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Oh no, I can see the pitch now: "It's like _300_ meets _Memento_." I just threw up in my mouth. Adam…
10 Apr 2007, 22:21
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First: _Sidon_ arrived today. Haven't opened it yet. Second: Borski, _Long and Short_. One of the essays is atrociously edited: he keeps saying "Pendelton's" for the plural. …
05 Nov 2006, 04:29
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As far as I know, he's homosexual these days, although he was married to Marilyn Hacker for a while and certainly had sex with her at least enough to impregnate her (read _The …
23 Oct 2006, 06:21
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Well, I, uh, don't have the books here...but I thought the picture was astronaut, standing on moon by flag, with Earth in background. Maybe it's my memory that's faulty. Adam…
22 Oct 2006, 00:59
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There's an Apollo 16 earthrise too, but, again, no astronauts. #3 seems most likely. I mean, "Astronaut with earthrise" IS a better composition. Adam…
21 Oct 2006, 06:55
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The picture isn't actually Armstrong, and as far as I can tell it's not a faithful description of *any* of the Apollo photographs. I remember trying to figure out which pictur…
20 Oct 2006, 22:11
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Uh, cause there are going to be approximately equal numbers of men and women after a couple of generations anyway. If there are plenty of women left then having plenty of men …
20 Oct 2006, 05:51
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Chivalry *is* biology. One guy can impregnate thousands of women. A woman can bear a lifetime maximum of, what, maybe 20 or 30 children? Adam…
20 Oct 2006, 02:51
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I see that as the Frankenstein flower-picking reference. All of these: Onomastics works quite well here. Talos is an automaton, a creation of Baldanders: "face like a stuffed f…
06 Sep 2006, 23:51
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Well, my Theory Of Stupid Onomastics ("Appian->Vera/Verus->Severian") relies on (b). The Appian Way takes us to Rome, of course. Or to Brindisi if we're walking in the other …
29 Aug 2006, 16:55
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Well, it's Verus if it's actually a man. Was actually a man. You know what I mean. Yes, well, the Theory Of Stupid Onomastics should only be treated slightly more seriously …
29 Aug 2006, 06:05
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Bah! I am going to flog, again, my Theory Of Stupid Onomastics and invoke Severian's Crappy Narrative Skills to suggest that the old Autarch *is* a plump woman of 40, and ther…
28 Aug 2006, 23:53
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Dude, I'm telling you, it's "Verus." Stupid Onomastics to the Rescue! Adam…
28 Aug 2006, 05:50
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Perhaps Severian has been back and forth through time and reincarnated so many different ways that, actually, Every Single Person On Urth is one Severian or another. We are al…
20 Aug 2006, 05:35
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Inhumu. So I misspoke when I called the abos inhumu, or rather I meant the subset of the aboriginal peoples who are the Shadow Children. Um, maybe. The book is a little baffli…
27 Jul 2006, 21:31
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I'm not sure he's replaced by Victor. I think Victor dies, but the cat has already bitten Victor before it bites Marsh, and just as in "A Story" both of them are more or less …
27 Jul 2006, 03:04
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So, I have just finished _The Fifth Head of Cerberus_. SPOILERS BELOW. Stop here if you haven't read 5HC. Still with me? OK. So, it seems pretty c…
25 Jul 2006, 23:06
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Why stop at 3? We get 7 in WK.... Adam…
20 Jul 2006, 04:10
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a) the spiral-bound Lexicon is well worth the $25 b) I have read all the booklets; they're all worth reading. So is _Snake's-Hands_ if you're into John Crowley. As I am. Adam…
14 Jun 2006, 04:16
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Sometimes Stephen Baxter's prose style makes me want to stick hatpins through my eyes. Adam…
12 Jun 2006, 00:34
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Ooooh, now THEM'S FIGHTIN' WORDS! Did *Donaldson* ever write a Wandering Harlot Table? I *thought* not. Adam…
11 Jun 2006, 00:48
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Well, it *should* be. My theory would have succeeded, if it weren't for you meddling facts. Adam…
02 Jun 2006, 02:58
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I've often wondered how much of Short Sun Wolfe knew when writing New Sun. I ask because I find Inire to be strangely reminiscent of (SPOILER FOR SHORT SUN) Pate…
26 May 2006, 17:19
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I just wanted to sing, "Hi, ho, Kafoozalem, the harlot of Jerusalem/ Prostitute of ill-repute/And daughter of the rabbi" OK, I'll be good now. Adam…
26 May 2006, 14:02
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Yeah, I think "Farrago of Chaos" was one half of an Ace Double. Maybe one of the more forgettable Murray Leinster books? Adam…
25 May 2006, 23:43
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Reality SUCKS. Waaaah. Adam…
20 May 2006, 00:43
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It's 14. Well, it was a nice theory while it lasted. I guess that makes more sense: 14 is as high as the Minotaur can count. Ten fingers, two hooves, two horns. Adam…
19 May 2006, 14:20
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Well, that would certainly bugger up my theory. Um, I'll look tomorrow. Adam…
19 May 2006, 06:47
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It's the number used to mean "infinite" by the Minotaur in the Borges story "The House of Asterion." "Group of Seventeen" thus becomes "Everyone"--quite literally The Will of …
19 May 2006, 03:14
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That the Conciliator may be both fully human *and* fully divine has not been viewed as problematic for Catholics since 325. Adam…
18 May 2006, 21:54
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I don't see why monsters can't be genetically human. Typhon and Baldanders both behave monstrously regardless of what their DNA looks like. Adam…
18 May 2006, 15:15
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Note also that Baldander's castle is on Lake Diuturna. Diuturna is an archaic form of Juturna. Juturna is the goddess of springs and wells. Adam…
17 May 2006, 18:38
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I think that's unnecessarily creepy. Do we have any reason to believe that Severian can see Ouen's future? I always took this to have its obvious meaning, "I will not tell you …
07 May 2006, 05:53
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I have no idea. I just want to sing, "The Eyes of Thecla are Upon You." Adam…
02 May 2006, 01:41
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But it isn't: knowing whether Severian is in Blue's past light cone, its future light cone, or outside its light cone entirely *is* a relevant question. It only becomes irrele…
06 Apr 2006, 14:12
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How problematic would Coriolis effects be in day-to-day life on the Whorl, anyway? Do we know how big it is? Adam…
06 Apr 2006, 05:35
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A 1% grade is certainly enough to ensure you don't, say, put a ball down on a shelf. And there's no indication in the Whorl that you have to build things on slopes to countera…
06 Apr 2006, 05:25
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I'm deeply suspicious that the accelerations allowable in the Whorl (without the lakes sloshing all over everywhere, etc) would give you sufficient relativistic compression to …
06 Apr 2006, 04:13
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This is like a particularly creepy variant of the Velveteen Rabbit. Or maybe Pinocchio. Adam…
05 Apr 2006, 15:42
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"Beware," I think. Most of the people here have read everything Gene Wolfe ever wrote, including grocery lists filched from his garbage can (Dude! Remember March 12, 1992, wh…
04 Apr 2006, 02:10
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...and Amazon just cancelled my order. Adam…
25 Mar 2006, 19:41
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That's very strange. I've had it ordered for a while, and the price is still showing as $23.10. Of course the delivery estimate is still Jan.13-27.... Adam…
17 Mar 2006, 23:46
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My belief is that he simply doesn't bother to pay attention to things that don't matter to him. What matters to him is extending his own life and power. To some degree he the…
28 Feb 2006, 15:25
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There's something else that everyone misses about the storytelling contest. As Wolfe loves to do, we get the story through various layers of intermediaries. We do not get the…
30 Jan 2006, 19:32
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