As we discuss the respective humanity of humans and inhumi, it occurs to me that Short Sun has dealt little with chems so far. They were certainly accepted as people in the Long Sun Whorl (although sometimes the subject of discrimination). Do they have spirits in the sense of Green's?
We know that there's an unresolved plot element concerning Horn's bringing Olivine's eye to Marble. Perhaps chems will yet be tied into the spiritual scheme of things.
On a related topic: how are we to square the adopting of human souls by inhumi with Mucor's characterization of Quetzal as "the man who isn't there"? Does Mucor perceive people distinctly from the way they appear in Horn's astral projections?
-- Dan Rabin
*This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun.