Digest urth.v019.n016

Catherine is the daughter of an armigette (Valeria) and an exultant (Caesidias), so she may be less than full exultant height. She probably also has no khaibit (since I doubt her father is going to use her as a hostage concubine); hence no heightening or rejuvenating hormones. (Is this what you meant, SBear?)

Speaking of larvae, anyone willing to accept the notion that Famulimus and Barbatus are short-lived larvae, and Ossipago is the Hierodule version of Mr. Million? I'm also leaning toward the theory that Camoena (the Cumaean) is the adult mother, with Merryn (who addresses her as "Mother" and is described herself at least once as a "famula" [cf. Famulimus]) another larval form. It's also possible the living statues of the House Absolute are an intermediate stage, either pupae or eggs. One last question for raster on the Claw's disappearance: when and how do you think the Claw winds up in Sev's sabertache? Is it after the altar crash, meaning that injured Agia, with her wits still about her, limps over, picks up the Claw, limps back over to unconscious (or dead) Sev, whereupon she puts it in in his sabertache, because she knows she's gonna be eventually stripsearched by the high nun of the Pelerines? Because I've never believed Agia's involvement; if she's not looking for coins as her brother suggests when Sev comes to visit her and Agilus in his cell, I believe she's looking for Sev's whetstone, which she knows is in his sabertache. Sev also doesn't notice he has the Claw until just before the Pelerines torch their cathedral tent, which is, what, two days after the fiacre crash? Leaving me still perplexed as to how and when the Claw made its way into Sev's possession in the first place.

Wolfe

In my opinion, cheap writing elements are much more accessible to ordinary folk. Wolfe's fiction is not, and he may well have died before someone came along (if ever) and figured out the various genealogical timeloops I've proposed (this presupposes they're right, which they may not be).

That's why I post to the list, rather than submit to non-electronic media. I'm old and I don't care to have my work published posthumously.

John Clute is probably the pre-eminent sf/fantasy critic and even he's not immune to wild and wooly Wolfean exegesis. Or haven't you read his essay in STROKES (since disclaimed) about how Catherine and the old autarch are one and the same (a theory I would have been crucified for if I'd been the first to propose it)?

Stinky the First (ne Reechy) aka Ymar the Almost Just was a torturer autarch. And I'm not sure what you mean by a RNA transfer (especially since in all likelihood Palaemon isn't human).

prion: in my opinion, the man is a figment of Daisy's imagination. Read Henry James' "Turn of the Screw," followed by Edmund Wilson's seminal essay "The Ambiguity of Henry James," and then maybe go back to my post on ILGC in the archives. Or maybe he's now Norma(n) Bates. Robert Borski

At 23:03 1998-10-11 -0500, Robert Borskiwrote:

Yes, that was it.

Did I miss something? Also, what was the evidence for the Cumaean being called Camoena? Or the Autarch being Appian? I do know what Kieran meant about RNA, though: there was a theory around for a while that RNA was the carrier of memory. Back in the 1970's (ish) someone taught planarian worms to run a T-shaped maze, then fed them to other planarian worms, and put those worms into the maze. They appeared to guess which way to turn more often than chance would allow. There naturally followed a lot of stories based on that, often making much of the cannibal belief that you could absorb your enemies' strength and other virtues by eating them. This account is taken from what I recall of the introduction to one such story, so it may not be scientifically or historically accurate, but it reflects the author's understanding, which is what matters here. The experiment seemed to suggest that memory must be carried chemically (cell structures wouldn't survive being ground up and eaten) and RNA was a favorite contender for the role. I believe the theory has gone away now, though. Spectacled Bear.