Subject: (whorl) Re Typhon and fictional crosslinks

From: CoxRathvon <coxrathvon at aol.com>
Date: Sat, 18 Jan 1997 08:49:15 +0000

[Posted from Whorl, the mailing list for Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun]

Like RevJack, I had taken note of the name "Typhon," the tyrant who called
himself Pas.  For what it's worth--and I anticipate a divergence of opinion
on this point--I think it's a bad idea, generally, for authors to create
links between their own novels when those books could exist wholly
independently.  I  understand the temptation to make these links.  Certain
authors (Cordwainer Smith, for example) have made a success of setting
virtually all their stories in the same fictional universe.  But does Silk's
tale really *need* to have any connection to Severian's?  I see no compelling
reason for Wolfe to mix these epics, and I hope the crosslinks will remain
minimal.  I suppose I'm a bit of a purist in this regard.  (I hasten to add
that I don't at all mind *resemblances* to elements in the author's other
work.  For example, Green and Blue certainly make one think of the twin
planets in "The Fifth Head of Cerberus."  But I'd prefer, as a reader, that
these elements remain analagous, not actually interbred.  End of grumpy
aside.)

--Henry Rathvon

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