Subject: (whorl) Revised Timeline

From: David_Lebling <david_lebling at avid.com>
Date: Thu, 13 Feb 1997 09:27:16 +0000

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

Revised Timeline:

-300+: Maytera Marble "born."
-300: _Whorl_ launched.
-100: (approximately) _Whorl_ arrives in Blue/Green system.
 -94: Maytera Rose born, based on Blood's estimated age.
 -56: Crane born.
 -54: Blood born. (Stated age (49) plus five years)
 -43: Maytera Rose becomes senior sibyl. (Maytera Betal dies?)
 -36: Maytera Mint born.
 -33: Quetzal becomes Prolocutor.
 -30: Pas killed.
 -23: Silk born. Hyacinth born.
 -21: Calde Tussah dies. (Silk "just learning to walk")
 -19: Chenille born.
  -1: Patera Pike dies. (Dead "less than a year" in TBotLS)
   0: most events in _The Book of the Long Sun_.
 +10: (approximately) Horn writes _The Book of the Long Sun_.

Notes:

1) Blood's stated age is 49. Silk estimates he's at least five years
older. At another point he's referred to as being "nearly 60."  I'll
take Silk's estimate and call him 54.

2) Chenille is 19, Silk is 23, and remembers Calde Tussah dying when he
was "just learning to walk." This presents something of a problem. The
earliest Tussah could have died is a bit less than 20 3/4 years previous
(i.e., Chenille is about to turn 20, and Tussah dies just after
fathering her).  If we assume Silk just turned 23, that has him learning
to walk after age 2, which is late (especially for a superman...) but
not unprecedented.

On the other hand, few people have first hand memories from before the
age of 3, so Silk was probably told this by his mother.

3) Most of the action of the book takes place in the winter. I m going
to assume, with no evidence yet, that the new year happens when it
happens in our calendar, and the winter is January and February.  I
don t include December and part of March because there is evidence that
winters are shorter and milder than they used to be in the _Whorl_. 
Also, it s very convenient to assume Silk s enlightenment happens on
Christmas Day.

     Dave
     (david_lebling at avid.com)

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