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I'm getting that too. It sounds like it's the list's hosting, rather than you that's the problem. "Bounce" usually means the message wasn't deliverable for some reason. It's not a…
01 May 2019, 11:20
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What then are those two points and why are the responses to it tail-chasing? Making such a claim without explicating it is less than helpful. Dave…
15 Oct 2014, 14:20
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I would appreciate a theory of why this makes a difference. Machines are not human, even if made by humans, so why should they be subject to any imaginary human biases? Let me a…
15 Oct 2014, 00:03
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We have made observations that extend throughout the electromagnetic spectrum in wavelength and in distance/time almost as far back as the Big Bang and thus an equivalent number of…
14 Oct 2014, 18:24
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From my viewpoint, I would say that the idea that time is quantized is a perfectly reasonable SF supposition, given that it has been a postulated theory of physics for quite a lo…
29 Jul 2014, 23:08
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I have always felt that the Cumaean is in fact the same as the Roman one, as literally as it is possible to be in an ostensibly different universe. It has been argued multiple ti…
20 May 2012, 19:18
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I find Sterling's short stories better than his novels, in general. I am particularly fond of "Bicycle Repairman" and its sequel, "Taklamantan." His collaboration with Rucker, "B…
18 Apr 2012, 01:05
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I'd put in another vote for Whittemore. If you like The Anubis Gates by Powers, you will probably like Whittemore, or vice versa. Other than A Clockwork Orange, I can't say that …
17 Apr 2012, 23:35
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Powers is one of my favorite authors. He has a new book out, "Hide Me Among the Graves," which is a sequel to "The Stress of Her Regard," one of his best. (The other bests: "Decl…
17 Apr 2012, 22:27
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I have most of the original magazines still. I might be exaggerating a bit when I say I could beat the 220 or whatever, but I have a lot of Lafferty. Until Fifth Head of Cerberus…
16 Apr 2012, 23:59
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I beg to differ on Wolfe in the alternate universe where he never wrote the Severian books. The Fifth Head of Cerberus, Peace, his Doctor/Island/Death stories, and whatever would…
16 Apr 2012, 22:23
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Had I known about this, I probably could have done as well as the winner. Lafferty has been one of my favorite authors since the dawn of time. Lafferty's alcoholism was no secret…
16 Apr 2012, 22:19
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No one suggests that any scientific "proof" is the case in any absolute sense. "Proof" means that if you tweak the universe in a certain way, it responds in a particular predicta…
24 Dec 2011, 00:12
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Actually it is much more impressive. The "IBM" photo created by using a scanning tunneling electron microscope to move xenon atoms around on a metal substrate is about 30 years o…
23 Dec 2011, 16:19
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I'm curious what you think I (and you, if you followed the link) have seen, then. Stockhoff's response, puerile as it is, is at least comprehensible. Dave Lebling…
23 Dec 2011, 15:55
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http://blogearth.wordpress.com/2008/02/27/electron-filmed-for-the-first-time/ I have seen a photo of an electron. The link above is one of many that will enable you to see one fo…
23 Dec 2011, 14:52
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On the question at hand, I recall, though I am not certain of where in the BotNS it comes, F, B, or O stating that the they had helped both Severian and Baldanders, as two differ…
19 Aug 2010, 23:20
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When I first read SotT, when it first came out, my interpretation was that references to the Conciliator were to Jesus. I am not 100% certain even today that when he wrote the or…
17 Aug 2010, 22:03
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I do many things to help control the list and yet I find the volume nearly overwhelming. I hate to do the "when I was a lad" thing, but in the old days on the list (before Long …
16 Aug 2010, 23:36
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Yes, it's bad. Let him read it through at least once on his own before getting all the answers (and the different versions of the answers) here. The comic is pretty good (unlike …
09 Aug 2010, 22:59
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Gene Wolfe seems well-acquainted with his religion, and therefore would have no difficulty answering the question. He answers it himself in TBotLS. There are many events in life …
09 Aug 2010, 22:49
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I'm not all that certain which specific remarks you are referring to, but the Cumaean (during the scene in the stone town) talks about how service to Fr. Inire is a way of keepin…
08 Aug 2010, 19:44
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I'm curious why you believe the war with Ascia was a sham. Is this something you've posted about in the past? -- Dave Lebling, aka vizcacha…
08 Aug 2010, 11:47
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It is specifically stated that torture in the Commonwealth is a punishment, not a means of obtaining truth. The Guild performs exactly the tortures ordered, and the torturers are…
04 Aug 2010, 23:57
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The inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah beg to differ. -- Dave…
02 Jul 2010, 19:09
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He's told us some of his main sources for obscure words, such as "Mrs. Byrne's Dictionary" and books on the Byzantine and Roman Empires. I don't think he needed to spend much time …
02 Jul 2010, 18:09
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I'm really fairly amazed at the level of nit-pickery over this question. Let us cast our minds back to the thrilling days of yesteryear (the late 70s), when Wolfe wrote SotT. There…
02 Jul 2010, 17:22
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This thread makes me wish I had published that (somewhere?) back when I first figured it out, which was the first time I read 5HC in Damon Knight's Orbit 10, in 1972 or '73. Too …
10 Apr 2010, 02:21
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My recollection is that "hoppy" was from the green uniforms of the Vironese police (by analogy with frogs). I forget where "limer" and "mews" are used but they are perfectly good…
12 Jul 2009, 21:51
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I posted about Ludwig's book years ago when this came up. The theory that I like best is that the hand-in-coat pose was actually a common artistic convention in Napoleon's era, p…
30 Jun 2009, 23:09
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I thought it was generally agreed that though Severian may be a stand-in for Wolfe, Ultan's assistant Cyby was Wolfe's stand-in in the novel: "... a stocky, very erect man of for…
09 Apr 2009, 00:08
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The late Erland van Lidth de Jeude would have been a perfect Baldanders. He actually played a naviscaput in "Time Bandits," and we all know that's how Baldanders would have ended…
15 Jan 2009, 01:10
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I've read all of the Jerusalem Quartet books, and Quinn's Shanghai Circus, which has a similar style but is more-or-less unrelated. They actually remind me more of Pynchon than W…
18 Dec 2008, 00:08
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The idea of a panel with Gene Wolfe and Fred Pohl attracting no one amazes me. Had I been at that convention there would have been at least one attendee! -- Dave Lebling, aka vi…
05 Dec 2008, 23:58
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The secret that I recall is that of all the parts of the Commonwealth supposedly subject to the Autarch, the Guild is the only one that will always obey. At least that is what Se…
23 Nov 2008, 16:03
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SPOILERS BELOW (for both EG and "The Circus of Dr. Lao.") .. . . .. . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . . .. . .. . Thanks for that hit. Indeed it is. Of course, we are n…
28 Sep 2008, 02:12
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I'm a fan of Wolfe, Stephenson, Gibson, _and_ Pynchon. (Not to mention Sterling and Swanwick -- have we ever discussed Swanwick here?) Anyway, "Go figure." Pynchon's most access…
17 Sep 2008, 00:12
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I'm trying to remember if there is any evidence that Terminus Est is actually particularly strong. Severian mostly uses it to cut heads off, not duel Excalibur and King Arthur, a…
03 Jul 2008, 00:19
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It is just as well that the maze was not the Hampton Court maze, as that one is easy enough to solve even if you aren't armed and dangerous. My wife and I did it fairly quickly i…
24 Jun 2008, 00:35
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Just as Tzadkiel is like an angel, Abaia and the other megatherians are like devils; as fallen "angels" is it surprising that they would have many of the same capabilities and si…
21 Jun 2008, 00:23
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Severian is not actually /the/ Conciliator. The Conciliator, as should be obvious to anyone who knows Wolfe's religious background, is Christ. In the timeline of the first Severi…
15 Jun 2008, 22:21
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Rob, I grew up in Bethesda and Rockville, MD myself, and attended Richard Montgomery High School. I've lived in the Boston area for umpty-foo years now though, after being engulf…
14 May 2008, 23:50
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Pavel, Wolfe's substitution of a "U" for "EA" in English works well because English spelling and English pronunciation are so dissimilar. I don't know if the opportunity exists …
25 Apr 2008, 00:09
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Ignacio as an older Chris, laboring diligently to create exactly the Chris he was as a young man, makes an interesting and creepy contrast to the life of Severian, molded by the hi…
18 Dec 2007, 15:47
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I tend to take a very mundane approach to the Urth-Lune, Blue-Green, St. Croix-St. Anne question, which I may have previously posted. It's that Wolfe is fascinated by many questi…
18 Dec 2007, 01:06
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The Roche Limit for the Earth-Moon system is about 9500km. I doubt that Lune is that close. Wikipedia can be your friend. -- Dave Lebling, aka vizcacha…
15 Dec 2007, 16:34
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Doesn't Isangoma refer to Sev and Agia as "tokoloshe"? That's a Zulu word for a kind of "bear-like humanoid being," according to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tikoloshe…
16 Nov 2007, 00:30
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Not the link, the email address itself. The link is fine, the address didn't work. -- Dave…
08 Jul 2007, 01:22
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The address given at that link bounced with a "PERMFAIL". -- Dave Lebling, aka vizcacha…
07 Jul 2007, 15:42
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The Robinsons are humans (but see below) who have a robot child. Julianne's parents are robots (but see below) who have a human child. That's why Julianne is unhappy and mumbles, a…
28 Jun 2007, 13:37
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