5 quoted lines
alga wrote:
I think we need to
think about where Vodalus stands with regard to Ascianism--is he really a heartfelt ally, or just taking advantage of the fire-power?
Adam Stephanides wrote:
I think that the contrast between Urth returning to the stars through its own efforts (as Vodalus advocates), and Urth's relying on the help and guidance of the Hierodules--and, by analogy, between two different theories of salvation--is key to the book
The Autarchy and the Ascians are solutions to the same problem. That is, the people of Urth went to the stars, brought war and destruction, and were chastised by the placement of the black hole in the Sun. The cause is the inborn nature of humanity ("original sin," perhaps?). Both the Commonwealth and Ascia are attempting to keep mankind away from the stars until it is "perfected" or "cured" or "saved" (or whatever). Vodalus clearly rejects this point of view, proposing to recover Urth's empire, presumably with him at the head of it.
This is all pretty explicitly in the book, aside from whether the black hole was placed deliberately or it's just a funny coincidence. We are told all this by someone (the old Autarch, I think) lecturing Sev, in Citadel. It starts with an explanation of why the roads are closed.
I refer again to C. S. Lewis's position, explicated somewhat in Out of the Silent Planet et seq., that space travel (or possibly only space colonization) and immortality are sins. This is a thread not far below the surface in much of New Sun and even in other works by Wolfe.
-- Dave Lebling
(aka vizcacha)