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It may be true that you can't starve a chem to death, Roy, but a talus runs on fish-oil; deny it that, and I do think that you'll succeed in starving it to death. This doesn't, of…
07 Oct 2002, 03:52
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mantis, I, for one, would be interested in hearing your thoughts on "Thou Spark of Blood", if you still feel that you have something to say about it. I can't promise you that it …
18 Jul 2002, 17:56
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Blattid, I believe that you've forgotten "The Cat", which is told by one of the Stewards Odilo (father, son, or grandson--I'm having trouble remembering which). At least one of t…
17 Jul 2002, 08:29
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Yes, I've seen it and like it. It struck me as more of a vignette than a short story, despite its eleven- page length, and as pretty straightforward, even simple. Regrettably, I'…
16 Jun 2002, 19:34
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Blattid, In sharks and bony fish the dorsal fin is part of the skeleton, while the dorsal fins of cetaceans (and, for that matter, of their reptile analogues the ichthyosaurs) are…
15 May 2002, 17:47
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Mr. DiGiacomo, _Letters Home_ is a collection of "all the letters, and fragments of letters, that survive from" Wolfe's service in Korea. He also says in his introduction that "[…
10 May 2002, 20:49
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Darryl, No, it's not true. _Operation ARES_, for which Christopher Culver is looking (it's because of his message that we're discussing this), is Wolfe's first published novel; B…
09 May 2002, 18:33
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Also, the dragon in Ursula LeGuin's Earthsea short story "The Rule of Names" calls himself Mr. Under- hill before his disguise is breached. Before that, he poses as a somewhat ine…
08 May 2002, 17:07
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There appear to be at least three jokes in "Under Hill"; as it's brand new, I leave it to you all to find them. And thank you, Nick Gevers. Mark Millman (Nacre)…
07 May 2002, 19:51
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Adam, Forgive me, but I believe that you may be over-thinking these jokes. Don't forget Wolfe's several references to his sense of humor; when he says that it can make women cry …
23 Apr 2002, 17:50
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Rostrum, I meant both "easier to find than _Crank!_ #3" and "probably easy to find at your local bookstore"--at least two near me have it in stock, though I admit that one is an S…
11 Apr 2002, 18:00
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Marc, I'm afraid that your uncritical acceptance of the 30,000-league figure for Green's distance from Blue may be a bit dangerous; after all, Wolfe's characters make mistakes, co…
07 Apr 2002, 05:04
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mantis, This one's my mistake; since the key at the bottom of the list has _Year's Best Horror_ and not _Best New Horror_, I just assumed BNH was a typo. On checking, _Best New H…
21 Mar 2002, 23:15
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Joe, Welcome to the list; we're very glad to have you aboard. I'm afraid that Mr. Wolfe give Babbie glasses as one of his jokes; Babbie (presumably like many other Bluvian creatu…
09 Jan 2002, 08:58
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Contention welcomed, Dan'l. It's true that only the sentient inhumi specifically target humans; but then it's equally true that these are ex- actly the inhumi that the human popu…
27 Apr 2001, 11:25
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Contention welcomed, Dan'l. It's true that only the sentient inhumi specifically target humans; but then it's equally true that these are ex- actly the inhumi that the human popu…
27 Apr 2001, 11:25
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At the risk of being obvious, allow me to point out that, unlike the inhumi, wolves, bears, sharks, snakes, crocodilians, and the like do not preferentially target humans as thei…
25 Apr 2001, 17:30
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alga, You're thinking of the right person; his series is titled His Dark Materials, and comprises three volumes: _The Golden Compass_; _The Subtle Knife_; and _The Amber Spyglas…
18 Apr 2001, 11:12
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Surely, mantis, Severian is a grandson of Typhon, at nearest, if not a remote descendant. Unless you're prepared to throw out the conclusion that Ouen is Severian's father and D…
08 Feb 2001, 17:31
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Whoops! Thanks for the correction, Ian; and so much for my decaying memory. Nacre *This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun.…
06 Feb 2001, 16:15
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Nutria, I'm afraid I can't agree with your iron theory. Wasn't Quetzal killed by the wound from a slug gun? Furthermore, I believe (though I don't have my Long Sun books here …
29 Jan 2001, 12:18
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Folks, Here's my small contribution to the future form of the Urth and Whorl lists. Personally I prefer two, as I find that it makes threads easier to follow, but it's not a bi…
18 Oct 2000, 09:58
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Folks, Here's my small contribution to the future form of the Urth and Whorl lists. Personally I prefer two, as I find that it makes threads easier to follow, but it's not a bi…
18 Oct 2000, 09:58
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Folks, Here's my small contribution to the future form of the Urth and Whorl lists. Personally I prefer two, as I find that it makes threads easier to follow, but it's not a bi…
18 Oct 2000, 09:58
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Folks, Here's my small contribution to the future form of the Urth and Whorl lists. Personally I prefer two, as I find that it makes threads easier to follow, but it's not a bi…
18 Oct 2000, 09:58
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Odysseus, too, has a thigh wound, though it's old and healed and apparently doesn't cause him to limp. It does, however, serve to identify him to members of his household upon h…
23 Aug 2000, 12:07
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Post please, alga. If the list doesn't agree with me, please include me in the direct mailing. And thank you for your efforts and your generosity. Mark Millman…
07 Aug 2000, 17:36
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I don't know whether this will help anyone, but I tend to visualize a sort of a tailless cross between a naked flying squirrel (substitute lemur or possum for squirrel, as geo- gr…
14 Apr 2000, 15:36
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It is a grim pun, but it may not be quite as bad as Adam suggests. "Inhumation" means "a burial", but doesn't imply that it's a living burial. Merriam-Webster on-line (at http:…
13 Apr 2000, 15:01
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Well, if Silk were in a two-headed Pas-body, he'd certainly be a topic of conversation and very unlikely to pass anywhere with- out notice. We probably won't have much evidence on…
06 Apr 2000, 10:05
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I can't believe that the women from the future are clones of the captured twin; for one thing, the women are the same height as a pair of eleven-year-old girls. For another, th…
28 Jan 2000, 14:14
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"Tall" can also mean proud, brave, or handsome, as in "tall ships" and "tall in the saddle". I suspect that you're right, and Dr. Talos was assessing Severian's usefulness as an …
04 Jan 2000, 10:28
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I just got back from a business trip to England, where I saw people use a dot, not at half-height in the line, but at the bot- tom of the line (just like a punctuation period), to …
23 Dec 1999, 09:47
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Whoops! Sorry, mantis; I should have realized that you weren't attempting to provide a complete explanation of the phenom- enon. I apologize for jumping on you so quickly. Now t…
02 Dec 1999, 10:18
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Of course nobody uses the term "black hole"--it would ruin Wolfe's carefully crafted diction. But the "worm gnawing at the heart of the sun" and the description of the White Foun…
01 Dec 1999, 14:39
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Clever thought, mantis, but I can't swallow that idea. Master Ash tells us that ice covers the entire globe in his time, which implies a cooling process. Hallvard and Typhon con…
01 Dec 1999, 12:51
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and at 9:13 am 26 October 1999, Mitchell A. Bailey <MAB at lindau.net> responded: Welcome to the list, Steve. You might like to know that our esteemed alga is . . . doubtful . . . …
26 Oct 1999, 10:19
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Ehrm, right. Thank you, Roy. Please revise my last to read, " . . . Fechin's brother- or son-in-law?" Hmm. Not nearly as good this way, I think. But at least it does preserve …
08 Jul 1999, 08:14
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O prophetic cousin bug, are you trying to tell us that "Charon" is Fechin? Mark Millman…
07 Jul 1999, 14:17
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I have always contended that Father Inire's Hypogeum Apotropaic is a former bomb or fallout shelter, but I suppose it could also be a former launch bunker--it would still be underg…
08 Jun 1999, 17:24
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Yes, I remember your discussion well, and was referring to it. I'm not sure that Wolfe intended this, but I'm choosing to interpret Jonas' phrasing here as being an indication tha…
31 May 1999, 17:13
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" . . . when I was . . . a boy," says Jonas, whose father was a craftsman. Poor Pinocchio! He's a puppet again! Mark Millman…
29 May 1999, 10:15
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And at 5:53 pm GMT, William Ansley replied: I can't say it any better, and so I won't try. Thank you, Ranjit. Whut he sed. Mark Millman…
24 May 1999, 08:24
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Surely the "dark lubricant" is actually blood; it would be typical of Severian to misidentify it. Since Sidero is, at least metaphorically (but quite likely, at least in part, lit…
26 Apr 1999, 08:39
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He had been experiencing operating difficulties--his browser would crash and bring down his computer every time he tried to do extensive research in the archives--and I suppose he …
16 Feb 1999, 08:56
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And at 8:32 am, Tony Ellis replied: If I recall correctly, some of the "low-tech" features of Ste. Croix and Ste. Anne are presented as secondary simplifications. For example, I …
16 Feb 1999, 08:51
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As it happens, the Maori also preserved trophy heads (part of the object was to preserve the victim's tattoos), although I don't belive that they shrunk them. It certainly is the …
05 Feb 1999, 10:51
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Oh, no, Rostrum. "Peritonitis" should definitely be Mother's Day, but I have the same reservations about actually making that suggestion as you do about using "All the Hues of Hel…
12 Jan 1999, 13:56
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I haven't read any of her stuff myself, but Suzette Hayden Elgin publishes a magazine devoted to linguistics in sf, and I understand that it's an im- portant theme in her work. I …
30 Oct 1998, 15:25
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Right you are, Peter. The sword, of course, is the more noble instrument, thus aristocrats and gentry "get" (oh, lucky folk) to have it used on them. Part of the reason that the …
23 Oct 1998, 19:17
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