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I thought they were on Urth's distant past, that he had swung himself backwards into time to when the New Sun was not yet, and hence was stuck. I may well have misread that. …
15 Nov 2007, 02:54
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This would be Severian and the Urth of the New Sun, is my reading. In addition to being a Christ figure he's a Mosaic figure--he brings his world to salvation but does not him…
14 Nov 2007, 23:09
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Joan/John Cusack. Adam…
19 Jun 2007, 20:43
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I imagine there's not a lot of repeat business if they aren't. Now I must write a short work of IF, "La Grenouille", in which you play the eponym, just so that I can say (shamel…
10 Jun 2007, 03:20
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But once we go this far then we need to start considering second-and- third order effects. I mean, OK, so you have Moorcock. Looking back you've got Mervyn Peake, and forward …
10 Jun 2007, 00:05
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Not that you're, uh, exactly blameless on that score, eh? Adam…
09 Jun 2007, 19:38
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I suspect you're thinking of the first printing of Deities and Demigods, which contained both Melibone and Cthulhu Mythoi. Since TSR never actually licensed the rights from Ch…
05 Jun 2007, 22:03
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Gary Gygax says in the appendices to the AD&D v1 DMG (IIRC) that Dying Earth Magic was the immediate inspiration for the D&D magic system. I think it's there that he says that…
05 Jun 2007, 16:42
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That's odd. I generally regard the scientific method as the act of trying to make sense out of the darkness and chaos without an appeal to the supernatural. I don't think thi…
14 Apr 2007, 16:37
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ITYM "Il Duce Hauser". HTH! HAND! Adam…
13 Apr 2007, 02:31
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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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No, for real: http://news.rpi.edu/update.do?artcenterkey=1956 Well, when it's done being Slashdotted, anyway. Adam…
06 Mar 2007, 00:28
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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 was reading the recently-posted Larry McCaffery interview, in which the mystery of 5HC is "given away" (http://www.depauw.edu/sfs/ interviews/wolfe46interview.htm) There's th…
07 Sep 2006, 19:36
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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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I assume this has been mentioned before, but, uh, everyone's aware of how much the Latro books read like _The Satyricon_--the damaged Latin- speaking hero on a quest throughout …
18 Aug 2006, 21:15
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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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