Subject: (urth) Silkhorn's mission after BotSS

From: Christopher Culver <christopher_culver at yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 05 Oct 2004 09:03:32 +0000

The relatively-new CAMBRIDGE COMPANION TO SCIENCE FICTION includes an
essay which dedicates about a page and a half to Wolfe's solar
works. The overview isn't terribly in-depth, but I found it most
interesting that the writer sees Silk as going on to become "a fisher
of men" among the stars at the end of the Book of the Short Sun.

This changed my view of the ending of the BotSS entirely. I originally
thought it was an inexplicable and cruel abandoning of Blue by
Silkhorn after saving some of his buddies from it (as in the
traditional belief of the Harrowing of Hell). Now, however, I can see
that perhaps Wolfe wanted it to be an optimistic finale in which
worship of the Outsider will spread all over the universe.

Sure, Blue is abandoned by Silkhorn himself, but there are still those
who knew Silk, or read Horn's book, so they know of the Outsider, and
monotheism might continue on, especially if (as Wolfe's Catholic faith
would have it) the Holy Spirit continues its work eternally.

Does the idea of Silk as galactic bringer of good news make anyone
else appreciate the ending of BotSS more?

Christopher Culver

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From: James Wynn <thewynns at earthlink.net>
Date: Tue, 05 Oct 2004 10:12:14 +0000

> Christopher Culver:
>Does the idea of Silk as galactic bringer of good news make
>anyone else appreciate the ending of BotSS more?

Hmmm.. Who will he take the "good news" too? The Neighbors and Inhumi hardly 
needed whatever theological messages the Short Sun Narrator had to offer.

Rather becoming a mere foil for the Whorl pantheon (which in fact, the Whorl 
cannot live without - they're are modules of the Mainframe) it seemed to me 
that the characters who return are supposed to "heal" the pantheon in some 
way (I don't now exactly how). After all, Pas was almost rubbed by his wife 
and at least three children. He returns in pieces really -- and is it likely 
he's yet entirely whole? Then he proceeds to erase Echidna, Scylla, Molpe, 
and Hierax.
Who returns to the Whorl? Silk, Nettle, Seawrack, Marble, and Oreb. A nearly 
perfect analogy of the damaged gods (I grant that Nettle is a bit of a 
wedge-job).

Naturally, Silk's goal would be have the pantheon and their worshipers 
recognize the pre-eminence of the Outsider.

You are probably right about where the Whorl is going, however. It seems 
obvious to me after a year of reflection that the ship was always expected 
to continue on from star to star. Otherwise, what would happen to all the 
"non-Cargo" on the ship? Wolfe has said there will be no more sequels to the 
Silk segment, but I think it would be very interesting to see a couple 
stories on the crew of the Whorl.

~ Crush

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From: Dan'l Danehy-Oakes <danldo at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 05 Oct 2004 10:17:12 +0000

> Hmmm.. Who will he take the "good news" too? 

Ummmm ... perhaps this is a literal reading of "In my Father's house 
there are many mansions."

-- 
www.livejournal.com/users/sturgeonslawyer
No president who has presided over Abu Ghraib should ever 
say he wants to put anyone on a leash. That's all.
     --Andrew Sullivan

---

From: James Wynn <thewynns at earthlink.net>
Date: Tue, 05 Oct 2004 10:38:11 +0000

> there are many mansions."

Why not? But if so, the planets Neighbors and Inhumi do not strike me as
obvious exemplars of the missionary field that the Short Sun Narrator is
supposed to evangelize. We know nothing of the religion of the Neighbors (it
does not seem likely to me that Mother was an object of worship) and if they
were converted to the worship of the Outsider (the Narrator excluded) it is 
not so stated in the text AFAIK.

~ Crush

"We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready
in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm."
- George Orwell

---

From: Chris <rasputin_ at hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 05 Oct 2004 12:36:07 +0000

I always thought of his leaving as a way to ensure that the man/messenger 
didn't eclipse the message. He was back, really, to plant a seed more than 
to fix all of Blue's problems himself. So I didn't really get that negative 
connotation in the first place.

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