Posted from 2 addresses as Jeff Wilson, Jeffery Wilson clueland.com, Jeffery Wilson
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I don't think we can square that figure with Sev's account of the masts and sails early in URTH. Also, regular solar sails of even that scale aren't adequate to propel the Ship o…
11 Jun 2008, 18:29
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Er, wasn't it one of Typhon's children who threw "black beans on the grave of the sun"? They would have had access to several ships who could have been used to as magnetic tongs…
11 Jun 2008, 03:34
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Other than Butler, they'd all outlived the majority of their peers outside the field, and were fortunate to have had long, productive lives beyond what was expected in the times …
11 Jun 2008, 03:23
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She does use of a sort of dimensional portal to deposit Severian back on the Ship, already back in Briah, and is visible to him for a while after. (URTH, late Ch 22 - early Ch 23…
11 Jun 2008, 03:03
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It may be a Twain reference, but there was also an historic example on February 29, 1504 involving Columbus and a lunar eclipse, from whence the story element springs.…
11 Jun 2008, 01:08
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LEO velocity is about 5 miles per second, so each second of eclipse is 5 miles worth of ship, plus the penumbra penalty (altitude times twice the tangent of the sun's arc width (…
11 Jun 2008, 01:07
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That would make it only about 80 miles up, a rapidly decaying orbit to be sure. It would have to have some form of lift to let it hover in place anyway, because at orbital speeds…
10 Jun 2008, 15:00
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We don't know this is true within the context of the books. Several examples of antigravity (the throne room and the fliers to name two) are provided that might be parleyed into …
10 Jun 2008, 09:29
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The timeline of change is fairly arbitrary. The factoid about light emitted in the core of the sun taking millions of years to reach the surface is technically correct according …
10 Jun 2008, 06:59
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How can we objectively distinguish between the two cases? Otherwise, you're merely substituting your judgment for theirs in determining if the Increate "really" wants them to do …
09 Jun 2008, 04:23
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Your reasoning here is almost air-tight, except that 1) time travel makes all the time-conditional predicates suspect. 2) a very common Wolfe theme is an evil person's misdeed furt…
08 Jun 2008, 08:28
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I don't see the narrative presenting "appears in the sun" as an alternative possibility to "travels to the sun". It could be that the fountain-like flux of energy will only turn …
07 Jun 2008, 23:58
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This doesn't strike me as embarassing, and Severian seems to get a bit of a vicarious thrill from imagining their coupling.…
07 Jun 2008, 03:01
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So are the overwhelming majority of crucifixions, yet the cross is still a positive symbol for Christians. I'm comparing them chiefly in the capacity of people to honor their …
06 Jun 2008, 07:43
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Mechanical limbs, animal parts on otherwise human bodies, human faces on animals, and relics of many epochs are everyday sights around Nesus and the Citadel; I doubt leather made…
05 Jun 2008, 02:16
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Why not? The greatest sacrifice to honor the greatest sacrifice.…
05 Jun 2008, 02:09
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Pringles inventor and plant inspector interred in Pringles' can: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080531/NEWS0104/805310357/1060/NEWS01 http://preview.tinyur…
01 Jun 2008, 20:05
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If you combine these concepts, the Roche or Drotte mistake could be a redaction error where for example a fourth boy's presence was elided by inconsistently assigning his dialogu…
01 Jun 2008, 08:01
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There is a problem in that Urth's history seems to include a Christian era as well. The millions of years figure is more figurative than literally believeable; how likely are re…
01 May 2008, 21:53
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Urania of Uranus urgently yet urbanely urinated uranium hexafluoride on the urban landscape, abating the urticaria of Urkel, an Uruguayan ursine.…
24 Apr 2008, 20:46
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Some of the list links are saying there's no list now. Did something happen? I can't get to the most recent archives as it is.…
07 Mar 2008, 20:16
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Perhaps there are similar lacunae in the book, not as obvious?…
27 Feb 2008, 06:03
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For those who prefer reading detective stories to enacting them: http://www.siriusfiction.com/…
25 Feb 2008, 23:08
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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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