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Yes, that was me. Sorry. But I think you have a much stronger case with Hethor re-echoing Simon of Cyrene’s charitable offer, and top marks for spotting this. (Am I the only one, b…
26 Jul 2000, 14:13
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For that matter, just read anything by M John Harrison. He's one of the best, and the least recognised, writers in Britain. Cat lovers might want to start with the Wild Road serie…
12 Jul 2000, 10:23
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I don’t think that Greek myth is the key to this story. There’s a case for seeing the house as the Labyrinth, in which case I would call burly, red-faced Headmaster Seely the minot…
24 Jun 2000, 14:55
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Once again, apologies for resurrecting another topic everyone else go bored of five months ago. Skimming hastily past any reviews or posts on Strange Travelers, I quickly got the …
21 Jun 2000, 16:13
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<g> but... ...you're assuming Tackman has no life outside the story on the page. I'm not sure that GW does. As I've said, this is a story about stories: Wolfe's written a few of th…
20 Apr 2000, 15:13
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No no no no no. He's talking about books. Tackman doesn't realise it, but he's a character in a book. And when we start the book again, there he is, writing his name in the sand. …
19 Apr 2000, 15:49
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Oops, sorry Nigel! I've only read as far as 1-2-3 so I had to pick my way through all the Strange Travelers posts with my eyes squidged half shut. I must have missed yours. Oh wel…
10 Apr 2000, 09:20
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Do I win a prize for being Last Person To Read Strange Travelers? My copy arrived 2 days ago. Apologies for discussing stuff everyone else got bored of months ago. I've got as far…
07 Apr 2000, 15:31
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But there is. We've been down this road before. Right at the very end of The Shadow of the Torturer, Jonas tells the story of the woman who comes back with space with a handful of …
01 Dec 1999, 09:58
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Well, maybe it was me not making -my- point clear :-). The thing is, we don't -know- what Sev does on those subsequent visits to the past, but since TUOTNS ends with him finally, c…
24 Nov 1999, 10:37
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As I understand it, what we see of Sev's Conciliator career is just the start. He can travel the Corridors of time, so he can pop back any time he likes to visit pre-deluge Urth, a…
23 Nov 1999, 17:55
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No, but they're assumed to have. They report conversations word-for-word, they tell us exactly what someone was wearing twenty years after the event. We don't say "oh, so Pip has a…
23 Nov 1999, 11:02
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"The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the…
19 Nov 1999, 13:26
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A boast can still be a fact. If Prince Naseem boasts about his perfect record as a professional boxer he's not lying. I suspect that the instances of forgetting Severian is alludi…
17 Nov 1999, 15:04
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Well, that can be argued either way. You can just as easily say (and I do) that the parenthetical nature of the contradictions shows that GW wasn't thinking too hard when he wrote …
15 Nov 1999, 17:58
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<g> You should try "Eden Sounding", the published extract of Clute's mysteriously un-published novel. An object lesson in how knowing lots of long words and being terribly clever d…
05 Nov 1999, 18:32
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Yes. As usual I'm joining the debate after all the clever stuff has been said, but count me in as a member of the NOT-fairy-tale-logic camp, too. One of the games TBOTNS plays, as…
03 Nov 1999, 18:30
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I suspect that there are as many explanations of postmodermism as there are postmodernists, but my own pet in-one-sentence definition is to say that postmodern art is self-aware ar…
28 Oct 1999, 10:27
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Cheer up, Nutria! I gave Fifth Head to my Dad, who's read plenty of SF but only of the Asimov\Clarke\Heinlein variety, and he was wowed. I gave TBOTNS to my better half, Emma, who…
27 Oct 1999, 09:56
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What would it matter if they did? They're stories. Severian is writing about something that actually happened. We can't expect his narrative to reflect the ideosyncrasies of storyt…
26 Oct 1999, 09:32
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I have to quibble here and say that the Piteous Gate affair -is- explained, see http://www.urth.net/urth/archives/v0010/0151.shtml But I agree that Sev's "sins of omission" are a …
22 Oct 1999, 15:19
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Right culture, wrong tradition. The ancient Greek slingers scratched "strike" on their lead shot in the hope that it would do just that. I may be wrong, but I think there's also a …
29 Sep 1999, 09:45
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The issue of morality runs so deep in Watchmen that I'm reluctant to label anyone as "evil". I certainly wouldn't call Voidt evil in the sense that Hitler was. Hitler was motivated…
16 Sep 1999, 16:50
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Well, I can do Thais: traditionally, that's the name of the Athenian slave\courtesan who encouraged my hero Alexander the Great to torch beautiful Persepolis at the height of a boo…
13 Sep 1999, 11:30
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Again with this "Severian gets lost" thing! :-) People have been raising this one for years, and I've never really understood why. Severian gets lost because getting lost is a gre…
24 Aug 1999, 14:48
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What a fascinating article, Roy! I hadn't even finished it when I started thinking of the "sprawling angel's trumpets" which are the very last words of The Fifth Head of Cerberus.…
19 Jul 1999, 09:56
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And mantis: I like both these ideas, but the trouble is Father Inire says in his letter that Agia remains a plausible commander "as long as the mirrors of the caller Hethor remain…
06 Jul 1999, 08:01
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And I think at a point just after that I explained why Mantis was wrong. <g> Urth Vol. 10, a short post entitled "Meanwhile, back at the gate", for anyone who still thinks what ha…
02 Jun 1999, 08:13
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Robert Borski wrote (of Jonas): No arguments this time :-), just a gloss. I think when Jonas says his father was a craftsman what he really means is that the man who built him was…
28 May 1999, 10:02
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<snip> My mistake, Patri. I didn't realise this list was all about you.…
13 May 1999, 17:56
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Well, it's an example with significant repercussions: the whole thing about Severian's parentage traces back to this one event. Dorcas gives us Ouen gives us Catherine gives us Kat…
11 May 1999, 17:24
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David Lebling joked: Actually, there may be a germ of truth to this. Not about the multiple drafts, obviously, but the "racing through" bit. I can still remember a long ago Gene W…
11 May 1999, 09:39
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So Sidero has a trim waistline for a suit of animated armour; I'm pleased for him. He also has knees and ankles big enough to thrust a booted foot through, and a chest cavity big e…
05 May 1999, 09:42
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Actually, I've never said anything either way about (A). Jonas may be hollow, he may not be. I don't see enough evidence on either side for a constructive debate. But the argument …
29 Apr 1999, 15:49
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Almost. The Conciliator is Christ-like, but he's not Christ. So when Tzad talks about a Conciliator in his universe he -is- talking about another Severian, but not another Christ. …
28 Apr 1999, 13:26
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Thirded. I don't understand why you think Sev's universe can't be ours. The "creation now vanished" Tzad is talking about is his own universe - which may or may not be the same as…
28 Apr 1999, 12:18
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I'm tempted to respond "but you -still- can't have it both ways" <g>. Say for the sake of argument the second quote did only mean "Jonas was an android too". We're still left with …
28 Apr 1999, 11:36
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But we already have a much simpler explanation of what caused the blackout. Barbatus says "'you took power from the ship when you tried to raise your steward.'" Chapter L. No need …
27 Apr 1999, 12:55
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You can't have it both ways, you know :-). If Sidero is the size of a massive man in armour, he is by definition far bulkier than a human being. He isn't just the size of a massive…
27 Apr 1999, 10:55
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Yes. Sidero is a completely different kind of android to Jonas. The mere fact that Severian can climb inside him tells us that he is far more bulky than a human being. There is als…
26 Apr 1999, 15:04
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Am I the only person who feels that we don't need to ask this one? :-) For me, any explanation begins and ends with the words of Master Malrubius, when he tells Severian "In you al…
22 Apr 1999, 12:37
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Oooooooh, you cheeky thing, you. Now when did I -ever- say "If it's not on the web, it can't be true"? I merely cited supporting evidence. I'm inclined to respond that the tactic …
16 Apr 1999, 09:44
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<snip> The similarities are certainly suggestive. But if Severian can give us that vivid description of Katherine, how could he say of the Contessa "her face was not known to me"…
15 Apr 1999, 15:39
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Either you two are missing the point or I am <g>. She isn't "in the role of" the Contessa, she -is- the Contessa. She's being arrested for whatever reason the Contessa was being ar…
13 Apr 1999, 14:51
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Or you could always look for them in archive vol. 12, where they can actually be found <g>. Sorry.…
12 Apr 1999, 17:03
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At the risk of annoying two people at the same time with my obtuseness, Robert Borski has -not- made a solid case that Roy Trenchard is also an abo! There are a dozen different fin…
12 Apr 1999, 12:52
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Yup, we're getting beyond textual analysis and into personal interpretation now, alas. But see my final point in this post, which I really should have remembered earlier. Likewise…
10 Apr 1999, 13:52
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My primary objection to this is artistic. If the Shadow Children really are the descendants of space-travelling humans, why is that fantastic truth handed to us on a plate right fr…
07 Apr 1999, 14:11
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Lots of interesting posts while I was away from my pc for Easter. A few thoughts: Allan Lloyd wrote (of Kevin Malone) Welcome, Allan. I suppose it's too much to hope that your e-…
06 Apr 1999, 12:22
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Actually I'm still wrong, as Mark Millman politely pointed out to me in a private e-mail. The character I was thinking of is actually capital eth. It looks like Ð, if you have the …
31 Mar 1999, 08:51
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