Surprisingly Disciplined". It feels like a very human reaction.
 
I don't have anything to aid that hasn't already been said, but this is fantastic! I can't wait to see what happens next to our wayward narrator!
 
FuriousFerret said:
This is firmly in the "I never knew I wanted something like this so much" category. It is such a fascinating concept, and so well implemented.

I'll admit I had a good laugh at the casual surety of the fate of tax collectors. It reminds of something I read talking about how tax evasion was such a common past time in that era. Though I admit I think that context was in people dismantling their houses since they were being taxed on the number of their buildings.

Part of the fun of this is imaging the responses of people reading this in the modern day. Having possibly the first human to have ever left the solar system, and presumably the first recorded instance thereof. And his comments boil down to a completely understandable, "Pirates - Surprisingly Disciplined". It feels like a very human reaction.
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Tax collectors have been 'mysteriously' going missing in the forest/wilderness/desert/swamp/other hazardous terrain for as long as there have been tax collectors; they didn't travel around with an armed guard just to protect against bandits, but also to protect against 'bandits'. :V

And yeah, the conversations that Rigel could have after returning to Earth would be hilarious: 'So what were the celestial spheres like?' 'The pirates were very civilized and well disciplined, not even a little bit of rape and murder. Quite the improvement over terrestrial pirates.'
 
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Haha, this is wonderful. Definitely deserves pick of the month. Absolutely love the medieval Islamic chronicler trying to describe sci-fi concepts.
 
Quite a delight to see this as the pick of the month, would have missed this gem otherwise. I look forward to seeing how you develop the story. Writing accurately and consistently in a historical perspective is a rare treat to savor, for so few manage to do so. Especially when having to recontextualize a literally alien sci-fi universe into such a perspective! I hope there is plenty more of your enjoyable content to come.
 
Judging by context this is the confident Abbasid Caliphate of the 8th Century rather the failing regime of the 9th and 10th Centuries.
 
grommile said:
No. It's the European short transcription of the Arabic star name rijl Jauzah al-yusrā "the left leg/foot of Orion".
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I know about the star name, but with all the latinizations of Arabic names going on I won't be so sure about him being named after the star specifically.
And I don't know Arabic, hence the question.
 
I just love high-tech meets low-tech stories. Although is is one of the few medival humans meet high tech aliens that I found.

Great job on the characterization btw, it's so human the way Rigel writes his notes.
 
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