-
It seems to me that the whole idea of TBotNS is that there is a lot going on in the universe that seems supernatural but isn't. So this is an important point. But another idea o…
29 Sep 2010, 11:40
-
I took the sponge comparison as a metaphor. It does not strike me as a biological process. But at least it isn't hostile to life---as so many sci-fi-physics transformations must be…
28 Sep 2010, 19:33
-
With which no one ever tried to mate, one hopes.…
28 Sep 2010, 01:51
-
Not a bad list. (Except for Middlemarch. Bleh!)…
28 Sep 2010, 00:17
-
Which kind of proves my point, doesn't it? Sounds like the biological equivalent of handwavium! --- On Mon, 9/27/10, Gerry Quinn <gerryq at indigo.ie> wrote: From: Gerry Quinn <g…
27 Sep 2010, 19:23
-
Follow-up: I think Mr Million died when he was scanned. So it's not impossible. But Typhon did not. --- On Mon, 9/27/10, Nicholas Jost <nickjost at yahoo.com> wrote: From: Nichol…
27 Sep 2010, 18:47
-
Perhaps, but I believe Severian observes that Little Sev was pretty well fried. That suggests that energies were expended in frying him, causing the flash, whether or not some kind…
27 Sep 2010, 18:46
-
Aha! Remarkable. Bad example, then. Let's say "silicon-based." --- On Mon, 9/27/10, Dan'l Danehy-Oakes <danldo at gmail.com> wrote: From: Dan'l Danehy-Oakes <danldo at gmail.com>…
27 Sep 2010, 18:34
-
Another possibility is that Wolfe simply chose to ignore those complications. As an engineer, he is sometimes very technical---see the remarkably elegant explanation presented in t…
27 Sep 2010, 18:27
-
If he was born on Urth, and had to conquer Urth, that would tend to rule out any previous association with the existing empire, either for him or for Urth. But it's still possibl…
27 Sep 2010, 12:47
-
Exactly.…
27 Sep 2010, 11:53
-
Actually, the assumption that at least most life in the NS/LS/SS universe has the same biochemistry. The inhumi feed on both humans and Neighbors, for example. And then you have …
27 Sep 2010, 11:48
-
Severian made the assassin in the corridor come back to life, IIRC, after years. Why not Typhon? He was mummified; you can only be so dead once that happens.…
26 Sep 2010, 13:03
-
My impression is that the mandragora was simply making a comparison. In doing so, he shows that he has better access to Severian's memories than he does himself.…
25 Sep 2010, 12:29
-
I like the theory that Typhon's powers are largely machine-based. It fits with what we know: machines' ability to create aquastors, the Autarchs' words of power (which could be m…
24 Sep 2010, 13:27
-
Je refuse!…
23 Sep 2010, 23:46
-
You're right---but his place in a chain of Monarchs doesn't mean he didn't make himself Monarch by brute force. Monarchs do not always inherit, and their territories can change dra…
23 Sep 2010, 21:04
-
Exactly. I see Typhon as far from a galactic conqueror, that he ruled a handful of star systems. I see him as a minor despot who is a towering figure only because the true emperors…
23 Sep 2010, 21:01
-
In a nutshell, Wolfe loves puns. --- On Thu, 9/23/10, James Wynn <crushtv at gmail.com> wrote: Wolfe doesn't just create easy allegories of other stories. He is interested in myt…
23 Sep 2010, 19:48
-
I see your points, but I don't think they fit well with the general idea of BotNS---things like the stated modeling on the Byzantine and Roman empires. First, if you are born in th…
23 Sep 2010, 17:17
-
Such a propaganda campaign sounds more like Heinlein. Again, think of the thousands of slaves that would have been required to build the Tower of Babel or any other great wonder …
22 Sep 2010, 23:17
-
Plus, the fact that he "chose to make Urth his capitol" at least opens up the possibility that he's from somewhere else, not to mention that the source of his powers is still unk…
22 Sep 2010, 23:13
-
Indeed! --- On Wed, 9/22/10, Ant?nio Pedro Marques <entonio at gmail.com> wrote: From: Ant?nio Pedro Marques <entonio at gmail.com> Subject: Re: (urth) Short Sun blog review To: …
22 Sep 2010, 17:48
-
I agree. Point taken about the probable lack of television exposure as we know it, but an even better comparison might be to the Tower of Babel---whose building was an act of hubri…
22 Sep 2010, 15:58
-
I guess disagree with the "cool" proposition in the first place. I also disagree with Moody in calling the "return" to the Urth-Sun universe "nostalgic." Why should Wolfe create …
22 Sep 2010, 02:36
-
Since there must have been an ancient period of slowboat colonization of at least several nearby star systems---probably more than Typhon ruled---the mere sending of a colony ship …
21 Sep 2010, 20:26
-
Exactly. You'd think the reviewer would have checked this before blogging, since he makes a point of it. Instead, he assumes all his assumptions are fact. Also, the sun is not a re…
21 Sep 2010, 17:05
-
Yes, "ultimately we don't care much." Talk about unreliable---he could have been honest and said "I, Tom Moody." What I especially don't understand is how the reviewer can see that…
21 Sep 2010, 15:06
-
Perhaps the knife is not dissimilar to the one Severian uses to split the skull of the old Autarch.…
17 Sep 2010, 11:44
-
In fact, if one wants to take the fact that Wolfe modeled the Commonwealth on Byzantium (with the Korean War thrown in for local color) to its logical conclusion, the period before…
16 Sep 2010, 21:23
-
Not to reintroduce last month's debate topic of whether Urth and the Whorl are in "our" future or not, and thus whether the Commonwealth's state religion was a decayed Catholicis…
15 Sep 2010, 00:42
-
I emphatically agree with the following: --- On?Mon, 9/13/10, James Wynn?<crushtv at gmail.com>?wrote: But the idea that Typhon was egotistically--let alone "manically"--obsessed …
13 Sep 2010, 19:39
-
The Vironese naming system may have been made up by Typhon's people, or it may have been a relic of another time unfamiliar to us but just as "real" as Dutch, or both (i.e., the Wh…
13 Sep 2010, 15:20
-
Yes! I knew there must be some reason Wolfe chose them, other than pointing to an Earthly past. I wonder if Typhon's intent was to erase all memory of Urth in peoples' names. Na…
10 Sep 2010, 11:53
-
She has a lot to say, but I'm not sure she has much importance as a character. She seems to present some Catholic-type ideas, insofar as that is possible, as well as to explain …
09 Sep 2010, 23:27
-
Of course, no "Anglo" name has a simple history. But these are plainly British:* * ---Warren (/woh-renn/), of old Germanic <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Germanic> origin, is …
08 Sep 2010, 11:56
-
Jolenta also has the worst metaphors: pores and perspiration. Neither one quite works; they are ludicrous. Each one perfectly matches its user.…
08 Sep 2010, 02:25
-
Presumably. I like all three theories, however.…
07 Sep 2010, 22:34
-
Excellent argument. Even if Orchid's other name was somehow latent rather than a straightforward surname, the glass can't have an in-group relation with anyone.…
07 Sep 2010, 22:32
-
Which were the Anglo names? Were they trades, like Baker or Chandler?…
07 Sep 2010, 22:28
-
Thanks for the names, Roy. However, they generally don't test the hypothesis. Let me restate my hypothesis so it can be tested: every (human) character has two names; one name i…
07 Sep 2010, 12:48
-
I meant the family name would remain, but would be unspoken, not that the son's name would become the new family name. As I said, family = animals, children = parts. Or more like…
06 Sep 2010, 21:41
-
Is it possible that paternal/family names are animals, and children's/first names are usually parts or products of those animals? It just occurred to me that someone said Blood w…
06 Sep 2010, 20:25
-
Ahh, I wondered if there might be a way to get Texas on that list ...…
06 Sep 2010, 13:45
-
Of course, Philly is not the only Philadelphia, historically. The Greeks had a few. However, it doesn't seem quite on a par with the others ... it ought to be a literary referen…
06 Sep 2010, 03:49
-
Why?…
05 Sep 2010, 23:16
-
Which they apparently did not implement in naming their own children ... perhaps fortunately.…
03 Sep 2010, 13:37
-
I never heard of that plant. It fits the stated naming rules better than the fabric, although those associations are not invalidated by it but strengthened. Here's an image: htt…
03 Sep 2010, 13:32
-
Well done. Are there any characters named Spider? But since silk is an animal product, Chenille can't be named for a fabric derived from it. It has to be cotton that she is named…
03 Sep 2010, 02:23
-
It's not easy to decide where to draw the line. Wolfe explains his naming system as little as he possibly can. On one hand, Hide, Sinew, and Horn are related names---names you mig…
02 Sep 2010, 20:46
Urth Net