# Quetzal *The Whorl list — 4 messages, 4 voices, 15 Jan 1997* > Exported from an unofficial mirror of a public mailing list. Copyright > in each message remains with the person who wrote it. > Email addresses are obscured as `user at host`, the form the original > archive published. This file was rebuilt from parsed fields rather than > retained headers, so it is faithful in content but not byte-exact. --- ### David_Lebling *15 Jan 1997, 09:40* > From: douge at nti.com (Doug Eigsti) > Subject: Re: (whorl) the mystery of Q > Date: Mon, 13 Jan 1997 13:01:55 -0700 (MST) > Quetzal is first mentioned in LAKE on page 81.2 (2nd paragraph). On > page > 86.1 Remora notes that he is fond of beef tea. Remora says "A man > can't > live on beef tea and air", we now know that he was supplementing his > diet > with blood. That's very interesting; do we know that Quetzal was getting blood somewhere? I don't remember anything specific to that effect. As I recall, we know fairly early that Quetzal is Not What He Seems -- he reverts to his snakelike form (or stance) after Remora leaves. (Or is this in a later scene?) It was definitely an "aha!" moment for me. I think the question of Quetzal's intent is one of the major mysteries of the series. He is presented (Oreb aside) as a force for good. Is Wolfe saying (as he has said before) that evil may do good without intending to? This seems almost too simple. Another interpretation is that as an enemy "agent in place" he has come to sympathize with those he is working against. Again, almost too simple. One can take an old-line Catholic point of view ("ex cathedra nulla salis"), in which we see Quetzal as analogous to say, a Protestant clergyman who in unwittingly leading his flock to damnation. But then Quetzal is witting, so I don't think the comparison holds, and besides, Wolfe's Catholicism seems much more sophisticated than that. I have read somewhere that Wolfe is planning a series set on Blue and Green. Perhaps more answers will be forthcoming when it appears, although it would certainly be more satisfying to tease out the answers now! Dave Lebling (david_lebling at avid.com) Questions or problems to whorl-owner at lists.best.com --- ### revjack at radix.net *16 Jan 1997, 03:09 · follows David_Lebling* [Hope I'm replying to the correct address here...] On Wed, 15 Jan 97 09:40:09 -0500, David_Lebling at avid.com wrote: : > From: douge at nti.com (Doug Eigsti) : > Subject: Re: (whorl) the mystery of Q : > Date: Mon, 13 Jan 1997 13:01:55 -0700 (MST) : : > Quetzal is first mentioned in LAKE on page 81.2 (2nd paragraph). On : > page 86.1 Remora notes that he is fond of beef tea. Remora says : > "A man can't live on beef tea and air", we now know that he was : > supplementing his diet with blood. : : That's very interesting; do we know that Quetzal was getting blood : somewhere? I don't remember anything specific to that effect. I seem to recall some sort of blood-sucking misfortune having befallen Teasel, which Dr. Crane dismissed as some sort of bat bite. Unfortunately I don't have my copy of "Nightside" - I just finished "Exodus" and happily turned around to read the four again, only to find the first one missing. Damn. : I have read somewhere that Wolfe is planning a series set on Blue and : Green. I certainly hope so. Do you suppose the dark, flitting thing that Horn saw at the end of "Exodus" could be Oreb? _________________ revjack at radix.net Questions or problems to whorl-owner at lists.best.com --- ### Derek Bell *16 Jan 1997, 19:20 · follows revjack at radix.net* In message <199701160127.RAA08736 at lists1.best.com>, "revjack at radix.net" writes: > I seem to recall some sort of blood-sucking misfortune having befallen > Teasel, which Dr. Crane dismissed as some sort of bat bite. The mention of a bat-bite - vampires traditionally turn into bats; what other shape-shifting powers are they attributed? My guess at Quetzal's motivation is that he (and other inhumi) view the crew as a resource to be fed off. Perhaps he wanted human colonies on Green and Blue as the population would presumably be larger and more resilient to disasters. (Including the Whorl's gradual demise.) To that extent, his motives dovetailed with the Plan of Pas. Quetzal seems to target the young, not adults - I'm not sure of the significance of that. > : I have read somewhere that Wolfe is planning a series set on Blue and > : Green. They were mentioned on pduggan's Gene Wolfe page under news and rumours: _On_Blue's Waters_, _In_Green's_Jungles_ & _Under_the_Long_Sun_ The series is to be called _The_Book_of_the_Short_Sun_. (What else would do?) > I certainly hope so. Do you suppose the dark, flitting thing that Horn > saw at the end of "Exodus" could be Oreb? I thought it was one of the inhumi, though I may well be mistaken. Derek Questions or problems to whorl-owner at lists.best.com --- ### xury *26 Feb 1997, 18:22 · follows Derek Bell* Another question one must ask, is that of the matter explaining, how does Quetzal know so much? He is inhumi and the Prolocutor, but does this explain why he knew Pas' plans or even that Pas was dead, especially since there have been no theophanies for 30 years. Also when Pas' theophany occured he was able to hear the instrucions that the god gave also, so he too is able to communicate with the gods even though he is a stowaway? I would like to know some opinions on these matters, thanks. Xury Questions or problems to whorl-owner at lists.best.com ---