A Quick Question

Hi! I saw this alluded to in the archives, but wasn't able to find a text reference - where does it say that Severian spent a year as an Ascian slave, after becoming Autarch? That's a curious detail that came as a surprise to me. Paul

URTH, chapter LI, second page. But it doesn't quite say he was a slave then. -Roy

Oh, I see what you mean. I'd thought he referred to his much shorter capture by the Ascians in Citadel, which admittedly seemed much shorter than a year, since he says the Autarch (as Severian and the old autarch) was absent for a month only in XXIV of Citadel. However, I dismissed that as another self-contradiction by Severian. But, if it's true, then that means he must have been captured twice - one would think that would somehow have been more important than it's been, but I suppose that's solidly in the realm of speculation. Paul

On Wed, 18 Jul 2007 22:55:43 -0400, "Paul B" <pb.stuff at gmail.com> said:

It's extratextual and was mentioned in an interview conducted by Robert Frazier for a fanzine called Thrust in 1982: Frazier: "Perhaps we could end this by telling something about Severian that doesn't end up in the books." Wolfe: "There was the time when Severian encountered assassins in the Secret House who had come to kill Ymar, an autarch a chiliad dead. I may write about that sometime. And the year he spent as a slave of the Ascians. But I doudt that either will make it into print." The interview may be reprinted in the new Wright book, but I'm not sure, as my copy has not arrived yet.

FYI It is included, and this quote is on page 55 Have a great one Y'all! Stuart Rex Lycanthrosaurus <lycanthrosaurus at fastmail.fm> wrote: On Wed, 18 Jul 2007 22:55:43 -0400, "Paul B" said:

It's extratextual and was mentioned in an interview conducted by Robert Frazier for a fanzine called Thrust in 1982: Frazier: "Perhaps we could end this by telling something about Severian that doesn't end up in the books." Wolfe: "There was the time when Severian encountered assassins in the Secret House who had come to kill Ymar, an autarch a chiliad dead. I may write about that sometime. And the year he spent as a slave of the Ascians. But I doudt that either will make it into print." The interview may be reprinted in the new Wright book, but I'm not sure, as my copy has not arrived yet.

I'm assuming this is the episode that ends up in Urth of the New Sun? If so, then this is important because the assassin clearly singles out Severian to die and I believe the consensus was that he was sent to kill Sev. As many of you know, I believe that Severian and Ymar are essentially the same person. This just increases my belief in that theory. Don The Evangelists: a Lesser Apocrypha http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=178109961