Subject: (urth) Mirrors, Apports

From: m.driussi <m.driussi at genie.geis.com>
Date: Tue, 17 Feb 1998 15:56:00 +0000

[Posted from URTH, a mailing list about Gene Wolfe's New Sun and other works]

Reply:  Item #0858372 from URTH at LISTS.BEST.COM@INET#

Kieran Cleary,

Re: the endpoint destination from magic mirrors in Briah, in "The
Cat" we are told creatures which enter the circle are "circumfused
to the borders of Briah" (ES, p. 214); the autarch offers a shortcut
to "the Garden (Yesod)" when he shows Severian the book of mirrors
(II, ch. 21)--true, this could be just a shortcut to the ship Tzadkiel,
similar to the shortcut to the ship Tzadkiel used from the interior of
worldship Yesod (V, ch. 23) . . .

Borders of Briah, hmmm.  "Borderlands" in this context seems more
like Brook Madregot or corridors of time if it is not Yesod.
"Circumfused" uses the image of "spread out" which is used in other
cases of talking about mirror destinations, or so I believe.

Re: apports.  Based upon the one case we have, apports seem to be
reflections (of sailors who pass in front of the mirrors) that come
to life on their own.  Are all apports really spawn of Hierogrammates
as Venant was of Tzadkiel?

=mantis=

---

From: Kieran Cleary <kierannwn at tinet.ie>
Date: Tue, 17 Feb 1998 16:41:06 +0000

er, well I haven't read "The Cat", so I'm not sure what the "circle" you're
referring to is.

>to life on their own.

I really don't think this is so. The ship's hold contains the caged apports,
and in fact the Tzadkiel-sliver which comes to resemble Severian is assumed
to be one. The ship's sails accidentally act as mirrors and, as in the case
of the Fish, images are created *without an object*, which subsequently come
to form real beings. Gunnie finds it funny that the apports may be important
people on their own worlds, but are snatched away and caged in hold of the
ship. Problem here though in that Fr. Inire says that a coherent light
source (laser) is required for anything more complicated than the Fish to
form. The ship is presumably driven by starlight which is non-coherent.
Hmmm.

Kieran C.

North West Labs
Finisklin Industrial Estate
Sligo
Republic of Ireland

Tel. +353 71 69441
Fax. +353 71 69451
email: kierannwn at tinet.ie