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FWIW, my impression of the message of multi-limbs on Blue's creatures is the opposite that some others get. Having four limbs is not a universal ideal or baseline (as our arthropod…
04 May 2009, 12:18
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In following this debate I find myself stepping back a few paces to try to discern a larger pattern. In 5HoC we have Shadow Children who take on the form of what might be called t…
30 Apr 2009, 15:13
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Reminds me of Dr. Talos, a construct, who doesn't need to sleep but fakes gratitude when Severian offers to relieve him on night watch. -bsharp…
17 Apr 2009, 12:51
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I think he appears in the magician's fable as the shiphead/Naviscaput with his corn maidens and roiling the bottom mud with his feet. Then we hear a story from Maxellinda's Uncle a…
13 Apr 2009, 17:48
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On a more prosaic note I'll point out that in Severian's boyhood visit to the Witches Tower he sees, "Gnostic designs in white, green and purple had been chalked on the walls.." …
09 Apr 2009, 03:06
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James wynn writes: I could go with D. Stockhoff's rather direct explanation: but also, I don't suppose all Wolfe's protagonists function as the author's avatars but some do, …
06 Apr 2009, 20:07
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for some reason, Bruinian's comment: reminded me of a new fact I encountered recently. That Abaia is the name for a mythological giant eel has been mentioned numerous times in th…
06 Apr 2009, 15:13
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Stan B. writes: Interesting ideas. I had never noticed anyone assume the fact of Ultan as a Vodararian so casually. Ultan is asked by Severian about the "corpse-eaters" and he r…
05 Apr 2009, 19:09
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Well a somewhat fruitful thread, for me at least. Regarding Duko Rigoglio's rant, I too agree that it might describe both the large natural size of Nessus and the Library and the…
05 Apr 2009, 04:31
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If there is ever to be a "Clawmarillion" wouldn't it have to follow the path of The Silmarillion? Meaning it would be published posthumously and completed by Gene Wolfe's son, Roy …
03 Apr 2009, 20:08
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Jeff Wilson writes: Thanks for bringing up that scene, I had forgotten it. I'm not sure if it is negative or positive evidence for the library extending back (and forward) into …
03 Apr 2009, 13:35
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Son o'Witz asks- Good question. The entranceway is a bit labyrinthine but I don't see any time travel elements involved as seen in the other examples. No. Severian moves from fut…
31 Mar 2009, 18:35
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FWIW- I see the Jungle Hut as a clear example of a time travel device as most specifically described for the Last House: a labyrinthine entranceway leading to a vertical structu…
31 Mar 2009, 04:05
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I reread the section and there is a lot of text suggesting Babbie did attack Seawrack and mangled her arm to the point it needed amputation. But I was still struck by this passage…
18 Mar 2009, 01:50
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The other initial mystery about Seawrack is how she came to have one arm. My first thought (again hearkening back to BotNS themes) is that she was produced asexually, a bud grown …
17 Mar 2009, 04:01
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I was reading the Short Sun and thinking that we are invited to figure out two things when we are first introduced to Seawrack. One is her real name which is supposed to sound som…
14 Mar 2009, 20:54
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David S. writes: Well I have always thought this was the most obvious incarnation of Father Inire- the physical description matches and they are in Father Inire's portion of th…
10 Feb 2009, 16:30
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I thought the winged creature in the book was more angelic-looking than lepidopterous. I really don't remember it being "toothy". There was a predatory butterfly sort of creature…
06 Feb 2009, 17:53
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I thought the connection of the blue Claw with Severian's star was doppler blue shift as the star moved toward Urth. Perhaps religious significance was also intended. -bsharp …
31 Dec 2008, 16:00
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David Stockhoff writes: I think it is confusing without recognizing that Urth is not Earth. Urth is the analog of Earth in another earlier universe (if "early" has meaning in e…
24 Dec 2008, 18:22
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Jeff Wilson writes: Does this perhaps depend on your definition of a deity? Was/is Jesus a deity? Seems to me he had flashes of it, e.g.predicting his own death. But he had most…
24 Dec 2008, 18:15
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I dunno, Roy. "Fact" is a pretty strong word for use describing an ambiguous work of fiction. But anyway, I can't remember reading that both parents were required to be exultant f…
21 Oct 2008, 15:13
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"I played again with pebbles in the court-yard beside the fallen curtain wall, as Thecla dodged the hooves of my father's mounted guard." I think everyone is being rather cavalier…
20 Oct 2008, 19:41
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I wish I had a better answer for Roy's query but this is all I come up with. Maybe it is worth something: The meal reminds me somewhat of the meal Pia serves Severian on a brassy…
23 Jul 2008, 04:25
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Aside from the recent snippiness I think this thread had been interesting and productive. A lot of ideas have come out I never would have predicted when I started it last month. …
21 Jul 2008, 17:35
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John Watkins: a nice and clever rebuttal to my post! Still, because of key omissions, I sense it is a rebuttal, that is a debate tactic, rather than part of a fact finding or insi…
20 Jul 2008, 04:27
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Dave Tallman, again kudos for your research! If the source of the sundial inscriptions had been tracked down before I was unaware of it. Still, unlike the slam dunk of your three …
19 Jul 2008, 03:13
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Paul B, I'm not sure if your last post clarified things for me. I don't begrudge you dodging my nosy question about your faith but I am still not sure if you are saying you don't t…
19 Jul 2008, 02:53
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The discussion would become quite interesting if Paul B was a Christian. Are you Paul? I really have no quarrel with a person who accepts no entity as a moral superior and who hol…
18 Jul 2008, 19:47
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As with the end of CotA, the end of UotNS is rather densely packed with explanations. I just noticed a passage I hadn't ever noticed before (perhaps Roy will know if it was discuss…
18 Jul 2008, 03:29
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A nice, thoughtful post Dave Tallman, I'll debate a couple points. You say: That is not quite right. I would say, (as always, trying to advocate what I think are Wolfe's intentio…
17 Jul 2008, 20:08
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Roy quotes: Roy writes: We don't know that Madregot runs ONLY from Yesod to Briah. And I think there are implications that being at the brook(s) means you are outside space and t…
17 Jul 2008, 12:29
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Roy says in regard to F, B and O: Adam replies: Nah, that's a pretty funny commentary on bosses! Brunians notes: Interesting, I didn't know that. Suggests the roots of Islam ar…
17 Jul 2008, 12:06
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Brian asks- Erebus might be associated with Mt. Erebus in Antarctica not the ocean. And I always thought the presence Severian disturbed in the mine near Saltus was a Megatheria…
17 Jul 2008, 11:47
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I like Tony Ellis' explanation of the Green Man, being the equivalent of Master Ash- an alternate future to Ushas. It explains why he doesn't seem to fit with the UotNS Ushas and…
16 Jul 2008, 12:12
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Paul B posts: What I think this ignores is that the continuum needn't end at the human with the lowest cognition, it can extend through the range of animals down to the protozoa…
15 Jul 2008, 18:20
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Roy, that was a very good post below and I agree with almost all of it. I also see little justification for Sev to be the Epitome of Urth. If there was a legitimate test he passe…
15 Jul 2008, 01:36
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Dan'l Danehy-Oakes posts: Hah! DDO, you'll get no argument from me. Personally I tend to value the results of natural selection over carefully planned and engineered products. B…
14 Jul 2008, 18:36
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Thalassocrat says to Roy: My understanding is that by definition, everything in the universes was created directly by the Increate in exact accordance to his plans. This includes…
14 Jul 2008, 12:19
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Lane, I think we do agree that capacity for moral judgement and capacity for moral behavior are different. But I think they are more related than you do. It seems to me that gre…
13 Jul 2008, 18:11
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Lane Haygood I think I agree with almost your entire post. My only quibble would regard where you say: Well, my claim has all along been that Hierogrammates are superior moral jud…
13 Jul 2008, 03:52
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Roy thanks for your clarification. I misread or misunderstood Paul's qualification that the surgeon had foresight. I agree that the discussion should move on to its proper subject…
12 Jul 2008, 20:34
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Paul B, I still think you are missing the crucial factor and thus missing some of the best of what science fiction and religious philosophy has to offer in regard to the superhuma…
12 Jul 2008, 04:30
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Matthew King I'm not sure if this impacts your post but I think it is quite well established that The Commonwealth and Severian's journey in BotNS occurs in what would be South Am…
11 Jul 2008, 19:01
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Paul B I do think you are missing numerous hints that the Hiero-types are (as mentioned in my previous post) more omniscient and closer to the Increate in purpose than humans (and …
11 Jul 2008, 18:46
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If I understand Paul B correctly, he interprets BotNS without any sense of religious allegory. Perhaps Wolfe isn't even trying to address the Problem Of Evil? It is just a cool tal…
11 Jul 2008, 14:01
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Paul B posts: and I think there is a large gap in the broad exposition of your argument, that being that we don't need a science fiction story to find a legend of a God who has…
10 Jul 2008, 19:39
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Roy C. Lackey quotes: Roy wonders why they don't tell Severian more details. I would say that, as demonstrated with Baldanders, they are prone to divulge a bare minimum of inform…
10 Jul 2008, 12:04
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One support for Jeff Wilson's idea that Juturna is Severian's sister could be their shared pale white skin. In my view, another would be their bizarre sexual attraction for each o…
09 Jul 2008, 23:09
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In regard to my suggestion that Inire and the Cumaean have developed some bad habits in their time on Urth, Roy says: Despite the title of the previous thread I wouldn't want it t…
09 Jul 2008, 13:12
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