Posted from 2 addresses as Jeff Wilson, Jeffery Wilson clueland.com, Jeffery Wilson
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This power might be inherited, and may also be what is required for an eidolon to instinctually become real again. In that case, it could support both (IIRC Borski's) theory that…
20 Jan 2008, 19:04
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Funny enough, but didn't we establish that the previous Autarch knew Severian was being lined up as his successor a minimum of several months before needing to offer the final br…
10 Jan 2008, 03:58
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But Severian is also the Autarch, the Epitome of Urth - so it's a willing, self-sacrifice as far as that goes. (Severian survives, but is no longer Autarch or epitome of anything…
09 Jan 2008, 07:48
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It may not be Sev1 so much as the lack of time remaining. With the White Fountain scheduled to arrive in 40-50 years, there may only be time for one or two more Autarchs, dependi…
08 Jan 2008, 02:51
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...except that they are. As I recall, the good Doctor uses the phrase to describe when a moment in time is uncertain and resolves in favor of preventing a larger paradox by using…
24 Dec 2007, 15:05
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The more infrequent the contact the more important the technological edge the garrison has over the locals, and the stronger the ties between the vassal and the absentee ruler …
22 Dec 2007, 15:46
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The way it was done by rules from Alexander to Victoria: by proxy through stationary vassals, the individual territories garrisoned with loyal forces superior to any the locals a…
22 Dec 2007, 06:14
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Possible - Typhon's "dry" dialogue indicates he is familiar with some form of suspended animation that might allow STL travel between multiple stars by a particular person, but t…
22 Dec 2007, 05:01
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The black hole-white hole model has been deprecated for a few decades now, so this is mainly a humorous answer, but current standard model wormholes would involve negative mass c…
22 Dec 2007, 04:45
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Rather, we know that Wolfe is particularly well-read for a mortal. He may very well know about the asteroid deficit, which would explain why he doesn't offer it (or anything else) …
21 Dec 2007, 19:34
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Did he? Can you point out the relevant text?…
21 Dec 2007, 04:00
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Given that Sev1 succeeded in becoming Autarch but failed in Yesod, a pro-New Sun agent may have arranged for a change in history to drown him, clearing the way for another candid…
20 Dec 2007, 06:57
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Absolutely. The books should not be taken as hard SF, and attempting to do so produces all sorts of paradoxes and contradictions. It came to me today that Ash is not the harbinge…
18 Dec 2007, 05:10
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The Ship *is* a form of FTL, with time travel as a side effect of combining FTL and relativity. This is evident from Severian's descriptions of the external universe seen while t…
17 Dec 2007, 15:54
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"'Once I ruled this planet and many more.'" "'My physicians, of whom I naturally had the best of many worlds...'" "'My astronomers had told me that this sun's activity would decay …
17 Dec 2007, 02:05
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As I said, there are not enough asteroids to do so. At best, they add up to about 30% of the moon's mass. It would be on the same order of magnitude as moving Urth herself. Howe…
16 Dec 2007, 19:36
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Not necessarily. Being fluid, the atmosphere is subject to positive feedback in that the tidal forces cause it to rise in a bulge, getting closer to the primary and thus being su…
16 Dec 2007, 19:14
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Current (and 1980) physics says the radioactive elements within the earth will keep its core and mantle molten for billions of years, until the sun becomes a red giant and engulf…
16 Dec 2007, 00:39
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Lune may look bigger because it is closer. "...the green, reflected light that fell from the myriad leaves of the Forest of Lune, fifty thousand leagues away." (if an Urthly leag…
15 Dec 2007, 22:15
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Ouch! I presume he glossed over the necessary C-section?…
15 Dec 2007, 09:32
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I thought it was Scylla, or one of that lot. though, I suppose they could have done it with some Hiero Not a degreed geologist, but proper orgenesis takes millions of years as d…
15 Dec 2007, 09:25
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The shared ancestry among primates is explained by induced mutation, but no explanation is made to connect primates with the rest of earthly life. To be sure, that part is meta…
08 Dec 2007, 16:08
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That in particular, yes.…
08 Dec 2007, 16:00
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Sure thing. But, he's not truly a hard SF writer, though he puts on such a good show that most people don't notice he's swept the fossil record under the rug, for example.…
07 Dec 2007, 05:09
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Tony said: So not only was Severian interred multiple times before his birth, but he was the tomb builder as well?…
05 Dec 2007, 22:14
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However, a symbol has to be recognized and properly identified in order to convey the intended meaning. I suppose the symbolism could be intended solely for the reader and have n…
04 Dec 2007, 04:57
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The very same flub to which I was alluding. (It appears in "A Cask of Amontillado", for those playing at home.)…
03 Dec 2007, 11:13
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I think the tender would primarily resemble a sailing vessel in that it would be likely to have a seaworthy hull for water landings and taking advantage of less-sophisticated …
03 Dec 2007, 10:51
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Pimsley says "natant" means swimming to the right, and applies to fish. Calling floating "natant" seems as figurative as sailing being called "volant".…
03 Dec 2007, 09:44
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Rather, it is subtle about different things than non-heraldic illustration. The relative position of heraldic animals' body parts, for example, conveys considerable information, …
29 Nov 2007, 05:31
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If "ship" can come to include "rockets and four masters and magical space time machines that traffic with other universes" over millenia, why must "volant" remain fixed in stone?…
29 Nov 2007, 04:53
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Then the ship on the tomb could be a picture of any thing remotely resembling a non-wheeled vehicle?…
29 Nov 2007, 00:06
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But it has to visually resemble *some* kind of ship to be recognizable as such, and... Apparently, there is only one capital-s Ship, distinguished from other, lesser ships by its …
28 Nov 2007, 21:12
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Volant means flying, but could figuratively mean the ship is depicted moving swiftly under sail power, vide The Flying Dutchman.…
28 Nov 2007, 20:41
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Do you have a cite supporting this? A bas relief of the Tzadkiel (polygon cross-section, with masts on all sides) would not really resemble a single water vessel. "Argosy" can be…
28 Nov 2007, 05:48
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I believe this is foreshadowing of the whole hting about aquastors, eidolons, and other projected people. I've always taken this to be a sign that the Citadel and the House Abso…
27 Nov 2007, 03:48
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Welcome to the monkey house, Pedro. Bionics (in the literal meaning of "mimicing life") seem to be fairly common in Severian's era, thus the confusion over Jonas' true nature, …
18 Nov 2007, 23:04
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Please do not use colors and other non-standard fancy formatting in e-mail intended for members of the general public; it makes the baby Theoanthropos cry and opens several cans …
16 Nov 2007, 14:56
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sorry, I meant "on Ushas".…
15 Nov 2007, 04:41
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Doesn't he? If the people who worship The Sleeper aren't on Briah, where are they? Their "tent" is more like a circus big-top made from advanced fabric that resists combustion a…
15 Nov 2007, 02:40
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There might be an admixture of Teilhard de Chardin in that through aeons of effort, mankind achieves salvation by producing/becoming the grace-giving Godhead. The cyclic nature o…
04 Oct 2007, 15:15
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"How I Lost the Second World War and Helped Turn Back the German Invasion" is an alt-hist story that involves the quantum mechanics of transistors.…
06 Aug 2007, 00:30
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My thought is that the body is that of a particularly loyal, devoted follower, and he is there personally to secure it for use in further binding and perhaps even converting peop…
26 Jul 2007, 00:14
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Baldanders may be taking the pessmistic, worst-case scenario that the Fountain's tides will be strong enough to remake the land as well as the water. Or, Baldanders may be simp…
25 Jul 2007, 05:36
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If the White Fountain is indeed a white hole, intended to undo the effect of the "black beans", it need not be on the order of a star in gravity well, only on the order of the be…
24 Jul 2007, 07:14
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If the neandethals were human, why is there a distinction made?…
21 Jun 2007, 01:03
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Because of the dual meaning of Aryan (notional fair-skinned race vs. Indo-European root culture). The movie opens with Ibn Faldan, an exiled Persian, being sent to Scandanaavia, …
20 Jun 2007, 12:35
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*snicker* This is literally the premise of _The Thirteenth Warrior_/_Eaters of the Dead_.…
20 Jun 2007, 01:58
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Perhaps _VRT_ imitates the cat to bite Marsch, then waits a day or two to make sure the sample takes and he can now imitate Marsch, then kills him? The other accounts of abo imit…
10 May 2007, 14:06
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you are welcome, and welcome to the list. But please, please, please, trip your replies, especially since you are using digest mode. you can read about best posting practices her…
08 May 2007, 03:57
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