Bromeliad: Difference between revisions

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'''The Bromeliad''' is the name of the trilogy about the nomes. {{T}} was the first book, {{D}} was the second, and {{WI}} was the third.
'''The Bromeliad''' is the name of the [[Collections|trilogy]] about the nomes. {{T}} was the first book, {{D}} was the second, and {{WI}} was the third.


It's taken from the name for a family of plants on [[Roundworld]] that grow in the airy and well-lit upper branches of trees in the rainforest, principally in South America. This possibly parasitic plant puts out very big, long-lasting flowers that act as natural reservoirs for rainwater. A well-established [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bromeliad bromeliad] will end up sustaining its own more-or-less self-contained ecology, including small yellow frogs which live their entire life cycles in the water within the flower. These are used in {{D}} as a metaphor for the lives of [[Nomes]], especially for those who lived as a self-contained and possibly parasitic ecology within the walls and floors of the [[Store]]. However, it becomes apparent that a wider metaphor also applies here for ''all'' Nomes, who are effectively living as parasites on the margins of human society, in a world not their own, and where the slightest knock, or circumstances beyond their control altering, means they have to adapt or die. And, it could be wider, if we think that the [[Roundworld]] is too big for us, little humans...
It's taken from the name for a family of plants on [[Roundworld]] that grow in the airy and well-lit upper branches of trees in the rainforest, principally in South America. This possibly parasitic plant puts out very big, long-lasting flowers that act as natural reservoirs for rainwater. A well-established [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bromeliad bromeliad] will end up sustaining its own more-or-less self-contained ecology, including small yellow frogs which live their entire life cycles in the water within the flower. These are used in {{D}} as a metaphor for the lives of [[Nomes]], especially for those who lived as a self-contained and possibly parasitic ecology within the walls and floors of the [[Store]]. However, it becomes apparent that a wider metaphor also applies here for ''all'' Nomes, who are effectively living as parasites on the margins of human society, in a world not their own, and where the slightest knock, or circumstances beyond their control altering, means they have to adapt or die. And, it could be wider, if we think that the [[Roundworld]] is too big for us, little humans...

Revision as of 19:48, 13 November 2016

The Bromeliad
Cover Second Edition (2008)
Co-author(s)
Illustrator(s) {{{illustrator}}}
Publisher Doubleday
Publication date November 1998
ISBN 0385410441
Pages 512
RRP £9.99
Main characters Masklin, Grimma, Gurder
Series Bromeliad
Annotations View
Notes
All data relates to the first UK edition.

The Bromeliad is the name of the trilogy about the nomes. Truckers was the first book, Diggers was the second, and Wings was the third.

It's taken from the name for a family of plants on Roundworld that grow in the airy and well-lit upper branches of trees in the rainforest, principally in South America. This possibly parasitic plant puts out very big, long-lasting flowers that act as natural reservoirs for rainwater. A well-established bromeliad will end up sustaining its own more-or-less self-contained ecology, including small yellow frogs which live their entire life cycles in the water within the flower. These are used in Diggers as a metaphor for the lives of Nomes, especially for those who lived as a self-contained and possibly parasitic ecology within the walls and floors of the Store. However, it becomes apparent that a wider metaphor also applies here for all Nomes, who are effectively living as parasites on the margins of human society, in a world not their own, and where the slightest knock, or circumstances beyond their control altering, means they have to adapt or die. And, it could be wider, if we think that the Roundworld is too big for us, little humans...

Masklin, once in a sort of control of the Starship Swan, brings back a bromeliad flower, plus frogs, as a sort of ad-hoc Interflora gift for a very special person...