Subject: (whorl) [Blue notes, spoilers, etc.]

From: Michael Andre-Driussi <mantis at sirius.com>
Date: Sun, 03 Oct 1999 20:28:41 +0000

Well, what a novel!

My first impressions:

Horn is a Greek hero, mostly Odyesseus.  How wonderful!  I suppose I might
have anticipated this, with all the Greco-Roman grounding of the Long Sun,
but that series had a gloss of Father Brown modernism.  Visiting the witch;
insisting upon hearing the song of the siren; feeding cow blood to "the
dead" for tricks and treats.  Taking an eye from an ancient woman, that's
Perseus.

The letter of summons to the lander reminds me quite strongly of the Letter
from Prestor John to the Pope.  And as in that case, there is much
speculation on where the kingdom is located--it has =moved= over the
centuries!

(But in the beginning it was thought to be on the . . . Silk Road!)

The inclusion/intrusion of TBOTLS within the tale reminds me strongly of
the second part of DON QUIXOTE, where similar things happen.  Rather than
THE 1001 ARABIAN NIGHTS, where there is tale-within-tale-within-tale, but
nobody ever says, hey, I read about you in ARABIAN NIGHTS, or hey, buy my
book.

I, too, felt a very Vancean current to ON BLUE'S WATERS; and I, too, felt
that it was a different one than the DYING EARTH . . . but what, then?
Perhaps it is the more "paranoid" Vancean science fiction, like the Durdane
trilogy (which has secret alien invaders and a bad ride in starship to
alien world where humans end up as slaves) mixed with a bit of NOPALGARTH
(where invisible aliens ride humans like psionic vampires, iirc).  I think
it is something more than just the fairytale "hero sets out on seemingly
doomed quest" thing, which Vance often uses as well; it is something more
Vancean than just fairytale logic or plot.

Ah, the Horn who is writing (aka "the Rajan of Gaon") is one eyed and white
haired, like Odin.  But he also has a hurt ankle, is sometimes confused
with Silk by others (just because he's wearing the clothes, walking the
walk, talking the talk <g>), often confuses the names of his own twins
("Horn [sic] and Hide") as well as writing of Horn in the third person, and
even, in the very end, says that =he= caught the ball (at the beginning of
TBOTLS)!  He =is= Silk, in some as-yet-unspecified way. Not to mention the
intriguing "Passilk"!

(An interesting aside: the twins Hoof and Hide have names that form a
semi-canting phrase meaning "run away and conceal yourself"!)

Must read again before too long.

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From: Patri10629 <patri10629 at aol.com>
Date: Mon, 04 Oct 1999 12:43:32 +0000

In a message dated 10/3/99 11:41:23 PM, mantis at sirius.com writes:

<< 
centuries! >>

It struck me on rereading the opening letter that it is a tissue of lies. But 
we know that. Imagine it is the words of the Inhumi--throwing their voices, 
as it were, through their human agents-- and it becomes an entirely different
message altogether. Very creepy.

It also struck me that the initial meeting with the Leaders of the Community 
was a bit awkward.  A clumsy plot device to get the quest rolling. "We need a 
a god--get Silk. We need better seed--back to the whorl. Our businesses are 
failing, our crops, too--our society is disintegrating, decadent--we need a 
moral center that everyone can agree on. We need Silk. We need 'fresh 
blood.'" 

But then there was that unspoken agenda which Nettle intuited--"They don't 
want us to write anymore." Not sure I get that. We're the Powers that 
be--secular and sacred: Business, Church, Law (not sure about that 
one)--conspiring to consolidate their earthly power by removing their one 
true legitimate rival--the man who wrote their history? Whose only authority 
was the fact that he tried to tell the truth? And had the means to do 
so--paper? Or are one or more of this group Inhumi collaborators?

Interesting that Horn's most valuable commodity--paper--is stolen almost 
immediately. He must rely on other resources.

How like TBOTLS--short-sighted agendas which ultimately are futile. As Horn 
says from the begining--he failed.

Some of many questions. Amazing that this fragment, this first installment 
can be so powerful and so incomplete.

best

Patrick O'Leary

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From: Jim Jordan <jbjordan at gnt.net>
Date: Tue, 12 Oct 1999 10:54:04 +0000

>so--paper? Or are one or more of this group Inhumi collaborators?

	The book of Silk is the Gospel of Silk. Remember that the narrative
follows the gospel narrative rather closely. Silk is the closest to a
Christ-figure that Wolfe has ever written. Well, did the conservative Jews
in the book of Acts like it when the apostles preached about Jesus? Did the
Roman Emperors? No. 
>immediately. He must rely on other resources.

	Yes, and WHO stole it? Surely not the person Horn actually suspected. As
you point out, the leaders of the community don't want any more gospels
from Horn.

Nutria

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From: Kevin J. Maroney <kmaroney at crossover.com>
Date: Tue, 12 Oct 1999 12:18:02 +0000

At 10:54 AM 10/12/99 -0700, Nutria wrote:
>	Yes, and WHO stole it? Surely not the person Horn actually suspected. 
>As you point out, the leaders of the community don't want any more gospels
>from Horn.

I don't think it's necessary to assume that the Council (as we might as
well call them) stole Horn's paper to stop him from publishing more copies
of _The Book of Silk_. Paper is a valuable commodity--Horn is doing quite
well for himself--and would be an obvious target for any thief. If they
were really interested in supressing Horn, they'd have taken and destroyed
his personal copy of _The Book_. 

Wombat, a.k.a. Kevin Maroney kmaroney at crossover.com
Kitchen Staff Supervisor, New York Review of Science Fiction
http://ebbs.english.vt.edu/olp/nyrsf/nyrsf.html

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From: Jim Jordan <jbjordan at gnt.net>
Date: Tue, 12 Oct 1999 11:36:28 +0000

At 12:18 PM 10/12/99 -0400, you wrote:
>Wombat,

	What I meant was that they did not want ANOTHER book. But you're point is
well taken -- and you do have inside knowledge!! So, I'll defer to it. 

Nutria

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From: Kevin J. Maroney <kmaroney at crossover.com>
Date: Tue, 12 Oct 1999 12:50:02 +0000

At 11:36 AM 10/12/99 -0700, Nutria wrote:
>	What I meant was that they did not want ANOTHER book. But your point is

I don't have much inside knowlege--just a couple of spoilers leaked to me
by David. On this matter, I'm just going by what was printed in _Blue_.  
Wombat, a.k.a. Kevin Maroney kmaroney at crossover.com
Kitchen Staff Supervisor, New York Review of Science Fiction
http://ebbs.english.vt.edu/olp/nyrsf/nyrsf.html