Darkness And Optimism II

See Darkness And Optimism.

The loosely connected stories of James Blish's Haertel Scholium vary.

In the Heart Stars timeline, "A Dusk of Idols" ends:

"...I cannot bring myself to forget that the Heart stars classify Chandala as a civilized world."
-James Blish, "A Dusk of Idols" IN Blish, Anywhen (New York, 1970), pp. 105-135 AT p. 135.

The Heart Stars value social stability, not individual well-being, and Chandala unequivocally meets this criterion.

In the The Quincunx Of Time timeline, "A Style in Treason" ends somberly:

"...he still had many guilts to accept, and not much left of a life-time to do it in.
"While he was waiting, perhaps he could learn to play the sareh."
-James Blish, "A Style in Treason" IN Blish, The Best Of James Blish, Ed. Robert A. W. Lowndes (New York, 1979), pp. 313-348 AT p. 348.

But the conclusion of the last installment returns to long term optimism. Newly introduced to a mystical form of immortality, John Martels says:

"'...I might even come to like it.'"
-James Blish, Midsummer Century (London, 1975), 12, p. 106.