-
The Old Wise One - for reasons that are explained, so I don't think it's important - becomes unclear, not about what happened on Sainte Anne, but about which of the two races was o…
08 Aug 2014, 12:45
-
He did forget it, or at least it never percolated to the forefront of his consciousness, until he started trying to think of a remarkable event in his life, and could not. Then …
07 Aug 2014, 13:58
-
This part is also where he points out some difficulties with Veil's hypothesis and finishes with "I call it Liev's Postpostulate. I am Liev and I have left." I think perhaps he…
07 Aug 2014, 13:44
-
I ofteh wondered about that name myself, but I don't have any ideas for it. Could it be verbalised binary code? In the end, I doubt it is important to the interpretation anyway…
06 Aug 2014, 21:56
-
Indeed, that is the extraordinary event. The point of the story is its implications. There's also the question of *why*, to which it seems we are given no answer. - Gerry Quin…
06 Aug 2014, 13:22
-
I think it is a twist on the theme of romantic love. The narrator *doesn't* ever meet the woman who should have been the love of his life. We are told early that he had two bri…
06 Aug 2014, 12:57
-
No, they are from a herb with warty grey leaves and yellow flowers. He survives, but the ill-named Sweetmouth laughs at him because as a eunuch he has not developed secondary sex…
06 Aug 2014, 12:33
-
They - in the shape of the Old Wise One talking to Sandwalker - tell us the story of how Sandwalker's people were a race of shape-changers who imitated the original human explore…
06 Aug 2014, 12:21
-
Fair enough. The last one is interesting. He immediately references the original Marsche's interview with Mrs. Blount, in which she describes playing with abos as a child, and …
06 Aug 2014, 12:18
-
"He always washed after he had a woman.. the wash was not only a prophylactic precaution, but a sensual experience" I'm not sensing his terror of being turned into an alien monst…
06 Aug 2014, 12:10
-
Marc, all I can say is: re-read the full page or two before the 'brides' (actually 'wives') line. It's ALL a detailed description of the drug-bearing plant and what it does for …
06 Aug 2014, 12:00
-
That's the plant. It's white and without comfort because the drug is used up. Then they wait until sufficient time has passed for safety, and take more of the plant. Why do yo…
05 Aug 2014, 17:14
-
There are no small creatures in the Shadow Child's mouth. "That which swam in my mouth swims in his veins now" is singular - it refers to the drug plant they chew. "And because…
05 Aug 2014, 16:22
-
On 04/08/2014 20:18, Lee wrote: ---------------------------------------- Where, *precisely*, are we given that story? We are given the story of Shadow Children as degenerate hum…
05 Aug 2014, 10:20
-
Shadow Children are referenced only in the second novella of the trilogy. The entire novella takes the form of an SF mystery in which 'scenario 2' is slowly elucidated. In all,…
02 Aug 2014, 11:50
-
The scene definitely has a Wolfean look to it! - Gerry Quinn…
02 Aug 2014, 11:43
-
It could be called 'The Wolfe Short Story Companion' or something. Maybe some clever title could be invented that alludes to the companions that frequently attach themselves to t…
02 Aug 2014, 11:42
-
My impression is that Wolfe is just putting in a bit of sciency justification for teleportation. She teleported away (with the help of her shadow, obviously) as they were walkin…
29 Jul 2014, 18:00
-
When you kill someone (or he dies alone) and you steal his identity, you need to fabricate a story of your own death, and explain why the body can't be found. There's a logical …
28 Jul 2014, 21:27
-
This lie is easy to explain - Victor has taken the place af Marsch, so he must invent a description of his own. And how can he visit his parents? He has become someone else. Al…
28 Jul 2014, 19:46
-
The interview question specifically referred to VRT, and the failure to differentiate the Shadow Children from the Sainte Anne aborigines doesn't really make any difference that …
28 Jul 2014, 16:48
-
Not really, given that it has space to run around inside. The thermal expansion would reduce the space available to it only slightly. In practice, I don't believe there would be…
16 Jul 2014, 23:16
-
For the educated classes in the Commonwealth, the substance would be reasonably familiar, Probably not so much for the common people, But I don't see any issue with the use of a…
16 Jul 2014, 17:36
-
I'd say he might have considered 'quicksilver' but 'hydrargyrum' sounds better. - Gerry Quinn…
16 Jul 2014, 16:25
-
Everybody on the list is interested in discussing the work, and many are fans as well. Perhaps this thread is a case of well-intended fannishness overstepping the mark - it will…
14 Jul 2014, 11:01
-
There is the issue that such a phrase contains a limited amount of information. To successfully choose a plan based on such a phrase, Tamarians would have to be able to analyse …
20 Jun 2014, 21:58
-
That said, it wasn't just one daycare centre, it was several in the same city. That may have struck Disney lawyers as more dangerous than a single centre... - Gerry Quinn…
10 Jun 2014, 12:42
-
From: Andrew Mason Ah right, that figures. - Gerry Quinn…
07 May 2014, 12:34
-
From: Marc Aramini [Forleson] That’s an interesting idea, but I’m still inclined to think of Forleson as metaphor for an ordinary working life (and a cynical take on middle mana…
05 May 2014, 14:58
-
From: Andrew Mason Okay, I'll bite - when and where does it tell us? I can't think of anything in _In Green's Jungles_ that references current events on Urth. There are referen…
05 May 2014, 14:54
-
From: William Graham I always just assumed that either he heard something (Vodalus) and went to investigate, or else Hildegrande (most likely) quietly disposed of him and moved …
03 May 2014, 10:35
-
From: Jonathan Goodwin I think it is not so much bluster as confidence. Typhon conquered many worlds in the past, and he is ready to start over again. If he fails, he fails, b…
28 Jan 2014, 10:38
-
From: Ant?nio Pedro Marques No dia 22/01/2014, ?s 19:35, Piotr Szcz?sny <neternalz at gmail.com> escreveu: I do not see how any language could endure such confusion! - Gerry Quin…
23 Jan 2014, 01:52
-
From: Dan'l Danehy-Oakes Sent: Friday, January 17, 2014 10:49 PM To: The Urth Mailing List Subject: Re: (urth) First Polish edition of Peace Piotr, I think it is attractive and o…
17 Jan 2014, 22:59
-
From: Lee Yes, he comes across as genial but often suddenly prickly at times. <Shrug> I love the books, I'm not actually all that concerned about the author. I don't believe Ty…
30 Dec 2013, 22:48
-
From: Gwern Branwen http://jdbookreview.com/gene-wolfe-no-comparison/ interview: 'Gene Wolfe easily admits to being a supernatural being. How else to explain his famous comment…
29 Dec 2013, 18:08
-
From: DAVID STOCKHOFF Well, NOW you've got me interested. That's one of my all-time favorites. I enjoyed it too. But all I meant was that like _The City And The City_ it is an …
03 Dec 2013, 21:17
-
_Last Letters from Hav_ is probably an early reference point for this genre. - Gerry Quinn From: Daniel Otto Jack Petersen Sent: Monday, December 02, 2013 8:52 PM To: Craig Bre…
03 Dec 2013, 16:49
-
From: Marc Aramini The seal was intact when Silk and Hammerstone peeked through the door. Silk noticed that the lights had come on indicating there was somebody inside (an awake…
09 Nov 2013, 13:46
-
From: Darrell Burgan Welcome! I don't recall anyone coming up with this one before! My interpretation is that it was Mucor saying this, while she possessed Mamelta. It would n…
09 Nov 2013, 11:42
-
From: Gwern Branwen The narrator's voice is quite bizarre, but the story seemed interesting. - Gerry Quinn…
26 Oct 2013, 14:17
-
From: Andreas Johansson Agreed. Indeed, I would argue that "it was Earth all along" (to quote from the Planet of the Apes musical in The Simpsons) is actually too much of an SF…
11 Oct 2013, 10:10
-
From: Andrew Mason The discuission reminds me of Fifth Head of Cerberus, in which all parties (I think particularly of the three groups present on Sainte Anne before the French …
06 Oct 2013, 23:01
-
From: Lee Berman It's possible that they were in contact with elements of MainFrame. Or that they lurked in the tunnels and contacted only selected individuals. Where are we to…
04 Oct 2013, 12:22
-
From: Jason Cassidy Welcome! - Gerry Quinn…
12 Sep 2013, 09:42
-
From: Peter Sun Rogers That's interesting, but I think the actual incident where Severian said the bird belonged to Malrubius was just a lie Severian told to get rid of the heav…
12 Sep 2013, 09:41
-
From: Jeffery Wilson Heh, I was going to mention BOC, along with Rush's Cygnus X-1! - Gerry Quinn…
11 Sep 2013, 00:18
-
From: Gwern Branwen The foreign-language book covers seem better than his English ones, on average. - Gerry Quinn…
09 Sep 2013, 16:04
-
From: Jeffery Wilson The Sun is already rotating, so its matter has angular momentum. Any difference in angular momentum gets magnified as an object shrinks (e.g. spinning skate…
09 Sep 2013, 14:42
-
From: Marc Aramini No, my degree is in engineering, but I have always taken an interest in physics. Half the battle in this sort of thing is developing the confidence to do cal…
09 Sep 2013, 14:30
Urth Net