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Without having read that story yet, just commenting on this comment: this is as clear an "aliens as Fairies" story as one could imagine. AND ... they appear to be robots as well.…
04 Apr 2012, 12:23
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So THAT'S who I should blame. Curses upon you, Mr Campbell!…
03 Apr 2012, 22:49
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ssh! Only if the Trinity exists in this universe, which is not something I wanted to bring up. If it does, it does not seem to be recognized as such, or else Wolfe simply does n…
02 Apr 2012, 17:56
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aha! Both he and Severian were, after all, emperors.…
02 Apr 2012, 17:43
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OTOH, epistemology is practically what BTNS is about. But I wondered if we might find Aurelius's personality familiar. Just downloaded it---will read it soon!…
02 Apr 2012, 17:42
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Exactly my thought(s). BTNS seems soaked in Hellenistic philosophy. I wanted to be cautious on the gnostic aspect here, but it's not far off. I've wondered if Severian's account o…
02 Apr 2012, 17:23
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True. That term occurs in embedded stories rather than in Severian's mouth at least half the time, which has led me to consider it a kind of secondary belief, i.e., perhaps folkl…
02 Apr 2012, 15:25
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Possibly irrelevantly, I have my own ideas about that word "create." I don't think Wolfe believes God created Man at all, but rather that he brought about human evolution by the …
02 Apr 2012, 13:58
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I think the only significant distinction in Severian's universes between one form of "power" and another (beyond whether it's known or unknown to us, known or unknown to Severian…
01 Apr 2012, 12:28
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The story does seem plausible, doesn't it? That is, that the Dead Man could be alive---until you recall the title.…
31 Mar 2012, 02:40
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Makes sense. Looks like ours used methods ABC: ambush, death roll, hold and drown. The description in your source is slightly different---it doesn't mention the disorienting eff…
30 Mar 2012, 19:42
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And if he was this meticulous that early on, even for a little ghost story, it tells us a little about how he generally regards detail in narration. He's a high-resolution writer, …
30 Mar 2012, 16:37
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I can only add to this that the depth of research needed for this little OMG-I'm-the-ghost ghost story is remarkable. It's not /entirely /convincing, because of the little Orient…
30 Mar 2012, 01:30
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Bite your tongue! His fairies strike me as somehow benevolent and uncaring at the same time, but never malicious. Their rules are rules we humans can barely see or grasp though th…
29 Mar 2012, 20:39
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This makes sense, since humans pretty much occupy the middle of any conceivable ground. We are not wholly rational, but we imagine ourselves to be; we are not immortal, but we so…
29 Mar 2012, 12:11
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Presumably, the need for technology disappears when one becomes a god. But this is not necessarily a sign of /spiritual /advancement.…
29 Mar 2012, 00:40
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That's more the sense I get, yes.…
28 Mar 2012, 22:22
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Yes, the double-standard regarding murder is especially ironic in that light. I don't actually recall that use of "boy"---but then I wouldn't, would I.…
28 Mar 2012, 22:20
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Actually, I think robots and fairies are not too different. I see fairies as strict rule-followers, although often malevolent. Robots are also strict rule-followers, but usually …
28 Mar 2012, 22:10
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Without having read the story (though I will), I want to comment that the "moral robot" has been around at least since Asimov's "3 laws," which basically hardwired robots to be M…
28 Mar 2012, 11:33
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Marc Try this checklist: http://copyright.cornell.edu/policies/docs/Fair_Use_Checklist.pdf I think you're OK.…
24 Mar 2012, 19:04
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21 Mar 2012, 18:13
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I've always wondered what was supposed to have happened to those "other gods." That's a nice observation. I have to wonder what that means. Is the religion separate from the so…
21 Mar 2012, 13:18
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Or, perhaps, Many Christians feel that their religion is superior because/they think/ it is [or is closest to] the truth. Which only makes sense, because the only other reasons …
20 Mar 2012, 22:04
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Still, if no one can tell good religions from bad, what else is there to say about the topic? Why write about it, as Lee asks?…
20 Mar 2012, 18:30
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No. Yes. Because they have an impact on the characters. I think what you may have run into here is that, while there is certainly /conflict, /there may or may not be /developme…
20 Mar 2012, 17:03
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I agree. I don't see how an evolving deity could be anything but an evolving perception of that deity. Plainly, that has always fascinated Wolfe.…
20 Mar 2012, 13:48
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I have all those, so perhaps my library hunted yours down and ate it. That's what a lupine library would do.…
20 Mar 2012, 13:10
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Resending to the list ... That's exactly what I was thinking of.…
20 Mar 2012, 12:08
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Why yes, guvnah. Me and th' boys, we'll be happy ta ... discuss "short stories" with ya. Long as you're payin, that is. Right, Sally? (laughs nastily, takes out greasy blade and …
20 Mar 2012, 01:04
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Bang!…
19 Mar 2012, 22:05
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19 Mar 2012, 20:56
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19 Mar 2012, 20:46
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________________________________ From: Lee Berman <severiansola at hotmail.com> To: urth at urth.net Sent: Monday, March 19, 2012 3:50 PM Subject: (urth) Oannes David Stockho…
19 Mar 2012, 20:45
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19 Mar 2012, 19:57
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19 Mar 2012, 18:56
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________________________________ From: Lee Berman <severiansola at hotmail.com> To: urth at urth.net Sent: Monday, March 19, 2012 10:34 AM Subject: (urth) Oannes Not a coincid…
19 Mar 2012, 16:52
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I see. In essence, you are saying the Outsider is not God, but Dionysius. Right? What I was getting at was whether you saw any parallel between ANY sign (Agia's in particular) a…
19 Mar 2012, 12:26
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OK, but what about the sign itself? SO the Outsider is not the Increate, but a godling? I'm not sure what this means. Does "pagan" mean one-dimensional, in the sense of "represe…
18 Mar 2012, 13:01
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The Victorians link the older, anonymous tales with the modern writers. We would have little today without them---not Wilde, Dunsany, Lewis, or Tolkien. I don't see much of them …
17 Mar 2012, 15:53
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Apparently only by conflation with Oannes, because Dagon was originally a grain-god. However, Dagon is part of the chain of identifications, which includes Pan: Dagon, Fish-god …
17 Mar 2012, 14:04
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Just for the record, I can't find the "dull" MacDonald story I thought I was looking for, and I can only guess it's buried among the many ebook collections of his fiction on my o…
17 Mar 2012, 04:08
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And isn't Oannes the Babylonian fish god?…
17 Mar 2012, 01:13
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Hey, I didn't mention Tebow.…
16 Mar 2012, 22:10
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________________________________ From: Lee Berman <severiansola at hotmail.com> To: urth at urth.net Sent: Friday, March 16, 2012 3:31 PM Subject: (urth) Fish But there's the …
16 Mar 2012, 20:39
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I plan to read it to my daughter when she's old enough---in a year or two. That's why I collected all the MacDonald I have, though there was a selfish motivation as well. I have…
16 Mar 2012, 20:32
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________________________________ From: Lee Berman <severiansola at hotmail.com> To: urth at urth.net Sent: Friday, March 16, 2012 10:15 AM Subject: (urth) Lupiverse(es) For s…
16 Mar 2012, 18:58
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16 Mar 2012, 17:27
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Golden Key: THAT's the one. Dull, dull, dull, dull, dull. ;) Try some of his short stories and novellas: Photogen and Nycteris (aka Day Boy & Night Girl, aka Son of the …
16 Mar 2012, 17:11
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________________________________ From: Lee Berman <severiansola at hotmail.com> To: urth at urth.net Sent: Friday, March 16, 2012 10:15 AM Subject: (urth) Lupiverse(es) So we h…
16 Mar 2012, 17:10
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