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Thanks for calling this to our attention, David. I poked around a little and found this about Loganstones, which I found to be relevant and of interest: Perhaps there is a loose a…
12 Aug 2013, 13:01
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Not at all, Marc. Wolfe himself makes it clear that all things have multiple levels of meanings. It was just striking how Jeff's post suggested a "ploughman's" meaning which I had…
06 Aug 2013, 11:28
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So we are back to the original topic of this thread- Is the Severian we know a product of time travel or cloning? The simple elegance of this equation is very appealing to me. It …
05 Aug 2013, 15:21
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I would say yes with the amendment to "previously been used on earth before". Wolfe's use of the word khaibit and its omission from the OED is clear evidence that he goes beyond En…
05 Aug 2013, 15:00
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I borrowed my definition from this old research document: http://www.masseiana.org/on_the_shade.htm It is a few paragraphs down from the top. Interestingly, it mentions eidolons al…
02 Aug 2013, 13:06
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I think she is darker skinned, making her resemblance to Severian less. I think she and all those people are meant to represent the darker skinned natives we'd find around Lake Tit…
01 Aug 2013, 18:25
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I would say that when Severian dies on the Ship and as Apu Punchau, and he is resurrected as an eidolon from his own dying mind/memories, that is as close to the Coptic definition …
01 Aug 2013, 18:12
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Damn, you are on such a roll. Brilliant connection. I agree that Yesod and the concept of ever reborn universes implies spiritual progression. But I think you are showing that Wolf…
01 Aug 2013, 11:35
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I like this idea David. I could see matter from Yesod appearing silvery in Briah. Reminds me of Asimov's The Gods Themselves, where matter from a higher universe is unstable in a l…
31 Jul 2013, 18:58
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Interesting Marc. The first thoughts which came to my mind when reading your post Were about Wolfe's willingness to create species who seem to be on a higher spiritual plane than…
31 Jul 2013, 18:34
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I agree. I agree I doubly agree. Dr. Crane's assessment mirrors that conflation of head trauma with receiving divine inspiration/communication with God/the gods. And I think Ma…
31 Jul 2013, 14:15
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IIRC, Malrubius explains that he and Triskele, as eidolons, were created from Severian's memories. Later when Severian dies on the Ship and in Apu Punchau's tomb, he is brought bac…
31 Jul 2013, 13:48
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I think Entonio is correct. It doesn't have to be the brain. In his conversation about eating the dead, Ultan likens it to a (70'style) hologram plate in which the entire picture …
20 Jul 2013, 18:15
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I find the blended identities found within inhumi to be very confusing. Likewise for the merged identities within other characters like Babbie, Oreb, Pig, Kypris/Hyacynth, etc. I …
10 Jul 2013, 14:23
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Within the lupine universes, is it possible to not serve the Outsider? In my view of BotNS, we have humans who are "pawns" who can only move one step forward at a time, in contra…
20 Jun 2013, 12:01
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This is very interesting. My first thought was about the notable fact that Dr. Talos plays Gabriel in his own play. I think his red hair and fiendish genius in the arts and scienc…
17 Jun 2013, 12:07
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Thanks for sharing that Marc! You do a nice interview. My next planned Wolfe review is Wizard/Knight but you reminded my of my neglect for Latro which must soon be addressed. (p…
17 Jun 2013, 11:19
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Ditto. Thanks Marc! Very much appreciated.…
21 May 2013, 11:52
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Yes, I think they must be. But I've always thought the same thing; if we really needed more space to live, we've already got 75% of the earth's surface available, not to mention t…
10 May 2013, 16:57
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Funny how perceptions have changed. When I was young, the assumption was that human space travel was so important and necessary we'd have to suffer any long, cryogenic sleep, mut…
10 May 2013, 12:19
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Heh, well, there is that which I had considered (IIRC, ostensibly the wood decks are supposed to be for cold resistance?) But I was thinking more about how the inside of the ship …
10 May 2013, 00:38
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While having all this "belly of the beast" stuff in mind, it reminded me of another idea. Did anyone ever get the impression that perhaps the whole Ship might be Tzadkiel? When Se…
08 May 2013, 13:45
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Heh, yep, I had considered the moistness and textural components to the metaphor also. But, as mentioned, focusing on it as a reference to hair color and possible identity clue al…
08 May 2013, 12:17
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Well sure, but a google search for "baby chicks" produces images of golden chicks in large majority. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw06&bihh1&…
07 May 2013, 02:02
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Yep, I remember the frog experiments. But that's a far cry from producing a human clone, especially considering the mysteries of birth. How did Number Five feel about the process,…
06 May 2013, 15:09
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True. Anyone know of other gynecological references in Wolfe's work? I find this similar to 5HoC. All we have is a closed door lab and some circumstantial evidence of the results.…
06 May 2013, 12:25
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Well, if he is really an immortal, shapeshifting alien then the human concept of "age" doesn't really apply. But presented as a standard BotNS character, Fechin should be old as…
04 May 2013, 03:30
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Thanks, Dan'l. Very informative. It would appear Wolfe chose well for the name Brook Madregot. It would appear to serve no purpose except as a conduit. Tinkerbell Tzadkiel there i…
04 May 2013, 02:58
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Yeah, that art gallery seems to extend across a very long distance from Nessus to the House Absolute. I think the implication is that it is a passageway which does not fully exist …
03 May 2013, 17:14
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Good theories? I don't know about that. But I think it is a reasonable guess to think that Wolfe based part of the character on Russian artist Nicolai Fechin. It took some diggin…
03 May 2013, 12:01
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I appreciate that you put it that way. Just saying "Hethor is Father Inire" is a shorthand but misleading way of saying it. Like Shadow Children and The Neighbors, I think we are …
02 May 2013, 17:27
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Well, the nature of this story almost requires it to be a series of trials and tests, though we, being almost as ignorant as Severian, don't really know that until we are done read…
02 May 2013, 13:05
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Excellent post Gerry. I am reminded of the Pelerine who tells Severian that his (and Urth's) story is more than just a conflict between good and evil. I am also reminded of Tzadki…
02 May 2013, 12:34
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I think it must have been Borski who suggested the ribbons were painted on. But if the mask itself ties Agilus to the Jungle Sorcerers I don't have much of an opinion either way. A…
02 May 2013, 12:07
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I'll only note that Hallvard and the names in his story from his village in the far south are all very nordic-sounding.…
22 Apr 2013, 13:29
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Well, it was actualy David and Thomas who were mulling over the possibility of autarch cloning and literal "self-rule", not me. I get the impression that the commonality and autoc…
22 Apr 2013, 13:18
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This is my view of it also. Has there ever been a devoted, loving husband and father who did not occasionally feel boredom or even resentment toward his family? Who never got too i…
22 Apr 2013, 12:28
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Thanks for inspiring me to look it up. Yeah, "autochthon" does refer to indigenous people and culture, but interestingly the first definition I found was: This recalls the myth o…
22 Apr 2013, 12:12
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The coin by which Vodalus first swayed Seveverian had the face of Appian on it and it was later revealed to be false currency. Symbolism? I had always assumed the falseness of th…
22 Apr 2013, 11:51
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Correction appreciated. Actually Jonas might be a more appropriate messenger of the new which (I think) suggests the exultants have at least some extra- terrestrial origin. (is "ex…
19 Apr 2013, 19:47
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In discussing his extinguishing of some exultant families, Master Gurloes suggests that they are the newest of families on Urth. So I don't think so. There may be certain conclus…
19 Apr 2013, 12:45
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Well, we could debate whether the connection is as broad as "ungulate", in the middle like Gerry's "large, domesticated grass eaters" or a narrow as "bovine". I find that mildly i…
15 Apr 2013, 14:53
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It was a number of years ago. But IIRC, the debate started when someone else speculated that the name of a certain character, (maybe Patera Bull or even Bison?) was suggestive of…
14 Apr 2013, 17:29
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Thanks, Dan'l. I liked that post a lot. Also a good post. We must hope that every thoughtful, analytical poster here has a sort of literary "concience" to tell him/her when he has…
14 Apr 2013, 04:41
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This is along my own personal guess about what is going on beneath the surface of BotNS. Why is the wizened, monkey-like vizier titled "Father"? I suspect he fathered a few of the …
14 Apr 2013, 04:14
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Yeah, I can't remember if it book 5 or 6 of the Dune series but at some point the Duncan Idaho clone remembers his "birth mother" she being essentially a monstrous tube-fed uterus…
12 Apr 2013, 18:52
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I was aware that Wolfe had borrowed from the Byzantine empire to create The Commonwealth and its government but I didn't know Thecla and her fellow autarchial concubines had been…
12 Apr 2013, 12:30
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Your mind works in amazing ways to see these connections. I am tempted to think ascribing so much meaning to street names might be stretching credibility of understanding Wolfe's i…
12 Apr 2013, 12:01
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I truly think so. Furthermore, given the conflation of Horn's children with the inhumi in Short Sun, I think Wolfe takes the human principle of anti-parisitism and demonstrates th…
11 Apr 2013, 21:09
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? Well...then it sounds like we are in agreement. The worlds of 5HoC are like Urth but without a Severian, or B, F and O or Tzadkiel or Yesod. Degenerating with no hope of reprieve…
11 Apr 2013, 21:03
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